THOUGHTS

The following excerpt is taken from a book that was generously loaned to me by a good friend to read throughout my time in Africa. It is titled, ‘The Dust Diaries – An African Story” by author Owen Sheers.
The Bishop had lasted a long time, much longer than most. A total of nineteen years of service, starting off in the south, far south, in the diamond town of Kimberly, then migrating north, into Mashonland and the sudden violence of the native uprising of 1896. A widower, he’d arrived in Southern Rhodesia seven years ago a hollow man, a husk blown north on little more than the wind of his wife’s death and his own song lines of grief. He’d come to replace the Bishop Knight Bruce, looking for more of the pioneering work he had done in Kimberley, where he had risen to the challenge of that town to become both rector and archdeacon.
It was a hard town, hard as the diamonds at its core, where the prospectors spent their days flogging their bodies in the mines and their nights dreaming of the future happiness their riches would bring them. They mined the earth for the elusive diamonds, while he mined their souls for an equally elusive faith. It seemed like an agreement, a contract, and over time, he’d gained a respect in the town, and not just when he was needed, to marry, bury, christen. He also won the respect of the miners for who he was – a man, doing his job, just like them. And diamonds and God, he had come to decide, had a lot in common. They both held promises for men, and were received either by those who worked hard, went looking for, or more often than not, by those who just stumbled upon them. No logic. Gems, hidden in the dirt. Soul prospecting.
After shaking out of my captivated state of mind through reading this, I immediately knew this was the clearest way I could sum up the events of the previous week since I have updated last. Much has happened since my latest entry. Many definite detailed events. Nevertheless, with all of the varied experiences and circumstances, the simplest way to sum up my life over the last week is:
NO LOGIC. GEMS HIDDEN IN THE DIRT. SOUL PROSPECTING.