June 2017 – Jack Sanger

Of Flying Horses and Thwarted Lions

Encouraged by my interest in his forefathers, the gardener tells me another tale. It is magic realism at its best. I’ve repeated it to one or two people, and they don’t get it. To them it’s mad, bonkers and childish. It doesn’t feel like that when you listen to it. Something about the eyes of… Know More
Read more: Of Flying Horses and Thwarted Lions
Giving Dogs Super Powers

Our part time gardener is of an indeterminate age. He does his job on a timescale known only to him. He moves around the compound cutting grass and shrubs and attending to the dogs in a slow, inexorable pattern. Sometimes he sits in the shade for a hour or two and sleeps. Remember that temperatures… Know More
Read more: Giving Dogs Super Powers
New Gods for Old

Further conversation with a young Ghanaian male about his unshakeable belief in Christianity provides insights into cultural dissonance. That is, between him and me and between him and his traditions. There is little doubt in my mind that one of the reasons why Africans take to Christianity with a fundamentalist zeal is that its rituals… Know More
Read more: New Gods for Old
Hypocritical Oaths

Closed minds are like houses shut up for the winter only to find that their owners are never returning. They become dusty, dark, places of foreboding and creepy crawlies. You have to break in from the outside to lever off hinges on doors or windows to let some light in. Well, it may be an… Know More
Read more: Hypocritical Oaths
Have you got anything for me?

Generally, we don’t get the law enforcement we deserve. I suppose a great litmus test on the quality of a culture is the behaviour of its police force. In the UK, a vast, conspiratorial network of corruption has recently been uncovered relating to football tragedies, phone hacking, framing suspects and everything in between. But on… Know More
Read more: Have you got anything for me?
Intelligence intelligence everywhere but who can stop to think?

A young man here in Ghana is expanding his knowledge of the world by asking questions. He came from a village in the north and much of what he believes is so indelible it is difficult to shift. He believes that female circumcision keeps women from being promiscuous, and many women ask for it. When… Know More
Read more: Intelligence intelligence everywhere but who can stop to think?
Feeding the five thousand

A funeral. 500 mourners. The body of the deceased on display for the file past. In Ghana it is hard to gauge how many people will turn up. You don’t send invitations after all, you post the day of the funeral in the popular press. Ghana state television also has exceedingly long sections where the… Know More
Read more: Feeding the five thousand
Laying to rest

The laying out of the dead happens in many religions. A final procession of the bereaved to gaze upon the face of the dearly departed seems inextricably bound up with primeval feelings. It is the equivalent of putting your fingers in the nail holes of Christ. It is a public affirmation before witnesses that this… Know More
Read more: Laying to rest
Jacking up Death

An amusing coda to the recent musings on death and how we might stage it arose the other day at a friend’s countryside retreat here in Ghana. A powerful figure on the political and economic landscape for decades here, my friend was commenting on a recent bereavement and the disposal of the body. As I… Know More
Read more: Jacking up Death
Authoring your own Funeral

Did you ever see The Big Chill? Friends gather for the funeral of one of their own tight group. It was very funny at the time but what brings it to my mind was the soundtrack which included The Weight and other 60s and 70s rock hits from The Rolling Stones et al. Part of… Know More
Read more: Authoring your own Funeral

Jack’s Blog