thinking honestly about life and faith
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 »
It was the great Karl Barth, theologian of the ‘Word of God, who lamented that the reformers had left us nothing in our churches, no images, no symbols. no visual helps, as we try to pray, nothing except words.At least … 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 »
In many parts of the world right now, governments are introducing new laws to combat terrorism. In the name of protecting our freedoms, new laws will remove those very freedoms. People may be detained, without even the right to notify … 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 »
In the last week, there has been a challenging interchange amongst the members of the Jürgen Moltmann discussion group about the death of God. This is not about the 1960s idea that ‘God is dead’. It’s about whether it makes … Read More »
I have been reminded again, in my reading this last two days, of the brilliant insights of Søren Kierkegaard, 19th century Danish philosopher and theologian. Here are a few of his gems: (apologies for the lack of gender-inclusive language. We … Read More »
There is an email circulating in Australia which pretends to be a warning from the blood transfusion service (‘the blood bank’ it is called), warning people about needle-stick injuries, infected with AIDS.Someone is said to have sat down in a … Read More »
Night time: it’s the right time for love, so a song says.But so much of our lives are actually governed by the desire to make the night into day.Our technology seeks to banish the night altogether. But when we do, … Read More »