Dear Gabriel,

Try to delight in the immediate. Today I went outside in the evening and the snow was so cold I could walk easily along the top rather than sink into it. It was like the scene in ‘Lord of the Rings’ when the Fellowship falls into the Snow in their assent of the Misty Mountains and Legolas, the light footed elf, runs along the top of the snow.

When I come out of my cosy yellow lit cottage I stood in the immense cold of the lonely countryside. Sometimes I fear the future; the body being lain in the cold dark earth. But this is only the body, not the soul. Start, then, by thinking that thought – that by not being physical, your soul cannot die. Then think that you would rather your thoughts remained with other Christians after your physical death and didn’t wander alone. Then start once more to have faith in the survival of the soul.

All this is a long way from the feel of hard packed snow, but thoughts take flight.

Yours,
Thomas