Praise to the Holiest in the height,
And in the depth be praise:
In all His words most wonderful;
Most sure in all His ways.

I had the immense privilege and joy of having lunch with Dr Gavin Ashenden who is presently in France and lives only an hour from my home when he is over here. We first met in Oxford in 2018. What I discovered in him was a rare depth of spirit, akin to that of Russian philosophers like Berdyaev who lived through the end of the old Russian Empire and the bloody Revolution of 1917. We live in a new time of nihilism, extreme polarisation and encroaching totalitarianism. The foreboding signs are there for all to see.

I draw your attention to a dialogue between Dr Ashenden and Rod Dreher:

The tone is sombre as the way ahead for us all seems to be the collapse of civilisation and the catacombs. I also listened to The Christian Mental Health Crisis involving Damien Thompson, also a profound mind. We have lived through the Covid crisis differently, the more extroverted people suffering the most from their deprivation of their habitual level of social life.

Dr Ashenden has a rare degree of profound thought and knowledge of philosophy. He has my esteem and my beginning of a friendship. I also praise him for his honesty of mind, even letting go of many certitudes. Whether we are Anglicans, Roman Catholics or Orthodox, we live in hope, not certitude. We are called to be faithful confessors of the Faith.