{"product_id":"9781503502154","title":"Ripples and Reflections II","description":"A much younger version of myself reading this book would be astounded. How could I have written these reflections? For quiet reflection was not the stuff of my childhood. In a large extended Dutch\/Australian family with endless uncles, aunts, and cousins, being heard was a challenge. They were lovely but loud, and everyone had an opinion. This was a fun family to grow up in, and I have no doubt I was as loud and opinionated as everyone else. So how did I become a quietly reflective person from such boisterous beginnings?   Using the well-worn analogy of life as a journey through time and space, I found myself in an amazing time and space. I was thirty-four when I took up a position as a teacher at a Catholic high school called Chevalier College. I was no model Catholic, I but felt my values could align comfortably with those of the college. But let’s face it: faith was always going to be a problem for me. I could have ended up a round peg in a square hole, but the generous staff accepted my recalcitrance with grace and inclusiveness. Having long been an armchair philosopher, I found myself in this wonderful, reflective environment and began to ruminate about life, the universe, and all that. I appreciated the rituals and symbols of Catholic faith, but the repetitive, supernatural nature of the language seemed to me to be the very thing that excluded and alienated many students. I wanted to drag spiritual wisdom out of the cloisters and let it inhabit everyday life. To do this, I started to write reflections about everyday things, domestic life, relationships, family.  Much to my surprise, rather than being shunned, my humble ponderings were warmly received. So began my career as a cherished philosophical windbag.","brand":"Xlibris AU","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47143299219696,"sku":"9781503502154","price":4.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/9781503502154_p0.jpg?v=1763708007","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/9781503502154","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}