Skinboaters, Sept 2024
I’m writing this in the days after the first weekend of The Skinboat & The Star – and as my latest book, The Bacchae, arrives into the world...
I’m delighted to say many Skinboaters belong to our very parish – it really did make me miss the rest of you all the more. It was the most extraordinary teaching experience of my life so far. In the weeks leading up all sorts of devilment and general stresses had at me, but today, with my mug of tea, I feel light and even rested.
A question that floated up in my mind for the weekend was the title of today’s writing: They sell us Pentecost, we get Babel. What do I mean by that? I mean it in a simplistic and secular sense. Pentecost is a moment when we are all meant to understand each other, even when we speak different languages and come from different places. Google translate in overdrive. Everything flattened but understandable. It’s a horizontal rather than a vertical encounter.
What does the sacred version look like?