January 23, 2012
Journalists were quick to recognise the irony of the bizarre tragedy of the Costa Concordia on this centennial year of the Titanic sinking. Human hubris and flagrant disregard of caution in the pursuit of pleasure has thrust a screaming metaphor in our European faces, with the Italians in the front row seats. Two weeks ago […]
January 9, 2012
Last Friday was Epiphany, the day on the Church calendar marking the visit of the Magi to the infant Jesus, and thus the revelation of the Christ to the Gentiles. A good day therefore for an ‘epiphany’–a revelation–about the new year. I was leading a group of students on a historical walk through old Amsterdam […]
March 28, 2010
ww29mar2010.pdf Sixty years ago, Europe was a mess! Hitler’s defeat did not automatically guarantee peace across a devastated and divided continent. Chaos threatened on all sides. Hatred and bitterness towards the enemy poisoned grass-roots attitudes among conqueror and conquered alike. Hunger, poverty and unemployment added to the miseries of injury and upheaval. My generation and […]
