Talk radio and the press want the people to busy themselves getting wound up about gender identity, black lives matter, immigration and extremism. Why? Because it prevents us from addressing the real issues. What are the so-called culture wars? In truth? In my opinion, they’re merely a device invented by the rich to distract from …
Adding to my catalogue of prayer in strange places, the midday prayer performed at Hammersmith hospital. This diversion prompting yet more unexpected memories: all those appointments twenty years ago, wandering up Du Cane Road for worrisome examinations and investigations. How easily we forget the most significant moments of our lives, only for them to come …
I feel like I’ve been transported to another world today.
My wife is telling our guest about her own journey of faith. About how she came from a Muslim country a non-Muslim, and returned a Muslim. Even our guest, who was raised Jewish, is a bit perplexed by this, but this story is even more baffling than that. The first person who gave her a …
Our day, I guess, more muted than that of most of my fellow countrymen. Sunday lunch with family and a single guest, a Jewish convert to Islam we’ve known for years, of my parents’ generation. Good companionship. A clear head. Gratitude. Tales shared. Memories recalled. Relaxed hospitality, without excess or gluttony. Ease and simplicity, just …
I like this advice, for I really think it is true: “If you can afford to be unknown, then be so. What harm shall ever come to you from being unknown? Why should you care if you are not praised? And why should you care if you are criticised by people while being praised by …
I do not care if the hard right — atheist, Christian or Muslim — call me a woke lefty liberal snowflake. For me, being a woke lefty liberal snowflake means caring for the lives of others. To stand with those who for generations have faced societal discrimination, deprived of their natural rights. It is to …
Peace be upon you.
So that’s contemplations of making hijra to Cambridge done with, having spent fifteen minutes on RightMove looking at house prices. We’ll have to content ourselves with our humble abode, and make do with digital fellowship alone, connecting via YouTube instead. A spiritual migration in place of a physical one. Nay bother.
A welcome saunter down the other end of town, escaping the frantic chaos of last-minute festive shopping all around.
Many people labelled as extremists are not in fact extreme in their religion at all. They’re lax. Lax in the prohibitions of their religion. Taking an innocent life is an enormity: an abomination. Attacking civilians as they go about their daily lives is severely censured in our tradition. Even indiscriminate violence on the battlefield is …
Our lad does make me laugh. The family were planning to go to London for the day and stay overnight with friends. Glancing at me, our lad asks concerned, “Will you be okay on your own?” I suggest I think I can survive twenty-four hours apart. If anything, I will enjoy the peace and quiet. …
In software development, cheeky engineers sometimes hide “easter eggs” in their code, which often remain long undiscovered until undocumented commands or a combination of events bring them to light. That’s why I sometimes invoke the analogy of living in an advanced virtual reality metaverse: because I keep on encountering the likeness of easter eggs in …
