Tower and Town, May 2018 (view the full edition)Editorial: AwakeningThere comes a time in the young person's life when searching for life trajectories becomes ever more pressing. A spark of awakening could hasten the process, bringing about a calling that dispels shadows. This calling could ignite visions of a journey which for some involves "going to the mountain top" (see insert at the bottom of page 4). This edition contains two examples of youthful beginnings of such journeys. Arthur Clark, a Marlborough College student, eloquently expresses his growing interest in politics and how passion plays a part in bringing about awakening. Moreover The Little Prince of the Terraces explores "Seeing with the Heart" and journeys of high aspiration. Both articles acknowledge family and community inputs for discovering self-identity, which somewhat resonates with the self-identity discovery rather than invention thesis of Janneke Blokland's Clergy Letter. It is also interesting to note the science fiction input of Roy Smith, in which he cleverly employs awakening and artificial intelligence (AI) in his The Cassandra Curse. In addition, science and existential threats are treated in my articles on pages 2, 12, and 13. Moreover, recent events have awakened re-examination of social justices and political responsibilities. Hence the articles by Nicholas Fogg and Matt Gow are very timely indeed. Nicholas provides a critique of sexual exploitation, whilst Matt proposes some valid political introspection. I hope that you will enjoy this edition as much as I did; but before I sign off, may I thank our contributing authors, reviewers, and compilers and commend their efforts to you. Raik Jarjis |