Looking In the Distance
The Human Search for Meaning
“It’s three o’clock in the morning and I can’t sleep, which is probably why I’m in that chair, not in bed. I’ve made a pot of dark roast coffee to clear my head and help me think . . . By nine o’clock in the morning I am being stunned by the serious weirdness of the universe.”
Available as Paperback, eBook
An examination of spirituality, from the Sunday Times bestselling author of Leaving Alexandria
Spirituality, like morality, has historically been tied to religion – and yet it is possible for one to exist without the other. In this meditative and highly personal account, Richard Holloway considers the nature of the spiritual, and what it means to live with the inevitability of death.
Both celebration of the possibilities that life affords and an examination of how doubts and fears too often paralyse, especially as we age, Looking in the Distance is an inspiration, told with the compassion and good humour characteristic of its author.
“A profound meditation on spiritual tolerance … A truly wonderful book by a man who has the courage to doubt”
observer
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“A poetic and moving humanist view of life … Holloway exhibits a combination of erudition, compassion and wisdom”
guardian
“This is exhilarating and inspiring stuff, but it is in his last section, ‘Leaving’, that Holloway hits the sweetest, highest, saddest notes on his trumpet”
Bel Mooney
the Times
“Beautiful. A rather important book”
Deborah Moggach, Author Of The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel
Richard Holloway was Bishop of Edinburgh and Primus of the Scottish Episcopal Church. A former Gresham Professor of Divinity and Chairman of the Joint Board of the Scottish Arts Council and Scottish Screen, he is a fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. Leaving Alexandria won the PEN/Ackerley Prize and was shortlisted for the Orwell Prize. Holloway has written for many newspapers in Britain, including The Times, Guardian, Observer, Herald and Scotsman. He has also presented many series for BBC television and radio; Waiting for the Last Bus originated as a five-part series on Radio 4 in 2016.
