How do we build resilience in our children?
On 29 May 2023, photographer Oleksandr Kuchynskyi filmed a group of children in Kiev fleeing to a shelter during an air raid.
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.
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.
The boy who harnessed the wind
From a certain point of view, our life can be divided into moments when we have let circumstances determine our future, and moments when we have gone where we wanted to go, despite the circumstances.
“You have to give up being human to endure and survive” | Life in the North Korean prison system
Rape, torture, extrajudicial executions, and starvation are common practices in the North Korean prison system, dehumanising detainees to the point where they believe they deserve this treatment, according to a report published by a human rights monitoring body.
What love looks like
For anyone who has spent any time in a church context or has encountered some form of Christianity, the significance of the story of Jesus is often assumed and then summarised in the single best-known Bible verse: “For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but...
Conquering the world through kindness | Why and how to make the world a better place
"Not all of us can do great things, but we can do small things with great love," said Mother Teresa. Hearing such words from a stranger might seem meaningless. They could easily be dismissed with the well-known proverb, "One swallow doesn't make a summer." But uttered by Mother Teresa, they take on immense power.
Relationships for a happy life
She is an old age pensioner living across the street from my house. But I very rarely meet her. For years she has stayed in her house because of the many serious health problems she has been struggling with.
“Honour your father and your mother”
I once heard on the radio a recommendation to help us understand the elderly: to attach some weights to our backs, hands and feet, put some blurred glasses on our noses, cotton wool in our ears, and then go to the market...
COVID-19: Lessons on happiness from an invisible teacher
When life takes a bad turn, we are often tempted to console ourselves with nostalgia. We begin to look at the past in a different light. We realise that we had been too demanding of ourselves, of others, of the world. That even though we had everything we needed we still wanted more. That we were always looking for something else, without paying...
An impossible inventory of the most widespread fake news about COVID-19
The epidemic of false information in this worldwide pandemic is even more infectious than the virus itself. Fortunately, there is a vaccine for this epidemic of fake news: quality information and information filters. However, not everyone has been vaccinated. Here is an immunization effort.
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.
Being your best you
A week before he left for college, megachurch pastor Steven Furtick’s oldest son asked him, “Out of everything you’ve taught me, what’s the best advice you can give me right now?”
Parenting lessons from imperfect parents
A few years ago, I had the pleasure of meeting a young woman who was good at everything. Although she was only in her early twenties, she was an expert in the kitchen, passionate about cleaning, attentive to the needs of children, had a green thumb, was skilled at raising animals and was able to give an articulate speech in her field of...
I am what you have taught me to be
The perspectives we acquire as children about ourselves as individuals, about the world, and even about God, become beliefs that filter and guide the choices we make as adults. Some of these beliefs are helpful. Others are not. In fact, many of the obstacles we encounter in adult life are caused by these filters.


























