Letter 1.3

A New Yorker has been staying at the monastery for some days while making arrangements to return to the States and, apparently, to be drafted, and he, it seems, is my first convert. I gather from him they're drafting everything that moves. Now that I've passed the magic age of 26, I can now even claim a clerical exemption. Imagine them sending me, in my robes, to Viet Nam! What would they say if I tried to join the Army as a clergyman for duty in SVN?...