‘For the good I have dreamed’

Frederick Buechner, one of America’s most famous theological writers, will be honored at 7 p.m. tomorrow at the Washington Cathedral with a panel discussion on the impact of his writings and sermons on American religious life.

An ordained Presbyterian Church (USA) minister and author as well as a finalist for both the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award, Mr. Buechner splits his time between winters in Hobe Sound, Fla., and summers in Vermont. The following are excerpts of a telephone interview:

Question: You turn 80 on July 11. What would you like to be remembered for?

Answer: For the books I’ve done and the people I’ve helped, at least according to the people who’ve written me letters telling me so. Godric (a character in one of his novels) said he wanted to be remembered “not for the ill I’ve done but for the good I have dreamed.”

Q: Your newest book, “Secrets in the Dark,” which is a collection of your sermons over the years, makes it sound OK to have doubts about God.

A: I try to be honest about my own experiences, which includes doubt. I think for some people it’s a relief that faith doesn’t mean being 100 percent certain. When someone in the religious trade can admit there are mysteries and uncertainties, that is nourishing to them.

Q: What do you hear from people?

A: I do not have e-mail. I would not let it into my house. I get 300 to 400 letters a year. I’ve never been a big seller, but Harper San Francisco has kept my books in print for years and years so that books written 30-plus years ago are still selling. They are still chattering away to the world. I think mine is a voice people can trust, a voice that does not make things sound easier. I try very hard not to be boring. I try to be truthful, honest, imaginative and not argue for something I do not believe in.

Q: What’s the most important truth you’ve learned about life?

A: Pay attention to your life. It is so easy to live your life on the surface and not pay attention to what’s happened. Your life is speaking to you. Paying attention is to keep your eyes open, look at peoples’ faces, listen to their voices, smell the smells in the air. I’ve gotten a richer sense of what goes on in the world than if I had lived my days on automatic pilot.

Q: Have you ever been depressed or in despair?

A: Clinically depressed? No. John Updike says God saves His deepest silence for His saints. I’ve never believed there is no God but I’ve wondered if it can be true, considering all the wretched things in this world, that it is presided over by a loving and powerful God.

Q: What is your greatest regret?

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