I did not post a blog at Easter, because we have been away for a few days. The first photo from the gallery below gives a hint as to what it was that we were running from: the dust and debris of our house. Our landlord has finally joined the march of civilization and has …
Lent 2015
Breaking down walls
Building walls is something that we humans do well. The Berlin Wall has since long become history now, but elsewhere in the world walls are still daily used to separate people from each other. The wall along the West Bank in Israel is perhaps the most famous example. This barrier is intended to protect Israelis …
Forest of Peace
We recently watched the BBC series Planet Oil. An interesting story about the history of oil, but with a depressing ending. Our addiction to fossil fuels has thoroughly disrupted the ecological balance of the planet. It is frustrating to see how slow alternative energy is developing, mainly because nothing happens at the policy level. In …
Happy Holi!
Slowly but surely I’m finding my feet in the office. This week I brought two plants and today installed them in their pots, with our new peat free compost. Today I saw that my new nameplate adorns the door of our office. I also saw a jar with bright pink powder on the desk of …
Interfaith dialogue
For me, the power of faith has never been described more eloquently than in Yann Martel’s Life of Pi. The book is about Piscine, a 16 year old boy from Puducherry, India. After he is shipwrecked, he goes through a terrible ordeal. His love of God pulls him through: The blackness would stir and eventually …
Retribution or restoration?
After the abolition of apartheid in South Africa, the groups that were previously opposed to each other had to find a way to deal with the past. For this, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission was established, led by Desmond Tutu. There had been so many human rights violations that it was impossible to build criminal …