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Take two tablets
Myths and other ancient stories have long fascinated me. I am especially interested in what these stories can teach me about the meaning of life and my place in the world. I am drawn to use such stories to gain insight into how the human world operates. This also applies to the texts which the world’s major religions use for their inspiration and guidance.
There can be many layers to any story and here I explore some of these layers as they relate to one story in my life.
I am woken by a soft knocking on the door. It is 4 am and pitch black. I force myself to keep my eyes open as I slowly push myself into a sitting position, before standing on my still sleepy and shaky legs. It is very cold.
It is mid-1979 and I am at the Saint Catherine Monastery in the centre of the southern part of the Sinai Peninsula. The monastery is imposing as one approaches it from either north or south, as it dominates a narrow valley, overshadowed by rough, steep mountains. It has stood here for more than fourteen centuries. Like so much else in this part of the world, it is considered sacred by three major religions.
A church was built here in the early 4th Century, apparently to protect the burning bush seen by Moses. There is still a unique specimen of a plant in the grounds of the current monastery, which some believe to be the original bush. This would…
