Category Archives: Personal

On the eleventh day of Christmas … Auld Lang Syne

The gift of connection. The final days of Christmas coincide with New Year celebrations and reflections. As the calendar turns over to the new year, Robert Burn’s Auld Lang Syne rings out through the gathered crowds. It is a song of connection and Christmas is about God’s ultimate gift of connection in dwelling amongst us inContinue reading “On the eleventh day of Christmas … Auld Lang Syne”

On the eighth day of Christmas … a fresh start

Why is New Year’s Day so evocative of lists to improve and enhance our personal and communal living? Life is comprised of cycles, and somehow, deeply embedded in our collective psyche, a New Year (always capitalised!) marks that part of the cycle where we take a deep breath and start all over again. The giftContinue reading “On the eighth day of Christmas … a fresh start”

On the fifth day of Christmas … unconstrained love

Love … the kind that puts others’ interests as first priority … is often constrained, especially under stress. Disrupted routines, whether well-off families on holidays, refugees seeking asylum, or those managing unforeseen crises, render it difficult to focus on our own needs, let alone the needs of others. Jeremiah 31:7-14 is the fifth day ofContinue reading “On the fifth day of Christmas … unconstrained love”

On the first day of Christmas… Pax in Terra

That familiar Christmas song!  We are all aware of its parodies. Here are eight that claim being best. Like many medieval carols, its origins are obscure. We might like to think of the verses as subversive protests camouflaged as exuberant romantic sentiments about extravagant gifts, but there is no evidence to suggest that this isContinue reading “On the first day of Christmas… Pax in Terra”

A call for a new multilateral refugee policy

Originally posted on Wembley Downs Church of Christ:
Notwithstanding today’s welcome news of a reprieve for 31 Australian born babies and their families destined for Nauru detention, and that they will now remain in Australia for processing of claims to asylum, this church’s leaders issue the following statement: “The Elders and Board of the Church of…

Advent Voices – John the Baptizer

Zechariah’s son certainly made up for his father’s speechlessness before John’s birth! John’s call is to repentance – an intentional reorientation of heart, soul, mind and action. Zechariah’s silence had been the stillness before the storm that sweeps clean. Such was John’s magnetic appeal that crowds went out into the wilderness to hear him. HisContinue reading “Advent Voices – John the Baptizer”