Kleofas Publishing House
The publishing house Kleofas publishes books that invite conversations and new perspectives on life. The angle is often personal, but not only. It is about life enlightenment, about that which sheds light on life and gives courage to live.
Books about spirit, life and presence
The person Kleofas is mentioned in the New Testament, where he is one of the two so-called Emmaus walkers. It is said that a few days earlier they had seen Jesus die on the cross, but now some women claimed that they had seen him as risen – which Cleophas and his unnamed friend could not believe, for is not death the last sentence? The thoughts needed air, and therefore they head towards the city of Emmaus.
Along the way, they fall into conversation with an unknown person, who gives them new perspectives on the relationship between life and death, time and eternity, heaven and earth, you and me. When they reach Emmaus, the two friends recognize their fellow wanderer as the risen Jesus – who, however, immediately disappears before their eyes. But the memory lingered, the memory of their life-giving conversation, the glow in their cheeks, the warmly beating hearts, the living hope.
Many years later, the idea man of the folk high schools, N.F.S. Grundtvig, needed to talk about the relationship between faith and knowledge in a new way. Knowledge can be cold, and faith sounds like uncertain ground. But like the Emmaus walkers, Grundtvig had had some spiritual experiences that sat in him as unforgettable certainty.
The concept he introduced was “Certainty of the Heart”. It is a certainty based on the experience that life is at the same time incomprehensible and deeply moving, and that when it is allowed to be both at the same time, it appears infinitely large and heart-rending beautiful. You could call it mysticism, but as with Grundtvig and Cleophas, the most important thing is the experience of the spirit’s presence.
The publishing house Kleofas focuses on books where faith and doubt are equally welcome. The foundation is neither faith nor knowledge, but rather the certainty of the heart and the indefinable but experiential something, which is known by the fact that it gives glow in the cheeks and warm beating hearts.
Book · What you say, makes me think
By Mette Højland
This book is a story about the folk high school and its essence seen from the inside. It is a personal account of a long life lived in the free schools, including 22 years as a folk high school teacher. It is also a call that the free schools contain a recipe for a healthy life and a healthy society, which we as a world society have never needed more.
The first Danish folk high school opened its doors in 1844. From the beginning, the school form has been a fundamental and important element in the transition to and continuation of Danish democracy. A key concept in the book is the living interaction, which in my eyes is much more than the good interaction between teacher-student and individual community. The concept also holds a key to a life in balance between spirit and matter, where poetry and storytelling are important tools for understanding the past and creating faith, hope and love for the future.
I have written the book as a gift to all my foreign students who have longed to “be able to take the folk high school home with me”. The concept of a home folk high school is therefore described in detail in the book, as it is my hope that the home folk high school form can spread the folk high school atmosphere and thus life and light out in the world – even without the physical buildings.
Extract
In the book, which is written in English, the home folk high school (HFHS) is briefly described as follows:
HFHS is a way of meeting new people in a meaningful and fun way. A way that does not oblige you in any way. You don’t have to sign in to receive e-mails in your mailbox every day. You don’t enroll in an organization where you must meet up every Thursday night. You can be part of a network if you want, and you will meet great people and perspectives on the evenings where you participate.
The evening itself follows a structure, that tells you what to do and how to do it… it is exactly this structure that is so freeing. It promotes a safe yet personal atmosphere for easy, yet deep conversations. It is also an ideal way to meet across cultures and other divides. Leading to outcomes that are much more than small talk.
