Grief, Nick Cave, Faith, and Knowing

Photo by Kristina Tripkovic on Unsplash

Dear reader,

Ata mārie. Right now I’m writing on my laptop as Te Huia scoots and bounces along the trainline between Hamilton and Auckland.

Usually I would be reading right now – growing the number of books I’ve read on the train. I aim for a specific type of book to read for this travel. It has to be non-fiction in the vicinity of 200 pages, 300 max. It has to be a particular size and can’t be dense going as I read. For this particular ride I have the conversation between Sean O’Hagan (journalist), and Nick Cave (singer, songwriter, musician) – Faith, Hope and Carnage. I’ve heard about this book from a few sources so decided it was time to give it the attention others have said it deserves.

A couple of chapters in and I feel compelled to write as I was just struck by a small part of it that resonates with something I was saying to my wife and daughter in the car last night as we drove home in the dark and wet of Hamilton. We were in a reflective space together, talking about suffering, God, and the way of faith.