“The path to paradise begins in hell.” ― Dante Alighieri – There’s a room in my life where hell sleeps. Sleeps every so lightly. And over the last few years, it often awakens, moving swiftly through the corridors, to be part of the many conversations I have had with people whose life narrative has been…Continue reading Haunted by Hell: Part 1 – Dante’s Legacy
Category: Books
Letting Javert Go
“One can say that Javert is our conscience. The ever lurking presence of the law and our own condemnation. The tension between who we were and who we are and who we can be. Javert represents that inescapable, shameful past that forever haunts and pursues one’s conscience. Javert is the man of the law, and……Continue reading Letting Javert Go
Neither Here nor There – The Many Voices of Liminality
‘Jesus, on whom be peace, said This world is a bridge. Pass over it but do not build your dwelling there.’ (Inscribed in Persian on Buland Darwaza, the main gateway to the palace at Fatehpur Sikri, south of Delhi, India by the Moghul emperor Akbar I in 1601) Last year, I had the opportunity…Continue reading Neither Here nor There – The Many Voices of Liminality
Is it Time to Marie Kondō Our Ideas?
“The space in which we live should be for the person we are becoming now, not for the person we were in the past.” – Marie Kondō – Yes, I am one of them. One of those Marie Kondō fans. I find her mesmerising. From the moment she enters someone’s home she shows restraint, respect,…Continue reading Is it Time to Marie Kondō Our Ideas?
On Being a Feral Priest
Dedicated to all the Ferals out there xx I found tears running down my face as I read this blog post. It was not because I was particularly sad, for that matter. It was because Colin Coward (author) was able to eloquently articulate something that resonated so deeply with me. Thank you, Colin, for your…Continue reading On Being a Feral Priest
Celebrating the Birth of the Homeless, Oppressed and Marginalised
“Christmas is built upon a beautiful and intentional paradox; that the birth of the homeless should be celebrated in every home.” -G.K. Chesterton – If we had to paint a picture of the Christ that many of us celebrate at Christmas, what would our portrait look like? If the sound bytes that accost us on…Continue reading Celebrating the Birth of the Homeless, Oppressed and Marginalised
Voices from the Grave: Frederick Douglass
“Where justice is denied, where poverty is enforced, where ignorance prevails, and where any one class is made to feel that society is an organized conspiracy to oppress, rob and degrade them, neither persons nor property will be safe.” Frederick Douglas We know little of the woman Harriet Bailey. We just know she was the…Continue reading Voices from the Grave: Frederick Douglass
We should all BEE concerned!
“If bees didn’t exist, neither would humans” – Dr Reese Halter I have memories of warm summer days in Northern Germany with my mother handing me a juice with a warning – “Make sure you don’t swallow a bee!” Bees seemed to be buzzing everywhere around the tumbling wildflower and fruit tree garden that surrounded…Continue reading We should all BEE concerned!
The Relationship Glue: Kindness
“When I was young I admired clever people, now that I am old I admire kind people.” – Abraham Joshua Heschel- Psychologists John and Julie Gottman spent four decades studying relationships. They set up a research centre at the Washington University and together with a colleague, Robert Levenson, analysed hundreds of relationships (now referred…Continue reading The Relationship Glue: Kindness
My Addiction to Certitude
There are all kinds of addicts, I guess. We all have pain. And we all look for ways to make the pain go away. – Sherman Alexie – In a recent conversation with a friend on the topic of liminality and religion, I entered a path of greater self-discovery. The question he posed that allowed…Continue reading My Addiction to Certitude