The button is pushed, the metaphorical champagne awaits… in reality it may well be a pint of Guiness and half of cider that are clinking glasses tomorrow… but we will be celebrating regardless.

And that seems appropriate, as this is not your usual book. I can think of no one else who would weave the story of a road trip through an arid landscape to the beat of popular music, with one of the Nag Hammadi Gospels… and manage to combine the two into a deeply reflective and spiritual journey of discovery.

We await now only the appearance of the books going live on Amazon… but The Living One, the new book by Stuart France, is out today.

“In this book the Author has opened a window on his own inner self and invited the reader to come in and share the warmth of his fire. The book should be read in that spirit… an invitation to explore the deeper meaning behind the things we daily accept as our reality and which, by that very acceptance, we so often fail to see with the clarity of truth.”

***

“I shall give you what no eye has seen,

what no ear has heard,

and what no hand has touched,

for the thing that I shall give you

has not arisen from the human heart.”

***

THE LIVING ONE: Contemplations on the Gospel of Thomas

by Stuart France

“…It is like the smallest of seeds and if it falls on prepared soil, it produces the largest of plants and shelters the birds of heaven…”

Many scholars believe that the Gospel According to Thomas preserves a glimpse into the oral traditions of the Gospels. The book is a collection of sayings, parables and dialogues attributed to Jesus and forms part of the Nag Hammadi Library, a collection of ancient papyri found near the Dead Sea in 1945. In this unique interpretation Stuart France brings the oral tradition to life, retelling the Gospel in his own words, in the way it may have been shared around the hearthfires of our forefathers.

“…No one has ever before drawn the comparison between a  seventeenth century ecclesiastic and a sixties rock star and expected me to comprehend.”

Deeply entwined with the story is the personal journey to understanding, following it down some rather unusual pathways. It begins with a road trip in an arid landscape far from home; a journey that led through a country that captured imagination and set it to music. It ends with an ancient story, told as you have never read it before.

“Look, it’s obvious, mozzies are God’s Angels in disguise.”

Accompanied by a commentary which draws upon the esoteric traditions of the Mystery Schools, The Living One provides a new window on an age old story, being a transmutation of the spirit of the words, born of the personal realisations of a seeker after Truth.

“Salome said to Joshua, “Who are you mister, you have eaten from my table and climbed on to my couch as if you are a stranger ?””

Illustrated throughout

Available for Kindle and in Paperback

ISBN-13: 978-1492378051

ISBN-10: 1492378054