Hypostasis

Longhorne lived alone and he understood that he would die alone. Only behind the walls of his isolation, could he attain the order and calm that he required; only there could he find the peace that made his existence bearable. Insulated also from his feelings and memories, he hoped for nothing, demanded nothing, expected nothing. Until his thirty-first birthday…

A trivial incident initiates a cascade of experiences until control of his carefully regulated mind is wrested from him, changing the course of his life and the lives of others. In the space of a few days, every protective barrier that he had painstakingly fashioned is breached until he is forced to confront the truth about his past: the truth about himself.

Step by step, he realises that the mysterious and powerful forces that have taken control of him are not external; in ways that he cannot fully fathom, they are part of him, and he is part of them. In connecting with himself, has he stumbled upon something fundamental that lies at the heart of all human existence? 

Brendan McCarthy has been the National Adviser on Medical Ethics and Health and Social Care Policy for the Church of England since 2009. He has been a member of the Government’s Places of Worship Taskforce as well as adviser to the Archbishop of Canterbury and the House of Bishops. He’s contributed to several national ethics discussions on radio, TV and in the press, including BBC Radio Four’s ‘The Moral Maze’ and ‘Sunday’ programmes. He’s authored books, articles and has lectured on medical ethics across the UK. In 2021, he was awarded the Canterbury Cross for Services to the Church of England during the Covid-19 pandemic. He lives in Omagh, County Tyrone.