“Reverent Agnostic”

In the past, people were divided into believers and atheists; they followed either their gurus or their senses and their down to earth logic. Now things are more complicated; there are degrees in almost everything. Materialists are shaken by Relativity and Quanta while, for many believers, the gurus’ faith and authority come into question.

When agnostics start to dig into the Holy Scriptures, it resembles those ancient alchemists whose research often brought unimagined results. A.J. Jakobs, a New York author, an agnostic, spent a whole year living the Bible literally, … Read More

“Carol” (A portrait from the past)

Portrait of Carol in oil pastel
“Carol” – oil pastel-WM

I met her in Paris where she worked as a maid. She was a peasant from around Burgos (northern Spain). Her mother died early and her father and stepmother treated her inhumanly. When she was five years old they sent her to a convent. There she wasn’t handled with silk gloves either; Spain was simply a hard country where the strongest survived. Five year old Carol scrubbed the convent’s floors and washed clothes from morning to night. She stood on a chair raised up on blocks … Read More