thinking honestly about life and faith
Today is the 95th Birthday of President Jimmy Carter. He has to be one of the greatest ‘losers’ of our time. He was President of the United States of America for one term, from 1977 to 1980, and led his … Read More »
I write this post as I approach the 10th anniversary of the trauma we experienced in the earthquake and tsunami in Samoa. It was in itself a story of death and life. For many people, death came so suddenly and … Read More »
Living with the questions. My colleague Lina Toth has written a challenging piece about the tasks of theological education in increasingly secular contexts. It’s a valuable piece, but I am especially interested in this affirmation: ‘During their theological studies, students … Read More »
Paul Tillich’s wonderful book The Courage to Be, which has been one of the guiding lights of my entire adult life, sets out the basic idea of the courage or faith necessary to engage with the ambiguities and anxieties of life. … Read More »
Recently I read this little summary of Henri Nouwen’s ideas of ‘lies of identity’: these are common social and cultural assumptions by which we evaluate who we are, what our lives are worth—and so often the only way they really … Read More »
Mindfulness is a big thing just now. It is a welcome shift in focus, from the continuous stress on performance and outcomes. In fact the words I have just written all carry a lot of significance. A shift in focus: … Read More »
We are yet again embroiled in debates about freedom of religion. As so often has been the case, there is no serious attention being given by those making claims for protection of their freedoms to what they really mean, other … Read More »
Every now and again, I come across profound wisdom in the novels I read just for pleasure. Here is one such example, from Michael Robotham, Watching You: Joe O’Loughlin Book 7: Zoe had never been very interested in football. Daniel … Read More »
Advent is the season of expectation and anticipation. It is about ‘the coming of the Lord’? Actually, it is about trying to understand what we mean by ‘the coming of the Lord’. In short, it is far more than the … Read More »
We were reflecting the other day on a week in the life of a local church pastor. Not every week is like this, but it had been ‘a tough time’. In the local community there were all the usual things … Read More »