There are few stories in the Gospels that capture the heart of human longing quite like that of Zacchaeus, the despised tax collector who climbed a tree to see Jesus. It is a tale of transformation, of a man lost in the world but found by grace. When I reflect on this account from Luke 19:1–10, … Continue reading Zacchaeus and the Sycamore Tree: A Story of Redemption and Grace
Category: My Words
Thoughts and memories-a-plenty!
The Profound Communion of Souls in George Eliot’s Words
George Eliot’s assertion - "What greater thing is there, for two human souls, than to feel that they are joined to strengthen each other, and to be at one with each other, in silent unspeakable memories?" Adam Bede (1859) - is not merely a reflection on love, but a profound meditation on the nature of human … Continue reading The Profound Communion of Souls in George Eliot’s Words
Shards of a Broken Mind: A Critique of The Life of a Stupid Man
The Life of a Stupid Man was published posthumously in 1927, the same year Ryūnosuke Akutagawa took his own life. That makes this work seem like a literary suicide note - one final, unfiltered outpouring of his disillusionment and despair. It wasn’t crafted for an audience so much as exhaled, a last gasp of a man … Continue reading Shards of a Broken Mind: A Critique of The Life of a Stupid Man
A Pathetic and Shadowy Medley: Tolkien’s Catholic Critique of Protestantism
Having spent a considerable amount of time in Durham Cathedral of late, I have also found myself immersed in The Last Office, a compelling work of narrative history that chronicles the sixteenth-century dissolution of the monasteries - most notably, Durham itself. Meanwhile, like many in recent years, I have been hearing the ever-growing clamour for reparations, … Continue reading A Pathetic and Shadowy Medley: Tolkien’s Catholic Critique of Protestantism
The King in Yellow: A Curious Case of Cosmic Horror and Turn-of-the-Century Angst
The unifying thread in the best stories is a mysterious, fictional play - also called The King in Yellow - which is said to drive anyone who reads it into a state of gibbering madness. Of course, Chambers teases us with snippets of this forbidden text but never lets us see the full thing, much like … Continue reading The King in Yellow: A Curious Case of Cosmic Horror and Turn-of-the-Century Angst