Welcome Friends

My quest for truth and beauty has taken me on an amazing adventure. I am originally from the “sunburnt country” of Australia. Later I fulfilled my dream of living in the land of Israel, and spent a number of years working in Jerusalem, a city which is the age-old focus of the spiritual dreams of humanity.

While there, a Canadian named Dave Richardson swept into my life, and I married him in Christ Church in the Old City of Jerusalem. David was a gifted poet who wrote the famous love ballad from the 70s, “Wildflower”; later I set down his story in a book. Eventually he swept me away to stunning Vancouver Island in Canada.

Now having returned to Israel, I am capturing my experiences in “My Jerusalem Diary.” Come with me and share in my daily life in this city of three faiths, which possesses so many facets of beauty, wonder, and history. Stroll with me through her streets and bazaars, enter through the ramparts to the Old City, and learn more of her fascinating history and vibrant present. And, of course, meet many of her citizens and discover their diverse backgrounds and stories. There is an adventure here each new day!

 

Recent Reviews Of My Book

Colin Barnes, M.Th., author of They Conspire against Your People; the European Churches in the Holocaust
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Lesley has done an amazing service in preserving and presenting the life of Sam Herciger to us. It is an intimate portrait of a life which experienced the extremes of suffering and joy. No wonder his art overflowed from within him. She moves from the life of Sam himself to sections which provide the needed historical background. As she does so, she captures in searing prose the horrors of the Holocaust, while at the same time showing glimpses of the humanity, faith and goodness present in its victims. Reading her book is a journey well worth the taking.
Jan Wilson, Vancouver Island
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In her book Creating Beauty From the Abyss, Lesley Richardson has chronicled the life and experiences of Sam Herciger, a most remarkable Jewish artist who survived some of the most perilous and tumultuous times that occurred for both his people and Europe in the last century. Richardson’s descriptions, sensitive and compassionate, enable us to enter Sam’s suffering and at the same time help us to maintain the hope that one day he would be able to transform the most evil and cruel actions he experienced from fellow human beings into art. He does emerge from these horrors as an artist who restores the dignity and indestructible value of every person made in the image of God. I highly recommend reading this book.
Christine Darg, Founder, The Jerusalem Channel
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Lesley Ann Richardson’s new book Creating Beauty From the Abyss is a riveting manuscript that should be required reading for this generation. It is a biography of Holocaust survivor and Israeli artist Sam Herciger, with each chapter of one man’s story set within the context of brilliantly researched historic narrative. The gripping tale of artist Sam Herciger describes the heroic spirit of Holocaust survivors and the supernatural strength often imparted in the most dire circumstances, even when their bed was made in Hell. Lesley Ann Richardson has painstakingly given us a monumental work of historic fact and power.

Hardcopy And Digital Version Available Below!

Beauty is truth, truth beauty, That is all ye know on earth, and all ye need to know (Keats)

The human heart has always hungered for beauty. This is because, wrought into the heart of the beautiful, is the Spirit of Truth itself: beauty is the reflection of the Infinite.

In its classical expression, these were the highest virtues: the Beautiful, Good and True. The Christian faith communicates the same ideals in the words of St Paul: Whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things (Philippians 4:8)

We are indescribably uplifted as we gaze at the myriad beauties of our amazing world. Yet Christianity has always asserted that an even higher wisdom is available to us through divine revelation, mediated through the books of Old and New Testaments.

Many immortal works, based on these truths, have nourished the minds of former generations, and our own creations in art and literature also play their part in bringing beauty to the soul. It is surely true that we become like what we gaze upon, and the things upon which we meditate have the power to shape and transfigure our lives.

This is my hope, in my books, and in the writings I share on this website.

“Beauty will save the world”

– Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

My Latest Posts

INKLINGS OF ETERNITY

In Chapter 53 of his book, Isaiah rises to the heights of his prophetic calling, and provides an extended description of future events that passes

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