No one is perfect: how to help children learn from mistakes
To err is human. “The only sure way to avoid making mistakes is to have no ideas”, Albert Einstein said.
Realistic expectations, the secret of lasting relationships
Aside from fuelling jokes about how women impose unrealistic standards on men, or how men are just grown-up children who want their wives to be their mothers, the expectations couples place on their relationship define how they relate to each other, and influence marital satisfaction.
Scars that heal
He had made the mistake of asking the doctors for a mirror. Terrified, he saw a monster reflected in it. Lying on the hospital bed, after the doctor left, he pulled on the tube he thought was keeping him alive. He had no reason to live.
Light and shadow in our world of words
“Words are, of course, the most powerful drug used by mankind.” (Rudyard Kipling)
Give a little, change a lot
Seeing a team care for remote villages in the Solomon Islands showed me how small donations can make a real big difference.
How well do you know your heroes?
In 2016, I noticed advertising for a new quiz show called Hard Quiz coming to ABC TV in Australia.
Good people, bad people
I have always loved family photographs, especially old ones. They allow you to wander freely through the stories of times and lives that are little known yet also familiar.
Reacting to the worst news
In a conversation with Dr. Shelly-Ann Bowen, we discussed her research on what determines whether someone will be active or passive in the face of catastrophic events—fires, floods, or a cancer diagnosis. Social injustice, a lack of self-awareness, and even an immature understanding of faith paralyse action. But there are ways to make positive changes.
”Think of the children!” Are video games harming us?
As the world went into various lockdowns over the course of last year, people turned to a variety of entertainment forms to cope with...
The invasion of thoughts that endlessly postpone our happiness
The inability of the mind to concentrate on what one is experiencing in a particular moment has the effect of overshadowing the joy of a day, even when the subject of the wandering thoughts is as pleasant as can be.
“Mere Christianity” | Book review
"In the Trinity Term of 1929, I gave in, and admitted that God was God, and knelt and prayed: perhaps, that night, the most dejected and reluctant convert in all England," testified C.S. Lewis in his book, Surprised by Joy: The Shape of My Early Life. Today’s article, however, is about another book from the same author, Mere Christianity.
The social media trap
Two recent stories in Australian media shocked me to my core. Two 12-year-olds in different states took their own lives after being bullied at school.
The necessity of being wrong
Nobody likes to lose an argument. The feeling of being proven wrong is never a good one. At best, it might provide a slight dent to your ego or sense of self. At worst, it can be a thoroughly humiliating affair, or reveal that one of the foundations of your beliefs is invalid or misplaced. But no matter where it lands on the...
The slalom between regrets and wrong estimates
In October 2012, Forbes magazine published a list of the top 25 biggest regrets people have. According to the magazine, the most significant regrets are those concerning relationships with family members and friends, regrets concerning oneself, and career regrets.
Teachers who shape us
"The task of the modern educator is not to cut down jungles but to irrigate deserts." (C. S. Lewis)


























