When words fail us.

I have come here because I am soul sore. Weary. I seek refuge in (C.S) Lewis’ Oxford, yearning for repose and a place to draw closer to God.

Dear Readers, this week a gift from me to you. My latest book “When Words Fail Us: Truth Beyond Time” was published last month, and this week the audiobook has been released. So, to mark the occasion, I am giving you all a little extract from the book.

The book is a collection of lectures I delivered at Australian Catholic University, in honour of the French philosopher, Simone Weil.

The Simone Weil lectures are among the most prestigious philosophy lectures on the Australian calendar and have been delivered over the years by some of the world’s leading thinkers. I was honoured to be invited to speak last year.

I decided to focus on the importance of words. I believe the failure to communicate, to speak with generosity, respect and love, to disagree well, is a blight on our age. Simone Weil said that humans require silence and warmth, what we receive instead is an “icy pandemonium”. What a chilling phrase, and how it captures our shrill, crowd, brittle age.

My lectures were an invitation to sit in silence. To find a new language of the sacred. I hope you enjoy this small offering.