Eremos

How will I begin to introduce the many interesting themes in this issue? Some read each EREMOS from cover to cover, ‘like a novel’, however I would say that such is the interweaving of ideas and concepts there is no need to start at the beginning. Start anywhere, follow your nose and you will be richly rewarded.

If we do begin at the beginning, leading off, and in conjunction with our cover image from Angelica Mesiti, Rod Pattenden explores twenty-first century spirituality and especially the thirsting of young people. Alex Nelson looks at the relationship between Hans Küng and Joseph Ratzinger (Pope Benedict). This article refers to the letter from Küng to The Irish Times which serves as a starting point for a wider examination of the Catholic Church today, and we also hear alarm bells for other Christian Churches.

Val Webb then introduces us to Florence Nightingale, ‘the lady with the lamp’ who could equally well have been dubbed ‘the lady with the brain’—not that one excludes the other. Her intelligence, concern for the poor and her religious imagination led her to contextual theology and mysticism, a side of Florence Nightingale which is calling out to be heard.

Complementing these articles, David Tacey writes about experience, imagination and faith, carefully tracking what is happening to religious belief in the search for God in the postmodern era.

Jorie Ryan's poem, The Logic Circuit of Belief, provides a change of pace with an entertaining critique of her brother’s contention that ‘the world is a binary masterpiece’.

James Alison will present a series of events in Sydney for Eremos, and for other organisations elsewhere in Australia (for information see page 37). James is one of the leading religious thinkers of our time, and his conversation with the editors of the US-based Christian Century serves as a summary of some of his most original thought. His examination of scriptural themes—the resurrection and the atonement to mention just two—is thought-provoking and revealing. Following this interview, Sue Emeleus presents a survey of James Alison’s books.

Finally, Walter Mason reviews Confession of a Buddhist Atheist by Stephen Batchelor, and then reports on this year’s Common Dreams gathering. Walter comments that the conference was, in some ways, about the ‘end of old ideas, and of old religious forms’. This made me think about Eremos and its role in the ebb and flow of explorations in spirituality today. It’s not an easy time, one in which we try to be all things to all people, an accepting and inclusive community where members can explore in their own way and at their own pace.

I hope we achieve this to some degree, and that this issue of EREMOS plays its part, not as a warehouse full of commodities but as a cloud of unknowing bursting with possibility.

Jacquie Pryor