How’s and Why’s of an Unexpected Universe

Contents: Preface. I. Wandering in an unexpected Universe: 1. Angels in a bookstore. 2. Six embossed points: the alphabet of the Universe. 3. The invisible hand of God. 4. How natural is the sacred? 5. Making of a masterpiece. 6. Truth: 24 frames per second. II. How’s and why’s of the Universe: 7. The eye of the beholder. 8. A flower in the volcano. 9. The tides and the moon. 10. When stones shed tears. 11. Who are the people of the book? 12. How words turn on their head. III. Estrangement from the Universe: 13. O Brother, where are you? 14. Crushed flowers and the smouldering fire. 15. One face, many masks. 16. The gift of fearlessness. 17. When death plays chess. 18. Why God won’t go away.19. The river of life in the valley of death. 20. Stories our fathers tell us. 21. Feet of clay: when idols come tumbling down. IV. A new banquet table: 22. A squirrel’s heartbeat. 23. At the banquet table of history. 24. The census and the conscience. 25. Celebration or chaos? 26. Sharing a saddle on the back of a camel. 27. In the skin of another. 28. The Hands of barbarians. 29. Peace or violence in our genes? Notes. English artist John Constable once observed: I never saw an ugly thing in my life. Let the form of an object be what it may-light shade and perspective will always make it beautiful. Wide ranging meditations in this book on the human presence in the universe are an attempt at discovering such a light and a perspective. (jacket).…