From Monday 19 April to midnight on Sunday the 25th you can buy my book The Teacher at a 10 per cent discount, using the code THE TEACHER10 when ordering the title from the Kevin Mayhew website. With the book normally retailing at £14.99, that’s a saving of £1.50. Just type the code into the relevant box at the online checkout between the dates given.
To give you a flavour of the book, here’s the Preface:
This book is written with one purpose in mind: to offer words of guidance concerning daily life. It draws on words of ancient wisdom literature, particularly of the so-called Teacher in the book of Ecclesiastes and from the book of Proverbs – both largely ascribed to that renowned paradigm of wisdom, King Solomon.
This is not an overtly religious book, nor is its aim to entice you into some sort of religious commitment via the back door. Rather, it is intended simply to offer reflections on some key aspects of our everyday experience, in the hope that they may prove to be of help and inspiration.
The book is structured in the form of dialogues on such themes as hope, envy, fear and love, as though I am approaching the Teacher directly, seeking help and instruction. I have paraphrased the Teacher’s responses – drawing these from the biblical text (referenced at the back of the book, to avoid breaking up the text) – and in each case have added further thoughts of my own. Not that I claim any special wisdom. Far from it: my insights are as fallible, as flawed, as inadequate and as culturally conditioned as the next person’s. You may agree or disagree with my personal observations, but if they set you reflecting in turn then they will have done their job, for that is where deeper perception so often begins: in making time to pause and ponder.
I am no sage, presuming to hand out nuggets of wisdom. Rather I am a fellow-seeker with you, the reader, looking for deeper understanding but forever conscious of how little I have truly grasped. Yet that is the way it should be, for – to me at least – the chief lesson that the words of the Teacher repeatedly bring home is that, when it comes to the big questions of life, the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth will always elude us, genuine wisdom lying precisely in accepting the limitations of our understanding.
And here’s the Introductory section to the book:
I looked to the Teacher for guidance, for though I have thought long and hard about the business of life, I knew there was still so much to learn. And the Teacher told me, ‘I have focused my heart on seeking, pursuing and understanding wisdom, so that I might perceive the grand scheme of things.’
So I asked, ‘Teach me more. Speak to me of the secret of happiness, of health and hope, love and laughter. Instruct me in the way of peace, patience, gentleness, generosity and life-giving relationships. And show me how to conquer anger, envy, pride and despair. Make me wise.’
Then the Teacher replied, ‘If you cry out for insight, and raise your voice for understanding, if you seek for it as you would for silver, for hidden treasures, then you will acquire discernment and understand what it means.’
‘I do seek,’ I answered, ‘and will keep on doing so. But, time after time, I realise that what I thought I had fully grasped I have misunderstood completely. Help me to learn more, to go deeper, for so much of life is a mystery.’
And the Teacher invited me to converse further . . .