More than stardust | Grandparents and their spiritual heritage
"Children are not a distraction from more important work. They are the most important work.” (Dr John Trainer)
Sometimes I pass my grandparents' house, which...
Every family has a story | Why you should know yours
“We all feel stronger if we are part of a tapestry. One thread alone is weak, but, woven into something larger, surrounded by other threads, it is more difficult to unravel,” says family therapist Stefan Walters, summarising the benefits of understanding the history of the family we come from.
Teenagers and religion
In A History of Young People in the West, Giovanni Levi and Jean-Claude Schmitt posit that, in the West, adolescence is first and foremost a social-cultural construction, and therefore a cultural product. They considered it at most subsidiarily as a stage in the physiological process of growing up.
How our friendships change throughout life
Because life in developed societies follows a more or less regular pattern, sociologists have managed to identify the age at which conditions are most conducive to forming a friendship. It's not that people who are not of this age are unable to form meaningful connections with other people, but at other ages, life takes us on different paths, without asking for our permission.
The mirror is part of us | Friendship and our self-image
A friend carries within him our identity’s safe box.
Space will not save us
When I was young, I wanted to be the first person to set foot on Mars.
When making friends is not easy | Friendship and shyness
Next to family and health, friends are among the top reasons that make us happy. But what if we are solitary, recluse or shy?
Learning from Wave Rock
If you’re reading this article in July of 2024, there’s a good chance I already have climbed or am currently climbing Wave Rock. Called Katter Kich in the Nyungar dialect, Wave Rock is an enormous granite cliff face in the shape of—you guessed it—a wave that protrudes from the surface of the earth in the middle of Western Australia’s Wheatbelt. It forms the...
Preserving dignity: the key to personal freedom
How do we recognise violations of dignity and their impact on daily life?
Stuck in childhood | The Peter Pan syndrome
The fascination of the universe of childhood, with its multitude of stories, experiences and impressions, is unrepeatable. As adults, however, we are often unaware that monsters may lurk in the shards of that magical past, hidden among dreams, memories and kites, ready to reactivate and injure us, while simultaneously anaesthetising us with a familiar sense of déjà vu.
When all direction is gone | How to survive adultery
Henri Nouwen once wrote about some trapeze artists who became his friends, emphasising the perfect synchronicity between them and the total trust that the one who jumps has when he lets go of the trapeze and remains in the air for a second, waiting to be caught by his teammate. But what if, at the last moment, when it is too late to...
Daddy issues in the White House
Recently, I became a dad for the first time (that is, if you don’t count my miniature schnauzer, Banjo). Ever since my daughter was born, I’ve had a single thought going through my head: how do I ensure I don’t screw up my child?
Bullying: Effective strategies to put an end to it
Children who fall prey to bullying cannot save themselves, just as the children who have become accustomed to bullying others will not give up this behaviour without outside intervention. As the phenomenon of bullying spreads, with harmful consequences on children's development, the need to know and apply strategies to combat it is becoming more pressing.
Generation Z’s faith: between revival and decline
The faith of Generation Z is a recent phenomenon. In the United States, at least, young people attend church more frequently than older generations. This change signals huge opportunities for the Church. However, the picture is far from complete.
“My Utmost for His Highest” | Book review
Oswald Chambers’ devotional, My Utmost for His Highest, has a remarkable circulation and is considered probably the most well-known and beloved Christian devotional. It was first published in 1927 in the United Kingdom and has been in print ever since. It has been officially translated into 39 languages, with over 13 million copies sold.


























