This wonderful book essentially debates Nietzsche's idea of (as I understand it) letting the weak fall by the wayside against compassion and love. You would think this would be a really simple discussion, but astonishingly, Boris Kriger, using stories from his incredible life (as a Nurse, Paramedic, and priest who sheltered vulnerable people in his own home) shows it isn't quite as simple as you might think. Part memoir but all his own philosophy, this book will move you and challenge you.
Nietzsche said: push the falling.
A plush bear says: sit down. Have some tea.
Boris Kriger—former priest, systems theorist, and the man who may have solved the universe with one formula and zero free parameters—has spent twenty years arguing with a dead philosopher at his kitchen table. The philosopher said God is dead. Kriger yells at God regularly and considers this proof of His existence. The philosopher said pity is poison. Kriger ran a shelter for fourteen homeless people in his own house for nine years. The philosopher said the strong must overcome. Kriger lost everything—his church, his wife, his son, his home—and discovered that the only thing left was a cup of tea and the willingness to sit with someone who is falling.
This is not a book about Nietzsche. This is a book about what happens after Nietzsche. After the God is dead and the Overman has arrived in silicon and the universe turns out to be solved and the wife comes back and the son returns and the porridge is ready and the chair across the table is empty, waiting for anyone who needs it.
Including Nietzsche. Especially Nietzsche.
Pull up a chair. The tea is ready. There is an extra cup.
