Description

By David A.E. Murdoch

Compiled By his Mother, Christine Wilkie

ISBN: 9781849915151
Published: 2011
Pages: 64
Key Themes: poetry, manic depression, bipolar disorder, spirituality

Description

This work was written by the author during his time as a student of Theology, continuing until the year before his death in 2008.. He was inspired to write this, through his studies in Theology and because of his constant questioning of the meaning of life, the relevance of religion in todays world and his often controversial views on day to day politics.

The book has been divided into two sections with the first part mainly addressing the authors views on religion and his questioning on this topic.
The subsequent section mainly concerns the authors views on matters relevant to world politics during the authors last five years

His poetry book Flying My Own Plane was published in paperback form in December 2009 and has been selling well, consistently, since. While David was proud of his poetry, he was ambivalent about publishing while he was alive. However, he did express a desire to have the work in this document published. Unfortunately, he did not consider it to be finished and said shortly before he died that he had written more on his computer which he misplaced during his last bout of mania and was never found.

Perhaps we will never know what he really considered to be The Final Solution to the Problem of Evil.

About the Author

David Alexander Edward Murdoch, the author of this work, was born in Aberdeen on 21st January 1965., He was diagnosed with manic depression or bipolar disorder at the age of twenty one in 1986. The illness dominated his life and he struggled to achieve anything he was proud of. He did not respond positively to any of the drugs on offer and had difficulty accepting that he had an illness. He was admitted to hospital usually compulsorily, frequently, until his tragic death by suicide in Aberdeen on 23rd November 2008.

The authors maternal great grandfather was Canon M.E. Turpin, who was a missionary for the Anglican Church in the West Indies and Guyana. Canon Turpins father was The Venerable E. A. Turpin, Arch Deacon of Trinidad, Tobago and St. Kitts at the turn of the twentieth century. David never met these ancestors but was very close to his maternal grandmother, Mrs Margot Weir, who encouraged him in his interest in religion and gave him the family history.

He did not express any serious interest in studying the subject in any depth, however, until he was in his thirties and was accepted to study Theology at Aberdeen University in the year 2000. He graduated Bachelor of Theology in July 2005.

While at university he befriended and joined in fellowship with several religious denominations, Mormon, Muslim, Bahai respectively. He was well liked and appreciated for the genuine interest he showed in the different ideologies of the people he befriended.

He lived as a member of these religious groups for short periods of time, and even became baptized as a Mormon and subsequently a Muslim but constantly questioned all faiths. He had many friends within the more orthodox religions and at one time expressed an interest in becoming a Catholic priest. His funeral service was conducted by Dean Emslie Nimmo of the Scottish Episcopalian Church in Aberdeen and Orkney, who was a close friend and confidant.