Lajos Dr Dr Békefy

As a child we all admired the sparkling desert crystal sand grains of the sandglass, and while they slowly, silently rolled down, occasionally, we started dreaming, after having turned it very carefully, watching the grains taking different directions, as the sand was suddenly starting to dance! While the sunlight reflected on the even flow of crystal grains, imagination soared far, into the actual deserts, desert ships, camels, into the fantasy worlds… It was good to dream, freely, realistically, or with a free imagination. As in the sandglass time moments are overlapping, never simply a passing of time as bidirectional succession of points. The duration of the present suggests a radical experience of the hic et Nunc. The sandglass gives us also about five minutes to figure out the right order of our experience. It is both short as an aphorism, both long enough to captures some real perfection and harmony in the world. In our dialogue we tried to crystallize a few central ethical notions, such as an ethical evolution in time, captured by the allegory of the sandglass, which opens not only the imagination but also challenges the decision-maker: “Now quick, take the right decision, I give you five minutes!”

This is a book review of Stückelberger, Christoph, Globalance. Ethics Handbook of a Balanced World Post-Covid, Focus Series No. 57, 2020, 620pp. First edition. Hungarian original: Békefy, Lajos. Globalance – Etikai kézikönyv a Covid utáni időkre - Könyvszemle - Békefy Lajos, Christoph Stückelberger, Ethics Handbook for a Balanced World post-Covid, Globethics.net ed., Genf, 2020. 620 p. In: Confessio Reformatus, 6pp. Transl. from Hungarian by Ignace Haaz, with editing and proofreading by Patrick Joseph Cannon.

Pastoral care is an integrative discipline that requires applying multiple perspectives and frameworks to real situations. In the prison context, complex circumstances demand complex responses, combining theology and the human sciences to address both structural evil and individual guilt. Pastoral care involves inherent tensions, as practitioners must integrate diverse approaches within their professional identity. Prison chaplains must continually cultivate and defend this identity while working alongside educators, psychologists, and officers, explaining their role in accessible terms. A social-scientific background helps justify how pastoral conversation supports penal aims. The work’s distinctiveness lies in its grounding in faith and theological reflection, offering confidential accompaniment and counselling to inmates.