“I’ve subscribed to Parabola for thirty years, and I’ve saved every copy of the ma

“I’ve subscribed to Parabola for thirty years, and I’ve saved every copy of the magazine. I always look forward to reading the latest issue. It’s given me spiritual sustenance—no other way to say it.

The theme of this issue is Forgiveness, and that’s a perfect response to a moment in time when unforgiving words and actions are not just celebrated but sold as courage.

It takes real courage to forgive, because it means discarding your anger and indignation, always readily available and therefore dependable, and hacking out a piece of common ground.

Forgiveness of your enemies…forgiveness of your friends and loved ones…and then forgiving yourself: an entirely different kind of question.

To find the courage and the patience and the understanding to see, and from there to accept, is a lifelong practice.

Parabola has guided and provoked and comforted me along my way.”

— Martin Scorsese from Parabola Volume 44, No. 3, “Mercy & Forgiveness,” Fall 2019.

Photograph: Martin Scorsese. Martin Scorsese Collection, NY