Book excerpt: The dominant theme of Parts Two and Four, "States of Mind in the Strife of Suffering" and "Discourses at the Communion on Fridays," is a reassuring affirmation of the joy and blessedness of the Christian life in a world of adversity and suffering. Written in ordinary language, the work combines simplicity and inwardness with reflection and presents crucial Christian concepts and presuppositions with unusual clarity. Among the discourses are some of Kierkegaard's masterpieces.