Notes from the Edges (Theological Intonations)

This is an anthology of thirty-one erudite theological essays on various themes primarily written in the pandemic context, attempting to unplug the social-edges through the lens of scripture and radical Christian faith. These reflective notes uncover the social and scriptural edges and externalize the radical silence that dwells on edges and margins. As creative theological intonations, these notes replete with mystical experiences, poetical scribblings, and creative imaginations, shadowing the author’s ontological questions, healing-journey, and processual-becomings.

Rev. Dr. Baiju Markose, is a faculty in the Department of Religions at Dharma Jyoti Vidya Peeth, Faridabad, India. He is the author of Treasuring the Wounds in our Hands (2006), Ritual and Rhythm of Life (2015), Rhizomatic Reflections: Discourses on Religion and Theology (2018), The Cross and the Peacock (2021), Wood-Pecker (2021). He was awarded American Academy of Religion’s (AAR-Midwest) Marion McFarland Award in the year 2017.

Edges are scary, discomforting, and dangerous! However, at the edges we expand! Pandemic, layoffs, unemployment, lockdown, poverty, religious adaptations, political gimmicks, etc., have unveiled many truths before us. Indeed, the pandemic manifested as an apocalypse. It revealed our social edges. This anthology of tiny reflective essays, mostly written in the context of the pandemic, is a humble attempt to unplug the social-edges through the lens of scripture and Christian faith. Unplugging the social and scriptural edges demands radical wording of the world and worlding of the word. I am inspired by the great mystic and activist Dorothee Soelle's words, "Everything that is 'within' needs to be externalized, so it does not spoil, like the manna in the desert that was hoarded for future consumption." I think this is true in the case of our creative imaginations and theological reflections too. The reflective notes, mystical experiences, poetical scribblings, etc., should be externalized, at least for our own healing! These notes are humble attempts at that kind of externalization. This collection of essays have many autobiographical undertones, and it is basically my theological intonations. All these notes have shadows of my ontological questions, healing-journey, and processual-becoming.

There is an Indian story about an English man who, having been told that the world rested on a platform which rested on the back of an elephant which rested in turn on the back of a turtle, asked, what did the turtle rest on? Another turtle. And that turtle? "Ah, Sahib, after that, it is all the way down." It is the condition of things! However long I did explore these themes described in the book, I would not get anywhere near to the bottom of anything I have ever gotten anywhere near to the bottom of things. Every analysis is intrinsically incomplete. The more deeply it goes, the less complete it is. In many ways, these essays are incomplete. Therefore, I leave all these essays open-ended and incomplete. Most of the essays are introduced either by a quote or poetical rendering, hoping that will work as an intermezzo. And every word I wrote is suggestive in spirit, not definitive.

**Contents and Sample Pages**