thinking honestly about life and faith
Luke’s Gospel has stories of Jesus’ childhood, as no other Gospel does.Circumcision, Naming, Presentation in the Temple, and a story from later childhood: why is all this important to Luke? What is he stressing? With these stories, the Christ is … Read More »
Luke chapter 2 has stories very familiar through Christmas carols and pageants, but other stories rarely noticed.The message behind them all is almost never considered. Luke very firmly anchors these stories in historical reality, ‘the real world’, and then goes … Read More »
Further reflections on Luke’s Gospel, Chapter 1: Just how much, over the centuries of religious piety, has arisen from the use of the word ‘virgin’ to translate the greek ‘parthenon’, a young woman, not married. A young, unmarried woman was … Read More »
This is the year of Luke. In addition to the daily readings set down by the Lectionary, I have decided to follow a simple program of reading each chapter and recording my own immediate reflections upon it. It’s not in … Read More »
It’s been a long time since I posted, but now is a new year and I am ‘back on deck’: a phrase relevant to this post! This week I have been part of our annual Candidates’ Retreat, which is a … Read More »
Today I heard on the news that the new ‘secure’ form of passport, in which a tiny computer chip containing many things about one’s personal identity is placed within the document itself, has been breached. A computer hacker in the … Read More »
I promised to tell some more about the holiday in Fiji.It’s almost three weeks ago, and so quickly the benefit of a holiday is overtaken by busyness.This is a worry! But I do want to reflect on the experience of … Read More »
I haven’t written for a while. Mostly, just too busy. But in fact big things are on the agenda for me.This last ten days, I have been on leave. With my wife Merilyn and our daughter Felicity, I went to … Read More »
Letty Russell’s book Church in the Round is one of the most valuable sources for thinking about what it means to be church today.Her basic image is that of a round table—a table where there is no priority, no place … Read More »
This week the Australian government announced its annual budget. With much fanfare, they have announced a spending spree. The government coffers are sloshing with money, and so there’s an income tax cut for everyone: for about 90% of workers, it … Read More »