Category: Note

I am travelling for two weeks, meeting people and collecting stories. Some of which will end up here. So, ‘normal service’ will resume in May. [Photo by Tima Miroshnichenko: https://www.pexels.com/photo/a-desk-globe-on-a-black-luggage-7009459/]Continue readingTravelling

What is Good News? This depends very much on the person and the situation, but I would say something along these lines: You might feel out of place, sad, bad, guilty, conflicted or confused, but these are ‘only’ symptoms of the fundamental problem: we lost the connection with God. Most of us here in Europe have forgotten this long ago, but God has not forgotten us. In Christ, he has reached out to us, reversed the process of sin, separation and death, and offers us a new start in a new community. Does that sound like good news? [Photo by…Continue readingGood news. What?

One of the musical treasures of the season of Advent is a series of seven antiphons known as the Great O Antiphons. Seven chants, seven prayers, seven expressions of longing and expectation. The first antiphon, O Sapientia (for December 17) is a call for Wisdom to appear. O Sapientia, quae ex ore Altissimi prodiisti, attingens a fine usque ad finem, fortiter suaviterque disponens omnia: veni ad docendum nos viam prudentiae. O Wisdom, coming forth from the mouth of the Most High, reaching from one end to the other, mightily and sweetly ordering all things:Come and teach us the way of prudence. The…Continue readingO Advent

Something James K.A. Smith wrote recently: There is something gloriously quixotic about devotion to the humanities today (disciplined attention to history, close reading of texts, pursuit of truth, all with a commitment to humanism). The hungry maw of the corporate, neoliberal university chews this up and laughs. But we’re not fiddling while Rome burns. We humanists are insistently playing the music that called us, hoping some of the younger generation learn the song. Indeed, we’re not fiddling. [Photo by Miriam Espacio from Pexels: https://www.pexels.com/photo/orange-flame-selective-focus-photography-110867/]Continue readingWe’re not fiddling