Overcoming trauma and the role of forgiveness in family life
Studies indicate that most people experience at least one traumatic event in their lifetime, whether physical or psychological.
Loving your neighbour | “And who is my neighbour?”
“And Who Is My Neighbour?” asked a Jewish teacher of the Law when Jesus Christ told him that eternal life entails observing two commandments: to love God and to love one’s neighbour.
The Sabbath, between original intention and everyday utopias
"Western societies have transformed Sundays into days where leisure activities have eclipsed the traditional Christian meaning of the day—to devote time to God", Pope Benedict XVI once said, reminding us that the day of rest is a celebration of God's creation of the world. Observing this day now, when there are worrying signs about the global climate, is a necessity, the Pope added.
The need to learn to say no
Although we may not like everyone, we want everyone to like and accept us. We raise our eyebrows suspiciously if someone treats us with indifference or, worse, with hostility. We feel misunderstood and rejected. And the feeling of rejection is as intense as physical pain.
Three times the world nearly ended
Many doomsayers have “cried wolf” when it comes to the end of the world. Does that mean it’s not going to happen at all?
“Thanks for coming over!” | Ageing and social relationships
Our number of friends tends to decrease as we get older, but this trend, which has many negative effects, can be actively combated even when old age has already set in.
The great astonishment
I was talking to the man I call Professor and I asked him, "I know you had reservations about getting baptised. Why did you decide to do it anyway? What was the deciding factor?"
Aurelius Augustine
Aurelius Augustine (354-430) is known for the stirring Christian experience he described in his Confessions and for the seminal theological thought that has shaped theology to this day.
The business of menopause
For a long time, menopause has been a taboo subject. However, in recent decades, two things have changed simultaneously: women have started talking openly about their experiences, and companies have spotted an opportunity.
COVID-19: What have we learned about ourselves?
Courage is not the opposite of fear, nor of caution. True courage is what you do right in the midst of fear.
The road home
The miracle of modern technology today is idealised by almost everyone. The way in which technology has placed the world at our feet, ensuring that we are at the centre of the universe even while lying on our couches, and that we find solutions simply by swiping our finger along a screen, has irredeemably conquered us.
How to sleep well in the age of anxiety
Sleep is perhaps the most important, complicated, and misunderstood physiological mechanism that keeps us alive.
Suffering and the meaning of life
I have always imagined that well-being, bright prospects, good health and a clear purpose in life tend not to inspire questions about the meaning of life very often.
The golden handcuffs and the new religion of work
An old Romanian proverb states that craft is like a golden bracelet. But the way we relate to this type of jewellery seems to suggest that these golden bracelets are more like some socially acceptable handcuffs, which we fooled ourselves into wearing with pride.
Courage in the deluge
After a chance meeting of mutual friends, I was introduced to Tim and Sonia in a restaurant in central Toowoomba, Queensland, eight days before their home was washed away.


























