The Professor and the Bishop

For almost fifteen years now I have been meeting with a small group of 'fellow pilgrims' with whom I once sent a month living in Windsor Castle. That was a very special month - a wonderful warm English summer, royalty as neighbours, the historic St George's chapel and its choir to aid worship and six great colleagues to work and reflect with. We met again a few weeks ago and as a reward for organising our meeting place (alas not Windsor Castle this time!) I received a book by one of our number.

Taproots for Transformation by Prof. Richard Whitfield is not the sort of book I would naturally read but as it was written and gifted by a friend a have been exploring its pages, or perhaps I should say 'joining in its conversation'. The book takes the form of a 200 page conversation between Richard (a professor of education passionate about child development and adult nurture) and Bruce Gilberd (the retired bishop of Auckland, New Zealand). As Christmas approaches I quote one short passage - from Richard:

"The baby born at Bethlehem, whose parents ensure that he avoids Herod's jealous infanticide, who, from a carpenter's apprenticeship, becomes the radical teacher and healer, and who dies unjustly, with his integrity intact, with two thieves on a Calvary cross changes how we might view each other. ... Everyone counts, and profoundly. ... Now we must avoid [all human] dereliction in the future by letting deep spiritual taproots source humanitity's transformation, in which 'religion' as such is clearly a very mixed blessing." If you want to read more you can find the book here.