An end of year reflection Delta and Omicron. A new job. Importance of family and friends. Community. The blessing of another grandchild. Zoom. Social Media fatigue. And learning that I am cisgender (sorry, I’m slow). These are some thoughts that come to mind when I think about 2021. (There are plenty of others but these will do for now.) It was a year I was … Continue reading Dealing with the pain of forgiveness
Change for the better “’Kaizen’ has been my word for this year,” Sam explains. It is a Japanese term that means change for the better or continuous improvement. She tells me about a process that commenced for her a little over two years ago. At the time Sam began reassessing her priorities. She was working for the Christian Humanitarian agency, Baptist World Aid (BWAA) and … Continue reading Cultivating what matters
Coming to terms with our mortality gives us a unique perspective. Harry muses on the fact that there are some things he cannot change or fix, as much as he would like to. Mr “Fixit” “My kids knew me as Mr Fixit. Whether it was something broken or whether it was an issue they or one of their friends was dealing with. It was usually, … Continue reading Letting Go
“It’s a slow burn grief. There is not a week goes by that you don’t experience some sort of grief.” Andy reflects on the past five years since his wife Julie was diagnosed with early onset dementia. “I’m a farm boy, before I went into ministry I was a tradie. We don’t cry. We’re tough. We pull ourselves up by our own bootstraps. None of … Continue reading A choice to love
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
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
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
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
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 