thinking honestly about life and faith
Like most other people, I guess, I’ve been astonished by the looting and violence that has broken out in New Orleans, following the devastation and flooding caused by Hurricane Katrina.The storm has blown away whatever it is that we mean … Read More »
I’ve just read the biography of Bob Brown, conservationist leader, founder of the Australian Greens, and Senator in the Australian parliament.He is a person widely respected, even by those who disagree with him deeply. This I think is because he … Read More »
I read this quotation from the Australian Greens’ leader, Senator Bob Brown. He wrote this in a newsletter for a conservation group in Tasmania, back in 1976. That’s almost 30 years ago. The comments are still as challenging, the issues … Read More »
I preached a sermon last week on the story in the Gospel of Matthew about Jesus encountering the Canaanite woman—an aboriginal woman, who asks for her daughter to be healed and will not take ‘No’ for an answer. (Gospel of … Read More »
It is worth asking just what our objectives might be, in engaging in conversation and honest thinking about life and faith. What are we trying to achieve?One aspect of this question is quite personal: What motivates us in doing thinking … Read More »
At the Melbourne Theatre Company last night, I notices they have a series of talks on ‘Conversation, Revelation, Discussion’.This sounds exactly like what I think theology should be. But the big challenge is: who gets to engage in the conversation, … Read More »
Since school days I’ve had a deep love for John Keats’ poetry. Its melancholy romanticism appeals, but so too the concise beauty of his work: so rich, so evocative of feeling and passion, with such economy of words. The opening … Read More »
Words of Martin Luther King: In recent months I have also become more aware and more convinced of the reality of a personal God.True, I have always believed in the personality of God. But in past years the idea of … Read More »
Thinking honestly about life and faith requires a genuine commitment to being truthful. It is not all that common, I reckon. This view was well expressed by the nineteenth century English writer, Samuel Taylor Coleridge. Coleridge wrote: ‘He who begins … Read More »
This is a list of my publications of theological books and journal articles. It does not include book reviews, newspaper and magazine articles, conference and online presentations Books: Editor: Fair Dinkum Ministry: Stories of Authentic Australian Spirituality and Struggle. … Read More »