I’ve taken the trouble to spell out the various pathways towards mastering factual
detail available to me because, over and above all of these, I want to identify yet another
source of information. I use the word ‘information’ and yet that’s not really what it
is. For the whole of this year, one month at a time, I’ve had occasion to gaze at this
year’s Waldensian Calendar which features the paintings of Paolo Paschetto. What a
treasury is this! It’s 50 years since his death and I’ve no doubt there are people who
remember him as part of their community. The great miracle is, of course, that he may
be dead and buried but, as the great American hymn puts it, ‘his soul goes marching
on’. His art conjures up far more than the mere factual. It shows remarkable vistas,
villages and habitations snuggling within the embrace of mountainous shoulders
of rock, an at-oneness between the human and the natural orders. Whether it’s the
alpine snows of a heavy winter or the fresh greens of a new spring, the languid heat
of long summer days or the mellow colours of autumn, these pictures awaken in my
heart a sense of the Valley that beckons me towards it. I can scarcely wait for the full
experience and find it difficult to believe that reality can be better than these portraits,
that life can improve on art.
I am most grateful for this imaginative gift. It seems to have fed me in the deepest
recesses of my being throughout this calendar year. It’s prepared my taste buds, attuned
my inward ear, heightened my awareness of an experience I hope soon to enjoy with
all my senses. I can’t even begin to see how next year’s calendar can improve on this
one. If I had my way, I’d just go on reproducing this series of pictures, year after year,
with just the configuration of the dates changing to suit the purpose of each succeeding
year.
AND NOW MY MAIN MESSAGE:
We are aiming to reduce the cost of printing and posting the magazine. The
Waldensian Review is a great means of communication and it is widely
appreciated in Britain, in Italy and elsewhere. It is now available online –
including past issues – but we can also send it individually via email. I am
therefore asking everyone who is happy to receive it ONLY online to send me
their email address in order to be cancelled from the snail mail list. We’ll still
be producing the paper issue and sending it to libraries, churches, colleges
and various institutions for distribution and for their records. For individuals
not particularly keen on paper, and especially for those who do not keep a
collection, we think that in the digital era, web communication is the best.
PLEASE DO LET ME KNOW!!!!
DO LET ME KNOW ALSO if you have changed your postal address and
above all KEEP IN TOUCH!
God bless you
ESN, Editor
4