Patterns of Hope

This collection of Angus MacNeill?s short stories pursues the universal themes of faith, forgiveness and redemption across the continents. A mining engineer must organise the clearance of a tribal village if valuable resources are to be claimed from the land for the benefit of all ? how ruthless can his conscience allow him to be? A chance encounter with Pascal in a poor Indian suburb brings unexpected enlightenment to a confused English girl. Old scores are settled in the borderlands of Burma, and in an unnamed African country torn apart by tribal warfare a woman?s simple faith brings the first tentative steps towards reconciliation. In rural Scotland in the early part of the last century, a minister?s faith and strength of character root his community and family in the deep earth of tradition, allowing those around him to weather the terrible tragedies of two world wars. As the minister is laid to rest, the story becomes an elegy for times past. MacNeill?s strong belief in the redemptive power of hope shine through these tales, which sparkle like small gems and leave the spirits lifted.