The ministry of many pages
Page 103CHAPTER 2
The ministry of many pages
A writer praises practical care; a fictional office celebrates the growing manuscript; one modest action escapes the appendix.
Passage actions
1 And I shit you not, a writer composed a magnificent chapter concerning practical care.
Passage actions
2 He described the dignity of the individual, the limits of advice, and the importance of asking what another person needed.
Passage actions
3 His friend sent a message asking whether he might help carry a small table on Saturday.
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4 And he replied: Thy request hath inspired a new subsection.
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5 The Office of Excellent Intentions commended this development, for the manuscript grew steadily while the table remained where it was.
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6 A second edition clarified the distinction between imagining help and giving it.
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7 The writer was delighted with the clarification.
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8 Then he noticed that he had not answered the question.
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9 He wrote: Saturday morning I am unavailable. I could come after lunch, or help thee find another arrangement.
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10 His friend accepted the later hour.
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11 The table was moved without the publication of a supplementary volume.
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12 And the writer returned afterward to his writing, which he still enjoyed.
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13 For the error had not been that he loved making books.
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14 The error had been counting a description of care as the answer to a particular request.
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A description of care is not an answer to a request.
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TRY IT Name one practical request. Answer it clearly, including any limits.
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READING CONVERSATION Letters 12–13; pp. 25–28.