What quality do you value most in a friend?
I find this an impossible prompt to answer. I am not sure I have ever had a friend. Not due to other people. People are friendly to me. But I simply do not connect with people. And eventually everyone drifts away or gets sick of me.
So what do I value? Honesty with compassion. Also intellect.
I have a long list of TBR books. Online book shops are an easy trap for me so just more of the usual (without the guilt).
What jobs have you had?
Jobs that I have had for pay are …
I have worked in retail selling white goods and furniture. Not much fun!
I worked in a call centre. Nearly destroyed me.
And, drum roll, I have worked as a minister of religion. Very rewarding at times but also soul destroying.
I have had many other jobs that did not pay but that is for another post.
Do you practice religion?
So the problem is … How does one define “religion”?
I am not part of an institution that is considered “religious”. I go not no church, either do I consider myself part of a denomitation. There is no collective answer for an individual problem. My sin, my problem!
Institution, no matter how holy and other-worldly, can answer for me. Yes, community is nice. But in the end I stand alone before God. Or, another way to put it, change for me comes from inside, never from outside.
I do, however, think of myself as standing within a tradition of spirituality. For me that is the Book of Common Prayer. But that is not the answer – it is simply a way to shape my life. It describes my life but does not define it.
The only answer to the problem of my darkness is the Light of Jesus. No one else can take the steps that I need to make. No one else can take responsibility for me. No one else can make the “act of faith” for me. Faith in Jesus is a resolution rather than a conclusion.
So do I practice a religion?
If I had to pick, maybe Kierkegaard or Nietzsche. Nietzsche’s diet would make it difficult but not impossible. I would also enjoy Buber. Is Kafka a philosopher?
Do you remember life before the internet?
Yes! I also remember the world before TV – well, colour TV – and home phones. Not sure if it was better but it was very different. Sometimes i would like to be “back before before”.
What are you good at?
The philosophical answer is a question: what is good? (Also a spiritual question, methinks.)
In reality (sic), I am pretty sure I am good at absolutely nothing. Not fishing but just being truthful and real.
What does “having it all” mean to you? Is it attainable?
Real solitude! Not who is absent (that is isolation) but who is present (solitude). Absolutely within reach.
Who would you like to talk to soon?
Maybe not talk only but connect. Encounter rather than experience.
And I have absolutely no idea until it actually happens.
What personal belongings do you hold most dear?
A repeat of yesterday: my books. They are the belongings with which I spend most time. And thought!
a fool and his prayer book 