The Paper and the Person
A letter to the interview panel, and to the folder of certified copies in front of it. What have we asked paper to stand in for, and what happens to the thing it was…
Wednesdays
The Second Question
The minutes say the matter was discussed. I always want to know which part. Every Wednesday I take one thing we were told — about school, money, success, the elders, the crowd, God — and follow it further than the conversation went. Scripture, literature, history and economics are all called as witnesses. Some beliefs survive the second question. Those are the ones worth keeping.
The Story I Invented About a Stranger
One number on a deposit slip, and I had built a man, given him a motive and convicted him before the teller called the next customer. Why the mind prefers a complete false story…