I won’t ever be able entirely to understand my own work or even my own motivations. It is first of all a gift, but the direction it has taken has been because of the Church in me or the effect of the Church’s teaching, not because of a personal perception or love of God. For you to think this would be possible because of your ignorance of me; for me to think it would be sinful in a high degree. I am not a mystic and I do not lead a holy life. Not that I can claim any interesting or pleasurable sins (my sense of the devil is strong) but I know all about the garden variety, pride, gluttony, envy and sloth, and what is more to the point, my virtues are as timid as my vices. I think sin occasionally brings one closer to God, but not habitual sin and not this petty kind that blocks every small good. A working knowledge of the devil can be very well had from resisting him.

I disagree with O’Connor on many, many points, but that doesn’t stop me from admiring the way she approaches her thoughts on God, the Church, and belief itself. She has a self-awareness about her that makes me wish I could sit down with her and have a chat about all the things we disagree over.Writing for the Godless: Flannery O’Connor on Dogma, Belief, and the Difference Between Religion and Faith