Chapter 21

I am sitting in a downtown café, after, thinking. I havejust spent most of an afternoon with him. Our encountersalways leave me weary of the glum¹ contentment thatcharacterizes my life. What were those words he used thatstruck me? Ah, yes: "dry, yeastless factuality", "the betterstory". I take pen and paper out and write:
Words of divine consciousness: moral exaltation; ‘ lastingfeelings of elevation², elation³, joy; a quickening of the moralsense, which strikes one as more important than anintellectual understanding of things; an alignment⁴ of theuniverse along moral lines, not intellectual ones; arealization that the founding principle of existence is whatwe call love, which works itself out sometimes not clearly,not cleanly, not immediately, nonetheless ineluctably.
I pause. What of God's silence? I think it over. I add:
An intellect confounded yet a trusting sense of presenceand of ultimate purpose.

1 glum   

adj.闷闷不乐的，阴郁的

参考例句：

• He was a charming mixture of glum and glee.他是一个很有魅力的人，时而忧伤时而欢笑。
• She laughed at his glum face.她嘲笑他闷闷不乐的脸。

2 elevation   

n.高度；海拔；高地；上升；提高

参考例句：

• The house is at an elevation of 2,000 metres.那幢房子位于海拔两千米的高处。
• His elevation to the position of General Manager was announced yesterday.昨天宣布他晋升总经理职位。

3 elation   

n.兴高采烈，洋洋得意

参考例句：

• She showed her elation at having finally achieved her ambition.最终实现了抱负，她显得十分高兴。
• His supporters have reacted to the news with elation.他的支持者听到那条消息后兴高采烈。

4 alignment   

n.队列；结盟，联合

参考例句：

• The church should have no political alignment.教会不应与政治结盟。
• Britain formed a close alignment with Egypt in the last century.英国在上个世纪与埃及结成了紧密的联盟。