Lenten Voices: Synchronicity

Over the last twenty years, I have delved into deeper, more ancient understandings of the Christian journey, wandering in and out of an eclectic mainstream of traditions while steering firmly from my own tribal barque. The cross-cultural backwaters of orthodoxy, medieval contemplative mystics, holistic Celtic fervour, spiritual direction, the beauty of some sacred textual translationsContinue reading “Lenten Voices: Synchronicity”

Lenten Voices: Boundaries for freedom

Over the recent two decades, management boards of not-for-profit community organisations have been adopting the Carver model of governance and administration. The core principle of this model of management is to set boundaries within which the organisation and its personnel may operate. Rather than prescribing in detail what must be done to achieve set goalsContinue reading “Lenten Voices: Boundaries for freedom”

Lenten Voices: Dogma vs Grace

Novelist Peter De Vries recalled his religious upbringing thus: “We went to church five times a week, three times on Sunday; I wasn’t allowed to play ball on Sunday. We were force-fed a lot of doctrine. The two main beliefs were in the total depravity of man and the divine grace of God. I onlyContinue reading “Lenten Voices: Dogma vs Grace”

Lenten Voices: Stairway to Heaven

What’s your favourite version? The original Led Zepplin leads in Google hits. The lyrics are most evocative as we contemplate the Lenten journey – for on such a road we are often confronted with choices between the tantalising and immediate and the deeper and more reliable. Which is the true stairway to heaven? The imageContinue reading “Lenten Voices: Stairway to Heaven”