Meeting Imams and Other Anomalies
When I had first entered the Al-Mahdi Institute, I had to learn Arabic and at that point recognise the letters. One night, alone in my rented house, I was attempting to read the first few…
Category: Miscellaneous Nonfiction
Jimmy Carter: A Life After the Presidency
Author's Note: This article is dedicated to Professor Tom De Palma, who taught me that learning about history could be fun. Also, to Achelle and Andrea, for their friendship. ~ History simply does not judge…
The Soul is Stronger than Death: A Meditation on Love and Eternity
In sterile scientific terms, we all understand the nature of death. It is, by definition, the shutting down of the biological functions of the body, rendering it lifeless and susceptible to corruption and…
The Power of Prayer
Where do we go, oh, when our prayers are answered? Where do we go, oh, when our prayers are answered, but the answer is no? Lindsey Stirling and Carah Faye ask a good question in…
Memories of Sarajevo: The Healing Power of Art and Music
As we reflect on the tragedy of the Bosnian War, two horrific events are likely to stand out in the minds of many people. Firstly, the massacre in July 1995 of more than 8,000 Bosnian Muslims,…
Souls We Hardly Save: Staying Spiritually Aware During Dark Times
The world is turning faster and faster and faster, and so many of us feel as if we’re about to fall off the carousel. We are shocked at the spin, and cannot find our footing.…
The Synod of Whitby: Part Two
By the end of the 6th century and beginning part of the 7th century, in the period leading up to the synod, a process of evangelisation had begun in different parts of Britain. The Christian…
The Synod of Whitby: Part One – Introduction
This is the name retrospectively given to the gathering of Christian clerics at the double monastery of Streaneshalch, located above the town now known as Whitby in 664 AD/CE – in the seventh century. Bede…
A Meditation on Meeting Souls Gone By
I’m the kind of person who must “meet” people. It is the only way I can know them, living or dead. I must feel their presence on some level, or I cannot hope to truly…
A Saturday Morning in the Bookstore
Why are there now so many books of lists of ten things we must do before we die? Why not nine, or eleven? And why should pay someone for a list of experiences he says…