Author Description

The foreword to this autobiography is written by no less than Marshal of the Royal Air Force Sir Michael Beetham, and one sentence in his introductory remarks sets the tone for the 270 pages that follow; Sir Michael quotes a friend of the author thus: "We have burned gallons of midnight oil together, ranging widely over history, theology, poetry, beauty and even on a couple of occasions have actually solved the riddle of the Universe which, alas, escaped us both the morning after!"The author's life, and story, begins in the South Wales steel town of Port Talbot in January 1940, where his father was a Master Printer, which perhaps explains his love of language and words and his facility with them. After recounting his academic and ministry training at Lampeter and Oxford, the book goes on to explain in great depth and with great feeling the author's dedication to God and the Church. He is the sort of priest with whom most of us will feel at home, I suspect: forever approachable, working among and for his flock, never giving himself airs and graces, totally dedicated to his work in God's name. A paragraph on pages 132 and 133 tells us essentially what we need to know about his ministry: "Since the early years of my ministry, I have held the conviction that God did not call me to the priesthood merely to minister to Christian folk and 'keep the home fires burning'. From the time I first worked with men, in the steel works and elsewhere, who had not understood the Gospel of Christ or who had decided to reject it, I felt compelled to be available to those lost sheep that had gone astray. I chose that word 'available' carefully, for I saw my role as loitering with intent and befriending folk; to go in with bell, book and candle is, in my view, forced entry leading to trespass. Christ never forced religion on anyone... So I put myself about for Christ's sake. Of course I could be found in church encouraging and leading the people of God who came to worship him week by wee