大象传媒

Good morning.听 I was taken into captivity thirty years ago this week, and I am often asked what was it that I missed most during the years I spent as a hostage in Beirut.听 Well, apart from the obvious, family, friends and freedom. I missed books.听 Alas I had no books given to me for over three years nor did I have pencil or paper, so I resorted to writing in my head.听 During that time I wrote many stories some of which were published following my release.听 One of the first places I asked to visit when I returned to the UK was a bookshop and I remember听 being overwhelmed by the choice of books on sale.
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Amongst the volumes on my shelves are the books written by the late Tony Judt.听 Tony Judt was an historian noted for his writing on Europe but also for the books he wrote when he lay immobile with a terrible form of motor neuron disease.听 Gradually his body became paralyzed but during this process his mind remained as clear and as sharp as ever.听 He was able to dictate his final works to a friend and right until his death remained creative.听 I was so struck by him because when in captivity I saw my physical body beginning to grow old before its time I realized that I needed to exercise my brain and keep mentally alive.听

Mercifully, most of us will not have to suffer as Tony suffered but we shall all grow older and for many of us our physical capacities will begin to diminish.听 This does not mean that our creative days are over.听 We may be restricted from travelling the world but there is a whole interior world of memories, dreams and reflections to explore and enjoy.
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O Lord, enlarge our horizons and grant us strength to continue to explore until we depart this life.
Amen.