What if God was one of us?

Driving home one evening recently, I happened to catch Joan Osborne’s ‘What If God was One of Us?’ on the radio. With Christmas shopping finally in full swing (belatedly, due to the recession), the refrain arrested my attention: what if God were one of us? What if God were a stranger on the bus? What if God were just a slob like one of us? What if God were a child in a manger?

Indeed, what if.

Finding the Still Point

At the still point of the turning world. Neither flesh nor fleshless;
Neither from nor towards; at the still point, there the dance is,
But neither arrest nor movement. And do not call it fixity,
Where past and future are gathered.
T. S. Elliot, 'Burnt Norton'

Today I'm taking a well deserved day off from studies. It's been a hectic couple of weeks, rather more taxing than I thought they would have been. The last week of term is always burdensome, but in addition I took part in an activity which required my whole self to be invested. And so, looking back this morning on the last weeks, I feel tired and in need of rediscovering the lifeline with God, the still point of my soul.

Help! I'm being educated...

I recently watched the British film An Education. The main character, Jenny, is a promising A-level student in 1960s suburban London with aspirations for Oxford, whose life takes a U-turn when one day she meets a man twice her age. He opens up for her a world she had never even dreamed off: parties, expensive restaurants, concerts, new clothes... In comparison her old life seems extremely dull and senseless. In this context Jenny makes the following remark to her headmistress : "It's not enough to educate us any more, Mrs Walters. You've got to tell us why you're doing it" These words stuck with me. Why is education so important? As a Jesuit we are asked to study for quite some time and most of us have done studies before becoming a Jesuit. I believe the answer to the question is helpful not only to Jesuits, a rather rare breed of human being, but to all students, since the answer to the question might prevent us from doing it for the wrong reasons.

Religion in the Public Space: An Ash Wednesday Dilemma

Last Wednesday, Christians around the world (but primarily those in the Western traditions - Roman Catholic, Anglican, Lutheran, Methodist and Presbyterian) started a period of about 40 days of prayer, fasting and charitable work known as Lent. The end of this period is, as is easily guessed, Easter - the celebration of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. However, it is the beginning - Ash Wednesday - that leaves me with an annual dilemma.

Reading Week: The Value of Stillness

Are we human,
or are we dancer?
My sign is vital;
my hands are cold.
And I'm on my knees
looking for the answer.