Our new library additions include a selection of letters by Seneca “the Younger”, one of the favourite Roman authors of medieval Christendom, in whose works ancient philosophy is clearly seen as a way of inner purification and self-transcendence, akin to the contemplative lives of the religious traditions.

Let us become intimate with poverty, so that Fortune may not catch us off our guard. We shall be rich with all the more comfort, if we once learn how far poverty is from being a burden.

• In a brief chapter entitled “The Rape of Nature”, Philip Sherrard addresses concisely the current “desanctification” of nature and its profound causes in the “dehumanization” of man:

Once we repossess a sense of our own holiness, we will recover a sense of the holiness of the world about us as well and we will then act towards the world about us with the awe and humility that we should possess when we enter a sacred shrine, a temple of love and beauty in which we are to worship and adore the Creator.

• Complementing the above, we have a video recorded interview in which Bishop Kallistos Ware shares his memories and reflections on Philip Sherrard’s life and work:

He said that “tradition” is the preservation and handing on of a method of contemplation. Not just texts written in books, but a way of looking at the wholeness of reality.

• Preparations are under way for a week of events in December with Prof. Harry Oldmeadow from Australia. Please follow this link for details and to register your interest.

• Your attention is drawn to the Covenants Initiative, an acclaimed interfaith initiative based on ancient and little known texts attributed to the Prophet Muhammad.