thinking honestly about life and faith
A scrap of scripture. Here is the text of a reflection I led today as the basis for a retreat with our ordinands. The basic theme was ‘Who is your Jesus?’ In other words, what is the image of the … Read More »
This week we have all see the heart-wrenching images of a small boy’s body washed up on a Turkish beach. Together with his mother and brother, this boy drowned while trying to escape the war in Syria. As I write this … Read More »
Three weeks ago I visited a plastic surgeon to ask him to check on some bumps and spots on my skin. Fortunately none of those is anything to worry about. But another spot on one finger was of interest: he … Read More »
It’s not difficult to say what makes a bad pastor or priest: plenty of evidence there. But what makes a good pastor? I mean someone we can really respect, value and appreciate as a pastor? Here I am not talking … Read More »
The saying ‘All will be well’ is central to the thought of Julian of Norwich. I’ve been enjoying reading a small book exploring her thought, The Gift of Julian of Norwich, written by Karen Manton and illustrated beautifully by Lynne Muir. … Read More »
A decade ago I wrote that I think the search for identity and for belonging are central to so much of the what is termed ‘Australian culture’. It has become a tactic of some of our political leaders to label … Read More »
With the passing this week of such significant figures as Joan Kirner and Alan Bond—very different in the their contributions and example to us—it is interesting to consider how we actually respond to other people’s lives and our own, and … Read More »
I am puzzled by the idea of a conscience vote: simply the idea that somehow we can define some matters as worthy to be decided ‘on conscience’ while all other matters are decided by —well, what? The Australian Parliament is … Read More »
Next Sunday is Pentecost. It’s a time when the Church has much to say about ‘the coming of the Holy Spirit’, but I think in fact we are confused about what we mean by that. There’s a paradox here: because … Read More »
‘Going forward’ has become an annoying expression used by politicians and business leaders. We will hear more and more about the ‘forward estimates’ in the debates about the Federal Budget next week. So much of our discourse is about planning … Read More »