Understanding lockdown anxiety
So Sydney is in Covid lockdown again. The next 2 weeks, no substantial contact with anyone outside my home, except if I’m sick, need toilet paper from the shops or a barista-made (take-away) coffee. I decide that I need to go for a walk after online church, where one of the upsides is “seeing” a friend in the chatbox, whom Sue and I haven’t spoken … Continue reading Understanding lockdown anxiety
Understanding wealth
How much would you pay to save someone you love? Preparing a talk about what some ancient proverbs have to say about wealth, I reacquainted myself with Jean Paul Getty. A few years ago I read his biography, All the Money in the World (not to be confused with the film of the same title). His life is fascinating reading and I thought a great … Continue reading Understanding wealth
A Returning Transition
Some of our best-known story lines portray a character returning home after a period of absence. Depending on our story, the main protagonist returns from a protracted absence to confront circumstances that cannot be ignored and that only she or he can face. Moses is one such character in the Bible, returning to Egypt to lead his people out of slavery. You could probably think … Continue reading A Returning Transition
Understanding pain
I realise that so much of my life is spent trying to avoid pain. In a sheer guess, I suspect avoiding pain is just the other side of the coin to “pursuing pleasure” and all of us are motivated by either one side or the other throughout our lives. Don’t misunderstand me, I’m not saying this is necessarily a bad thing. There are all sorts … Continue reading Understanding pain
Ten thousand hours
A mild transition? Sometimes transitions are obvious. They are marked by a single event, such as a marriage or a divorce or having your first baby or starting a whole new career. But other times transitions might only appear as such in retrospect – a little like the sun rising on a cloudy day. You know it has happened but can’t pinpoint the moment of … Continue reading Ten thousand hours
I never managed to visit the killing fields
It’s been about three and a half years since I visited Cambodia. At the time I was working for an NGO and the purpose of the trip was to gather stories and footage of the work our partners were doing in local communities. I think I travelled the extremity of the country in about ten days. I loved it. The people were so friendly. There … Continue reading I never managed to visit the killing fields
A Loving Transition
Love It doesn’t take long to see the place of love in our lives. Just think of our songs: “All you need is love”, “Can you feel the love tonight?” and our stories (even Disney variations on classic themes in films like Frozen and Maleficent are about the power of love, even in the most unexpected forms). M. Scott Peck wrote more than 40 years … Continue reading A Loving Transition
The life of power
An Easter Reflection I recently read an article on the ABC news site, titled A power has risen in Australian politics – and it’s not coming quietly. The author, Annabel Crabb, considers the shifting landscape in Australian politics that is undermining the traditional patriarchal power base. She states, “in this instance, there is opportunity for women to seek justice, to speak out, to demand restitution … Continue reading The life of power
The cost of growing up
What is the cost of growing up? This may not be the question we normally ask when thinking about our progression to adulthood. Yet I have observed that a child’s identity and worldview are primarily shaped by their family of origin. Even the tiny mannerisms that escape our faces have their origins in the people who nurtured us in our earliest years. So, whether we … Continue reading The cost of growing up
don't write us off 