A quick alert for the new site Desert Lights Collective initiated by prof. Nelly van Doorn-Harder (Wake Forest University Winston Salem, NC/ VU Amsterdam). I’m honored to be one of its contributors, and posts on this blog will often be crossposted there.
It aims to share blogs, academic articles, and news about the rich culture, heritage and wisdom of the Middle Eastern Christian communities that reach back to the first century of Christianity. ‘Desert Lights’ references a cerussite gem known as the Light of the Desert. Cerussites are known for their ability to split light into the different colors of the light spectrum. The brilliance of a diamond fades in comparison to that of the light of this desert gem, but cerussites are fragile and sensitive to change.
With collaborators from many different countries and different communities, I’m sure something of that precious gem which are the Christian communities of the Middle East will shine through from its pages.