thinking honestly about life and faith
A friend, who has recently begun a new job working in a university context, wrote to me about the idea of the church with fuzzy edges.Here are some of her comments: "In my new job, I have been asked much … Read More »
Fred Schepsi’s film The Devil’s Playground tells the story of his own growing up, through a Catholic boarding school, and of his own struggle to find faith. At one very poignant moment, the boy of 12 or 13 years, torn … Read More »
The church, I believe, is meant to be an open community. This doesn’t mean that the church has no standards or no direction. No, it means we stand against everything that excludes and divides. We stand against everything that says … Read More »
There is a wide-spread search for meaning in contemporary society, taking many forms, only some of them relating to traditional forms of religion. For many people, ‘the church’ and ‘religion’ are not meaningful, even if once they were. Now, people … Read More »
Today I finished teaching for this current semester, and in the energy which comes from that positive arrival (yes, it is a real joy to teach, and to see how my students —most of them, anyway—engage so constructively with doing … Read More »
This week the Australian government announced its annual budget. With much fanfare, they have announced a spending spree. The government coffers are sloshing with money, and so there’s an income tax cut for everyone: for about 90% of workers, it … Read More »
Simon Moyle has pressed me to say more about what it means to be people of the truth, in the face of a culture of lies.I guess more than anything I am thinking of a prophetic life-style, as the most … Read More »
This post is about truth, in the context of a culture of lies. This last week has seen the most stunning revelation —if that is the right word—of deception in our public life.It goes on and on. In Australia, there … Read More »
This week I have had several occasions to relate to local church pastors who are also seeking to do theological studies.It troubles me that for so many there has been something like Lessing’s ‘deep ugly ditch’ between ministry and theology.Constantly … Read More »
Thinking more about McCourt the teacher-man, I recalled two stories about great teachers in my own sphere.It begins with one I never knew, but whose legacy I did.While I was the pastor of the Hobart Baptist Church, in Tasmania, two … Read More »