Friend or Foe? It is often said that the experiences we go through give us a lens with which to view and interpret our reality in the world. In my case, especially after the death of my brother, I have been thinking more frequently about death and life and their mystery. In line with this, I was led to an essay by Esther Acolatse, professor of pastoral theology at Duke Divinity School. Her central idea is that death strikes both as a familiar friend and a dreaded foe, hence creating ambivalent feelings in us . [1] In her thinking through this ambivalence, she provides a framework for understanding this mystery of death and to anchor it on the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. I have always thought of death, for a long time, to be both a natural process as well as a negative result of man's participation in his choice of separation from His creator God at the genesis of creation. The verse that Acolatse alludes in this thinking is Genesis 2:17 " but you must not
An African's account of "Faith seeking Understanding" through life's journey.