Read Online All The Way To Heaven: The Selected Letters Of Dorothy Day Showcased By Dorothy Day Contained In Paperback

look into the life of a dedicated woman in touch with other passionate social change advocates, As a nonCatholic, I have to admire Days commitment to pacifism and serving the poor, The contrast in content and style of her letters before and after she committed herself to Catholicism and the Catholic Worker is stunning and is testimony to the power of finding your true path.
Her letters are also testimony to the personal cost of living your convictions, Opposition, personally, politically, and spiritually, is ever present throughout the letters but as she continually reiterates, her faith and perseverance gives her the strength to carry on.
She is continually exhorting others, including those in the Church, to examine whether they are serving God or man,

Her politics were both progressive and regressive, Her wildly unpopular commitment to nonviolent resistance and pacifism through WWII inspired Vietnam War resistors, Her support of offering integrated hospitality in the CW houses of hospitality as early as thes forced the closure of some CW homes by racist neighbors.
Her letters to the IRS, explaining why she does not files taxes complete with Catholic pamphlets, and NYC tax assessors, returning a sinful interest payment, must have entertained and puzzled those bureaucrats.
Her empathy for workers included picketing and being jailed along with Cesar Chavezs striking grape pickers, Dorothy Day was more anticapitalist and antigovernment than many communists and libertarians, At the same time, despite her status and her daughters eventual status as single mothers, despite her fighting for womens right to vote prior to her conversion, despite her aversion to racism, despite being a leader in her own right, she was not a feminist.
As late as, she states, “I am no feminist, I believe men have the vision and women must follow it, ” Disappointing

to witness a woman who definitely fought the Man and frequently the male Catholic hierarchy making the connection between capitalism and poverty but not between sexism and poverty.


Still, Day's commitment to service and her walking the talk inspires a desire to learn more about her and her politics and spiritual outlook, The letters offer a glimpse but leave gaps as there are sure to be gaps in most correspondence,
one quote from p: ", . . we are getting the help we need little by little, It is true that it is begging, but the contempt that goes with it, the standing before the judge over and over again, the misrepresentations in the papers, the being accused of being a slum landlord and exploiting the poor, etc, not to speak of my past life being dragged in again and again, all goes with it so it must be pleasing to our Lord.
" It's just one quote from apage book of letters, but what I loved about the book is simply the way that Dorothy expressed herself, The only reason I don't give itis that it's a book of letters, and that's just not an easy read in any sense, Robert Ellsberg did an admirable job of giving the narrative behind the letters, though, and he did it without getting in the way of what Dorothy kept saying again and again in so many insightful ways about how to be a Christian witness and how to love better.
“The publication of the letters of Dorothy Day is a significant event in the history of Christian spirituality, ” Jim Martin, SJ, author of My Life with the Saints
 
Dorothy Day, cofounder of the Catholic Worker movement, has been called the most significant, interesting, and influential person in the history of American Catholicism.
Now the publication of her letters, previously sealed foryears after her death and meticulously selected by Robert Ellsberg, reveals an extraordinary look at her daily struggles, her hopes, and her unwavering faith.


This volume, which extends from the earlys until the time of her death in, offers a fascinating chronicle of her response to the vast changes in America, the Church, and the wider world.
Set against the backdrop of the Depression, World War II, the Cold War, Vatican II, Vietnam, and the protests of thes ands, she corresponded with a wide range of friends, colleagues, family members, and wellknown figures such as Thomas Merton, Daniel Berrigan, César Chávez, Allen Ginsberg, Katherine Anne Porter, and Francis Cardinal Spellman, shedding light on the deepest yearnings of her heart.
At the same time, the first publication of her early love letters to Forster Batterham highlight her humanity and poignantly dramatize the sacrifices that underlay her vocation.

 
“These letters are life, work, and faithaffirming, ” National Catholic Reporter This book presented a vivid picture of the struggles and joys experienced by Dorothy Day, Her life really came alive through her written words, Engaging read. Ever since i first heard of Dorothy Day I have thought of her as a modern day Saint, I felt energized reading her letters, My adirmation for her life long love affair to "Lady Poverty" and her selfless commitment to " the least of these" reminds a selfish world of whst is right and.
All the Way to Heaven is an anthology of letters written by Dorothy Day fromto, I did some research to find out the year in which she was born which wasif you were wondering, This means that these letters began when she was approximatelyand continued til February of, when she wasyears old, This is impressive in and of itself, Like most twentysomethings, her early letters deal with love and relationships, This first series was written ten years before she established the Catholic Worker movement, By reading these letters, we are able to see her life before God got a hold of her,

We then see a dramatic shift in the next series of letters, By this time, she had become the leader of a lay movement and was addressing issues of labor and social justice, her focus had shifted towards helping others and away from herself, The rest of the letters continue to show her spiritual growth and maturity, as well as the advancement of her newspaper and the cause for which she fought her whole life social justice.
Besides writing to ordinary lay people interested in her cause, Dorothy Day also wrote to some of the most important people in her day, including bishops and Thomas Merton.


I did not read all the letters, as they span nearlypages, However, during the ones I did read, I found myself wishing to read the responses she received to these letters, I feel it would have fleshed out the dialogue more and made for more interesting reading, I did like that there was an index at the end, as it was helpful if you were looking for a letter to a specific individual, While this book isn't technically a biography, it feels biographical in a way as you read through it, Overall, I give this bookout ofstars, I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review, .