From fearing loneliness to embracing it as a gift
"Loneliness irritates me like a broken nail," says a line in a Romanian poem. The truth is, loneliness stings, pulls apart, and resembles the coffee dregs left at the bottom of the pot in which joy and love once brewed. Although the fear of loneliness is natural, we can choose to see solitude as something more than a "flowering wilderness" and embrace it...
End It Now: why violence against women is everyone’s problem
I feel like every time I’ve tuned into the news lately, I’ve heard a story about a woman dying from intimate partner or domestic violence (DV). It is heartbreaking and sickening.
The trouble with alcohol
Elspeth Muir’s brother, Alexander, died from drowning. It was 2009, and he had just turned 21. He died from drowning, but his death “was not foreshadowed by his love of water except that it explains why he was near a river, alone, with a blood-alcohol content of almost 0.25. My brother died because he was drunk, and because the drink made him stupid.”
Single parents and children’s religious education
Is it possible, as single parents, to instil in our children a love for God and for the church?
“Having a child solves all a couple’s problems.” True or false?
"Once upon a time, there was a princess as beautiful and kind as a fairy. She was an only child and her parents loved her dearly and did everything for her. When she grew up, they gave her a magnificent wedding to the brave man she had chosen, a handsome and virtuous fellow. After a while, misfortune struck: not a day would pass...
The eternal illusion of the fundamental secret
One of the mind’s most pleasant and, at the same time, most tormenting occupations is to dream of a better life. How many times have we tried to generate a change for the better by means of a new purchase, new friends, new house, new job, new relationship or other ideas for a fresh start?
Grateful—even for lemons
Things happen anyway, whether good or bad. Why put extra effort into trying to respond positively when certain things happen? Why be grateful?
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.
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?”
Changing cities | Are children a burdensome accessory?
Adults who choose not to have children are often portrayed as selfish people, so preoccupied with their own lives that the prospect of the sacrifices that raising a child would entail seems repulsive to them. Is this view fair or is it just an unfair judgement?
Welcome to country, legacy and the next generation
JS: What is NAIDOC Week? Why is it significant?
DG: NAIDOC Week celebrates Indigenous culture—Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, their achievements and their contribution to the nation.
Bridges between people
I love books as much as I love people, but if I’m honest with myself, sometimes I find a little more comfort in the company of books than in the presence of my fellow humans.
The angry Christian: How can we free ourselves from destructive anger?
A man is about as big as the things that make him angry – Winston Churchill
Space will not save us
When I was young, I wanted to be the first person to set foot on Mars.
The Flight from God | Book review
The Flight from God describes the experience of distancing oneself from God. When we are under the impression that we are running away and that we reach a space where God is absent, we discover that God is already there, inviting us to believe.