Blind jazz pianist, George Shearing, according to a popular story, was waiting at a busy intersection for somebody to help him across. He heard a tapping and a man spoke: “I am blind. Please could you help me across the road?” He is later quoted as responding: “What could I do? I took him across... Continue Reading →
Reflections on Love
I was explaining to a friend recently why Turner’s landscapes are among my favourite paintings. I love the savage beauty of nature, as he depicts it. Something about his wild impartial skies and wild, alien landscapes resonates with my soul. Whenever we look at a piece of art, we only tangentially see the artist. What... Continue Reading →
The Importance of Checking Your Blindspots
A dear friend of mine recently posted this picture. I was immediately taken with it. Doesn’t it sum up the human condition so succinctly? Too often, like the pigeon in the picture, our limited minds seem incapable of comprehending a bigger picture; sometimes they are unwilling to concede that there even is one. We will... Continue Reading →
Exploring the Mystery of the Cross
Imagine that, in the midst of a bout of temporary insanity, you told your wife this: that in order for you to remain married, she would have to dress up like a nun, because that was the only way you could love her and find her attractive. How long do you think that marriage would... Continue Reading →
The Necessity Of Leaving Room For Doubt
One of my pupils recently asked me to list my ten favourite books. It is an unfair question to ask an English teacher. I have read literally thousands of books and to ask me to narrow the list down to a mere ten seems a tad cruel. And what criteria should I use to make... Continue Reading →
Is The Church Losing Its Way?
A colleague of mine, one for whom I have a sincere admiration, recently came back from Iraq, where she went on a mission to provide encouragement to displaced Christians. Ilda’s faith constantly challenges mine. She epitomises for me what true Christianity is about: not just ‘me, my Bible and Jesus’, but a living faith that... Continue Reading →
Avoiding The Void
I am suspicious of hedonism: somehow it is a lie. Now I do not believe myself to be any more incapable of lying than the next person, but I do hold integrity as one of my core values: I do not believe that one can live a fulfilled life when one is consciously living a... Continue Reading →
Calling A Spade A Spade
Many Christians are content to adopt a live-and-let-live approach towards the Word of Faith movement. They see them as misguided but basically well-meaning (for example, read the thoughts of Eric Hyde, one of my favourite bloggers: https://ehyde.wordpress.com/2013/06/04/why-do-word-of-faith-christians-become-jaded/). I am not so understanding. I believe that Word of Faith preachers – Creflo Dollar, Joel Osteen and... Continue Reading →
The Commodification of Christianity: A Rant
We are often too quick to blame all social problems on systems: poverty is the result of capitalism; bigotry is the result of religion; economic or social problems are the result of a certain political party being in power; education is in crisis because we have the wrong curriculum or assessment strategy. I could go... Continue Reading →
If There Is Meaning In Life At All…
Do we ever have the right to choose when we die? The issue of assisted suicide is topical in South Africa at the moment. On April 30th this year, Advocate Robin Stransham-Ford died only hours before the court granted his application for state assistance in ending his life, after a prolonged battle with cancer. Health... Continue Reading →
Vapors In The Wind 