More from Gilead's Pastor Ames

Pastor Ames in Gilead mentions that he has thought about having a book ready at hand to clutch if he feels a heart attack coming on, “so that it would have an especial recommendation from being found in my hands. That seemed theatrical, on consideration. . . .” I notice that I have written in the margin, “How vain we all are.” It’s a bit like imaging the kind and flattering words that might be said at our funerals? Surely no one has done that!

Still, Ames’ notion of having an impressive book in your hands when you die invites reflection. You would want something of “quality,” but also something that you really loved. He mentions the English metaphysical poets Donne and Herbert, Barth’s Epistle to the Romans and Calvin’s Institutes, Volume II. I’m not in his league. I might choose the poems of Hopkins or Dickinson or something by Wendell Berry or . . . Gilead.

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