I bought this postcard of the tympanum over the door of the cathedral of St Trophime in Arles, in the south of France, in 1964. This twelfth century sculpture shows Jesus enthroned, surrounded by the four living creatures of Revelation (4:6-8) who, from the time of Irenaeus in the second century, came to represent the four gospels. The whole semi-circular ...
A dog is a dog and maybe we do not think much more about it. There are big dogs, like Alsatians, and small ones, like fox terriers. But dogs are dogs and they are just there – part of the environment, maybe making visitors or intruders think twice before approaching a house, but not much more. There is, however, one ...
On a cold winter’s night in July 1973, guerrilla freedom fighters visited St Albert’s Mission on the edge of the escarpment in the north of Zimbabwe, rounded up about 280 students and staff and led them down into the valley planning to enlist them in the struggle. When the Rhodesians learnt what had happened, they sent planes which dropped flares ...
Ignatius Zvaravashe, who died in 2019, was a Jesuit priest and a writer. He was born in Gutu, Zimbabwe, in 1943 and was a keen observer of traditional customs and use of language. He has recently been ‘discovered’ in the sense that his thought, expressed in his writings and in the memory of those who knew him, is being studied ...
I wonder why the ruling party chooses to retain the word ‘Front’ in its title? It was part of the title chosen by their predecessors in government when, in the early 1960s, they chose a military title for theirs. Then it was a ‘front’ against any black advancement and the Zambezi was often invoked as a frontier with chaos ‘to ...
‘Follow me!’ You would need to be full of confidence, perhaps like St Paul, to say that to another! I once committed myself to another’s lead on a mountain side when we were lost. But what happens when someone you trust lets your down? I had trust, appreciation and admiration for the first leader of this country for twenty years ...
In his prayer intention video for February, Pope Francis asks parishes to truly be communities: places of listening and welcome whose doors are always open to all, no one excluded. Parishes are not exclusive clubs In the video, which begins with an image of the outside of a beautiful but empty parish church, followed by that of the same church ...
There was a clip on the TV last night showing a Taliban leader in Afghanistanlistening to a question of Lyse Doucet, the BBC reporter, about the role ofwomen in delivering aid to the starving people of the country. His eyes werefull of scorn for everything the woman in front of him represented. He waslistening but not listening. It was obvious ...
There are many things that thrill us. One is obviously football. Another ismusic. Watching and listening to Orchestra Kinshasa immediately tells youwhat a lift if gives people. They have taken to classical music and instrumentsand adapted them to be their own. ‘With the harp I will solve my problem’(Psalm 49:4). It has been known since ancient times that music can ...
As I walked home, I was overtaken by a vertical collection of brooms. As itpassed, I realised it was a man on a bicycle with a neatly bound selection ofdifferent sorts and colours of brushes. He skilfully wove his way among thepotholes like a dancer on a stage. His demeanour suggested a happy man,confident he knew what he was doing. ...
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