“Our hearts of stone become hearts of flesh when we learn where the outcast weeps.” Brennan Manning I remember walking through the doors of a house we had built in semi-rural Melbourne. It was a home that in years ahead would be the place where many friends and family members would gather – a place…Continue reading Oh The Places You Will Go … And The Places You Must Leave …
Category: Sociology
Apartheid and the Ideas about God that Upheld It
This is a blog post from 2 years ago. As I travel Germany and am confronted by the many monuments that remember the holocaust and persecuted minorities, I am again aware of the fundamental role that dominant religions often play in oppressive regimes. May we never forget. I still remember the feeling of stifling hot air hitting…Continue reading Apartheid and the Ideas about God that Upheld It
Let’s Talk about Shame
It’s only taken me several decades to work out what a powerful motivator shame has been in my life. As an idealist and dreamer, the need to make things right has so often been driven by an exhausting sense of shame. Psychologist Michael Lewis calls shame the ‘quintessential human emotion’. In many ways, shame…Continue reading Let’s Talk about Shame
A very brief Introduction to Christian Fundamentalism
“There are few things more dangerous than inbred religious certainty.” – Bart D. Ehrman This is a REPOST of a blog I wrote a couple of years ago … most fitting at this time of Australian religious and political discussions! There is a danger in assuming that every Christian belief and practice that we adhere to…Continue reading A very brief Introduction to Christian Fundamentalism
Lisa’s Story: The Path of Courage
“Courage is a heart word. The root of the word courage is ‘cor’ – the Latin word for heart. In one of its earliest forms, the word courage meant, ‘To speak one’s mind by telling all one’s heart.’ Over time, this definition has changed, and today, we typically associate courage with heroic and brave deeds.…Continue reading Lisa’s Story: The Path of Courage
What The Sea Teaches Us
“Listening through the heart is not something you must learn to do. It is something you need only reclaim and remember.” – Stephanie Dowrick – I loved going to the sea ever since I can remember. In Germany it was the chilly harbours along the North Sea. The fishermen would sit there like a line…Continue reading What The Sea Teaches Us
“Youer Than You” – Saying No To Comparison
“Today you are You, that is truer than true. There is no one alive that is Youer than You.” – Dr Seuss – You may be someone who looks back fondly on your school years: friendships, laughter and camaraderie. My school years were complicated. We moved around continents and countries and I changed schools regularly.…Continue reading “Youer Than You” – Saying No To Comparison
The Avoidance Crisis
“Everything worthwhile in life is won through surmounting the associated negative experience. Any attempt to escape the negative, to avoid it or quash it or silence it, only backfires. The avoidance of suffering is a form of suffering. The avoidance of struggle is a struggle. The denial of failure is a failure. Hiding what is…Continue reading The Avoidance Crisis
Life’s Most Ignored Partner: Death
“It is hard to have patience with people who say, ‘There is no death’ or ‘Death doesn’t matter.’ There is death. And whatever it is matters. And whatever happens has consequences, and it and they are irrevocable and irreversible. You might as well say that birth doesn’t matter.” – C.S. Lewis – My sprightly father…Continue reading Life’s Most Ignored Partner: Death
Are You Getting Your Beauty Sleep?
“Laugh and the world laughs with you, snore and you sleep alone” Anthony Burgess I love my bed. There is something totally therapeutic and delicious about sinking into flannel sheets after a long day. As an introvert I have memories of being at those hideous children’s parties and counting down the minutes until I can…Continue reading Are You Getting Your Beauty Sleep?