This blog was (2015 post) and is dedicated to the memory of Sophie Scholl and all those who, along with her, harnessed the courage to stand against evil. I have a sense that it is time to urgently resurrect the spirit of what was known as the White Rose. May the people rise. “Stand up for…Continue reading Remembering Sophie: Reflections on Courage
The Sinking Island
I blogged this piece on Tangier Island back in 2017. As I read it today, I found it helpful and thought I would post it again … perhaps it also finds resonance in your life at this time. And then one day, – and I still don’t know how it happened – The sea came.…Continue reading The Sinking Island
Out and Visible: Roe’s Story
You may have noticed the increasing vitriol from sections of the Australian media and politics against transgender rights and inclusion. An example would be The Australian‘s strong anti-trans coverage that highlights this growing backlash. Have you ever asked yourself what it would feel like to be at the receiving end of such hostility directed at you…Continue reading Out and Visible: Roe’s Story
Haunted by Hell: Part 3 – Hell Hath No Fury Like Hell Scorned … and Love Wins
“What is hell? I maintain that it is the suffering of being unable to love.” – Fyodor Dostoevsky What did church fathers like Origen, Clement, Gregory of Nyssa, St. Anthony and Didymus hold in common that would see them snubbed by many modern Christian institutions?? The doctrine of apokatastasis … No, that’s not a cat…Continue reading Haunted by Hell: Part 3 – Hell Hath No Fury Like Hell Scorned … and Love Wins
Haunted by Hell: Part 2 – Our Addiction to Retributive Justice
“There are different kinds of justice. Retributive justice is largely Western. The African understanding is far more restorative – not so much to punish as to redress or restore a balance that has been knocked askew.” -Desmond Tutu – Dante’s hell, as discussed in Part 1, fuelled the human imagination. Eternal flames, endless pain, torturous…Continue reading Haunted by Hell: Part 2 – Our Addiction to Retributive Justice
Haunted by Hell: Part 1 – Dante’s Legacy
“The path to paradise begins in hell.” ― Dante Alighieri – There’s a room in my life where hell sleeps. Sleeps every so lightly. And over the last few years, it often awakens, moving swiftly through the corridors, to be part of the many conversations I have had with people whose life narrative has been…Continue reading Haunted by Hell: Part 1 – Dante’s Legacy
The Table of Life: Despair and Hope
“Despair is the price one pays for self-awareness. Look deeply into life, and you’ll always find despair.” ― Irvin D. Yalom, When Nietzsche Wept – Lately, I find the world increasingly loud and overwhelming. I flinch as I scroll through my various social news feeds: The faces of the destitute that have been stigmatised as…Continue reading The Table of Life: Despair and Hope
Letting Javert Go
“One can say that Javert is our conscience. The ever lurking presence of the law and our own condemnation. The tension between who we were and who we are and who we can be. Javert represents that inescapable, shameful past that forever haunts and pursues one’s conscience. Javert is the man of the law, and……Continue reading Letting Javert Go
Neither Here nor There – The Many Voices of Liminality
‘Jesus, on whom be peace, said This world is a bridge. Pass over it but do not build your dwelling there.’ (Inscribed in Persian on Buland Darwaza, the main gateway to the palace at Fatehpur Sikri, south of Delhi, India by the Moghul emperor Akbar I in 1601) Last year, I had the opportunity…Continue reading Neither Here nor There – The Many Voices of Liminality
Tattered Teddies and Tattered Hearts
Once you are Real you can’t become unreal again. It lasts for always. -Margery Williams, The Velveteen Rabbit – It was a very difficult decision to let Baer go. However, Baer had gone to God. His little teddy body could no longer be mended. There were now gaping holes where once his beautiful brown glass…Continue reading Tattered Teddies and Tattered Hearts