Real and Unreal
May 20, 2025“Blue girl spin away your dreams – A dance in fields of dream; Cool water splashed upon your wrist A golden ring of memory and future things; Your heart a yearning crucible of possibles and maybe soon … Perhaps indeed in fields of dream where real and unreal meet and kiss as light; Brave compromise returns us to our feel and sight; Perhaps then blue girl, spin away your dreams.” Oliver, Winchester, summer 1967 This beautiful little poem was written for me by a young American man way way back in the first year that I started out…
Rulers of the World
“The ruler of this world is coming” (John 14.31) Every age has its ruler of the world. Before Jesus spoke the famous words cited above, there were many notable ‘rulers of the world’, and one might think of the leaders…
For the Love of Money
“The love of money is the root of all evil” The majority of folk have heard this famous saying at some time in their lives (1). But how helpful is it in a world where having money (or not) seems…
AI, the Golden Calf and the Andean Vampire
The title of this post is as provocative as it is likely impenetrable to a casual eye. Whatever could these three have in common? What are they even? When I first heard of AI it was through the offices of…
Reviving Old Desires
“Now the New Year reviving old Desires, The thoughtful Soul to Solitude retires” Writing on the cusp of the looming new year, I found myself remembering these lines from the 19th century translation of the medieval Persian poem: the…
Symbols of Transformation
Anyone who’s an artist (indeed perhaps creative of any kind) will relate to the problem of when to recognise that a work is finished. Most of us know what it’s like to overwork a work in progress and then wish…
A Work in Progress
One of the most revealing, if shocking revelations of my recent experiences in the mountains, was as though seeing briefly and clearly behind a veil across a dimension to reality normally hidden. It showed me this: all my life, all…
Revelations, realisations and epiphanies
We are spiritual beings, although in our materialistic and increasingly secular modern world, fewer and fewer people experience themselves this way, or own it if they do. We have inherited and are still heavily influenced by 18th century Enlightenment Cartesian…
The Power of Pilgrimage
“No man is rich enough to buy back his past”. This quote, attributed to Oscar Wilde, is one of several aphorisms adorning the wall of my dental clinic here in Kochi. The poignant truth of it is undeniable. As with…
In the Shadow
Since returning from the mountains with the understanding – finally – that it was time to move on and back into the world, I have witnessed a number of clear signs that different aspects of my personality – long remaindered…
Changing Times
From north to south, from the mountains to the sea. From the heartlands of Hinduism to the daily calls to prayer. How does one frame life changes to oneself in a way that allows their safe navigation, without being overwhelmed…
