With Jesus in the suburbs

by Michael Shackleton · October 19, 2008

MY WALK WITH JESUS, by Gilbert MacDonald. Published by Melrose Books, Cambridgeshire. 2008. 186pp.

Reviewed by Michael Shackleton
The Cape Town suburb of Woodstock has a unique history. It was one of the earliest settlements in the city’s suburbia, blending immigrants and locals into a social structure that contributed immensely to the growth of the city and the development of its history.

For that reason alone it is pretty much an unexploited source of the beginnings of so many families that have since spread around this land and abroad, each with its own thousand-and-one untold tales.

Having grown up in Woodstock, the author tells his story, narrating a frank, readable account of his years there as a parishioner of St Agnes Catholic church and a pupil at the schools run by the Christian Brothers and Dominican Sisters. He brings in many personalities, some still alive, with whom some South African Catholics might be familiar.

He began his career in the Standard Bank and describes his ups and downs as a teller, his marriage to his wife Maureen and his happy life with her and their six children. Everything he has to tell is threaded through with his profound awareness of the presence of the God of love, particularly in the changing landscape of South African life before and after he retired and began to travel.

During these later years in particular, he discusses his emotions and reflections as he faces family trials, death, political and social threats to life and how mysterious God’s ways are for all of us, as we ponder why we are where we are, and how God has sustained us on our way.

This is a warm, home-grown story simply told, which is likely to strike a reminiscent chord among many.

Gilbert MacDonald can be contacted at gilmau [at] telkomsa [dot] net and 021 697-3020.