Describe the most ambitious DIY project you’ve ever taken on
I’m not much of a DIY person. I admire people who are, and part of me wishes I could do projects like that. My father was an engineer and, over the years, put four extensions on our family homes. He likes knowing how things work, how to fix them, how to build them, and that has occupied many of his spare hours.
I’m not like that. I started Engineering at university because it seemed like a sensible choice, but I knew in the first week that it wasn’t for me, so I transferred to Science, and later studied theology and worked in ministry.
Most of my projects have involved words and people. I believe words create worlds. I like trying to describe reality clearly, capture its essence, and communicate it in a way that helps people see where they are and where they could go. That’s part of how cultures are built and sustained. I’ve spent my life trying to build people up from the pulpit, through stories, and by using words to map a vision of the future.
The closest I’ve come to a physical DIY project was designing and building a set of modular bookshelves. They stack on top of each other, they’re solid as a rock, and when we move house there’s no need to pack the books into boxes—we just turn the shelves on their backs and stack them in the removalist van. I built them more than forty years ago, and they’re still going strong, still holding the library I’ve gathered over a lifetime.
The Afterword 
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