Devotions Upon Emergent Occasions; Together with Death's Duel

A vivid portrait unfolds as a brilliant scholar and poet confronts a sudden, life‑threatening illness. Drawing on his rigorous education at Oxford, Cambridge and Lincoln’s Inn, the author weaves together his deep‑seated doubts about faith, his familial ties to both learned and devout traditions, and the restless intellect that drives him to seek certainty. The opening pages trace his youthful wanderings through law and theology, setting the stage for the urgent, introspective prayers that follow.

In a series of meditations known as the “Devotions,” he turns the crisis of illness into a profound meditation on mortality, love, and the hidden threads that bind all people together. The companion sermon, “Death’s Duel,” confronts the inevitability of death with the same fierce honesty, inviting listeners into a dialogue between reason and reverence. Together they offer a timeless, lyrical exploration of what it means to face the unknown, making the experience both intimate and universal.