to the problem of solipsistie isolation is the recovery of whatrnthev eall a saeramental sense, hi principle, both authors aeknowlcdgcrnthat the dualistie separation of the material and thernspiritual has already been overcome by the coming of Christ.rnBut their writings demonstrate the difficulty with which thernlost unit’ can be recovered in human lives which arc supposedrnto be, but which so seldom are, sacramental reenactments ofrnthe one Gospel storv. Chesterton, who is a philosopher as wellrnas an imaginati’e artist, has ideas about ways in which smallrncommunities of faith might be constructed, places that wouldrnproidc a setting in which the perennial human drama is morernlikeK to come to a happy ending. Muriel Spark is content tornobserve the eontcmporarv disorder with a satirist’s eye, and tornassert through her fiction a conviction about the need to recoverrn”a balanced regard for matter and spirit,” without ever quiternexplaining ways in which this might be done. Chesterton oncernwrote that, in the end, the only thing important is the destinyrnof the human soul, hi every one of the stories in which he describesrncharacters struggling to escape from solipsism, he presentsrnpeople who do what he himself once did, by turning fromrntheir priatc obsessions to the sacrament of marriage. MurielrnSpark would approve of that practical solution to the problemrnof spiritualism. As one of her own unhappy bachelors explains,rn”I’m afraid we arc heretics, or possessed by devils…. It shows arndualistie attitude, not to marry, if vou aren’t going to be a priestrnor a religious. You’ve got to affirm the oneness of reality inrnsome form or another.” Yet when it comes to the essentialrnquestion of the salvation of the human soul, she would also understandrnthe profoundly sacramental implications of anotherrnChesterton saying—that forgiveness of sins is essential to therncommunion of saints and the resurrection of the body to life everiasting.rnBut in a world in which the sacramental sense remains atrophied,rnno one should be surprised at an odd and growing list ofrnbizarre spiritualist substitutes for the sacraments which thernnonsacramcntal modern world refuses to accept. If Chestertonrnand Muriel Spark are right, these sacraments alone can restorernunity to divided people and to divided societies. In the meantime,rnthere is need for poets and novelists whose improbablernfictions will awaken the imaginations of their readers and enablernthem to recognize the fantastic character of the unrealrnworld in which thev are immersed.rnC J ‘1/ & g>(/1 T O P I C S , CJ ‘^ ^ ^ r i s su EsrnBailies of the Books—Septemberrn1996—Thomas Fleming on the latest assaultrnon the classics, Zbigniew Herbert onrnthe signiticance of T.S. Eliot, George Garrettrnon the legacy of Shakespeare, GeorgernWatson on the multiculturalist case, andrnHarold O.J. Brown on the Bible past andrnpresent. Plus essays on abolishing compulsoryrnschool attendance laws and on therndirty facts about college admissions.rnDon’t Vote, It Only Encourages Them—rnNovember 1996—Robert Weissberg onrnelections as a means of state control.rnJames J. Condit, Jr., on vote fraud inrnAmerica, Clyde Wilson on the two-parlyrnstranglehold, Greg Kaza on “none of thernabove,” and Jeremy Black on the differencesrnbetween British and American elections.rnPlus Senator Eugene McCarthy onrnChilton Williamson’s The ImmigrationrnMystique.rntf*^ m Sex, Sin, and Science—Octoberrn1996 Philip Jenkins on the “one inrnten” myth about homosexuals, JanetrnScott Barlow on the pseudoseiencernof therapy, Thomas Szasz on the bogusrnjustifications for neonatal circumcision,rnand Tomislav Sunic onrndrugs and democracy. Plus SrdjarnTrifkovic’s review of David Owen’srnBalkan Odyssey and a report onrnthe so-called “holocaust” of blackrnchurches.rn1 to 4 issues $6.00 each; 5 to 9 issues $3.50 each;rn10 or more issues $2.50 each (postage and handling included).rnTo order by phone call 1 – 8 0 0 – 3 9 7 – 8 1 6 0rnor mail with cheek to:rnChronicles * 934 N o r t h Main S t r e e t * R o c k f o r d , IL 61103rnDECEMBER 1996/15rnrnrn