thinking honestly about life and faith
I went to the beach for the weekend.Last year, after years of prevaricating, my wife and I bought ourselves a retreat place, near the beach, but set right alongside a forest —in fact a national park. It is such a … Read More »
Speech-making has become virtually a lost art. If anything, oratory is suspect: it has the air of what used to be called ‘sophistry’ – an ancient greek form of speech and argument which relied more on the style than the … Read More »
It’s been a hell of a year, for so many people. Beginning with the tsunami, and later the earthquake, the hurricanes, there have been so many stories of tragedy, suffering and crisis.Our personal lives too have their own accounts of … Read More »
Many of us have been deeply disturbed by the race riots in suburban Sydney.We had imagined that things like this happen in other parts of the world, but not here. Why would we think that?How fortunate we are, to have … Read More »
It’s Remembrance Day, November 11th.Today in Australia, people are asking, ‘Where were you when the Whitlam Government was dismissed?’ That was thirty years ago today; and in the subsequent uproar, ousted Prime Minister Gough Whitlam called on supporters to ‘maintain … Read More »
A group of leaders in my faith community have been wondering just why it is that so many Christian groups actually fight so much – and sometimes fight pretty dirty. If we are honest, often our church groups are not … Read More »
The second phase of the healing process, as describe by Father Michael, is forgiveness.Most people find this costly, painful and very difficult.But we speak as if it is cheap and simple.In fact it is often only the power of God … Read More »
Yesterday I heard a sermon by a truly great man, Fr Michael Lapsley, who leads a ministry in South Africa. The sermon was called ‘Forgive and Forget’.Micheal Lapsley is an Anglican priest whose ministry focusses upon ‘healing the memories’. It’s … Read More »
There are two new features on our political horizon, which in a sense come together right now.The first is the astonishing event of a former leader of the Labor Party, in Australia, publishing diaries which dump the most remarkable vitriole … Read More »