Reflections

Gatlin: The Parable of the Broken Match Stick. This is one of those many conversations that happened a long time ago in a place far, far away.  Not quite in another galaxy, but pretty close. It was towards the end of a rather long lunch and it was just the two of us sitting there with...Continue reading→

Silent Night… really…??? During this Advent, we’ll be reflecting on the words of some of our Advent and Christmass hymns. We sing them lustily and with great gusto and so frequently that we can easily forget that the words have something to teach us.     The best hymns make us think a little. Today I...Continue reading→

Retreat - the great misnomer Every year the Anglican clergy of our diocese gather for retreat. There is no truth in the ugly rumour that we actually nick off to the Melbourne Cup and bet on slow horses. So what do we do? We gather for a rather noisy meal on Monday night. We catch...Continue reading→

The Privilege of Grey Hair The inspiration for this reflection came from my attendance at the Remembrance Day service. As I toddled along I found myself thinking that my hair is quite a different color than it was 40 years ago. I have photos to prove it! When my hair first became more ‘Silver Foxish’...Continue reading→

24/11/24 Then we will have begun. Of all the homilies that I try to piece together, the ones that seek to address the issue of Domestic violence are some of the most challenging. For one thing, it's such a heinous crime. What on earth does one say? And for another, it should be mind blitheringly...Continue reading→

A Hannah Kind of Hurt Today I would like to reflect on the story of Hannah in the Old Testament reading.The book of Samuel comes in a 2 part mini-series. These two books of Samuel tell us about the difficulty Israel had in transitioning from a loose system of judges to having a King. Hannah’s...Continue reading→

To Plant is to Hope The parable of the tomato plants There is a wizened gardener who grows tomato plants from seeds. Each year we are privileged to go and get some from him and you never know exactly what sort he has come up with. It's a real liquorice all sorts, a lucky dip...Continue reading→

Of Rifleman Cyrus Thatcher Rifleman Cyrus Thatcher was killed on 2 June 2009. He was one of the youngest soldiers to die in the Afghanistan war. I am going to read the letter that he wrote to be delivered to his family if he died. I want to read this to emphasise the importance of remembering...Continue reading→

Desiderata: Original Text This is the original text from the book where Desiderata was first published. Go placidly amid the noise and the haste, and remember what peace there may be in silence. As far as possible, without surrender, be on good terms with all persons. Speak your truth quietly and clearly; and listen to others,...Continue reading→

All Souls Dear Brutus, Thank you so very much for your letter which I received the other day. For a young man of just 6 years old, you certainly write terrific letters and I was jolly impressed. If I were your teacher I would give you a gold star, the day off school and a...Continue reading→

A lesson I keep having to (re)learn. It was one of those one-liners that smacked you across the lower jaw. “A lesson I keep having to learn time and again and again, is the value of going to things I don’t actually want to.” I was surprised to read it from this friend as they...Continue reading→

Marlo Schalesky is the author of 11 books (both fiction and non-fiction), including Reaching for Wonder: Encountering Christ When Life Hurts. Bartimaeus may just be my favourite character. There’s something about his tenacity, his audacity and his fierce vivacity. He lived in darkness, and yet he saw more clearly than any of his seeing contemporaries....Continue reading→

Some Advice, Please. I once wrote to a priest to ask for advice about funerals. It seemed like a pertinent and good question to ask. I’m not sure what I was expecting them to say. Something pragmatic and organised I hoped. This particular priest was particular about time and organisation. The priest said lots of...Continue reading→

Three cheers for James and John Today I want to give three hearty cheers for James and John, because of today's gospel I think they’ve had an unnecessarily harsh press throughout history. They come to Jesus and ask: “Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you”. They get short shrift...Continue reading→

Truth begets trust, trust begets peace and peace begets reconciliation. This is yet another phrase that I shamelessly stole. The phrase was used in an articulate homily referring to that situation in that far away land. The place where a little man walked the dusty streets muttering how a new kingdom might be ushered in...Continue reading→

Two quick things about holidays. I’m not sure what your experience of holidays is like, so I only offer you some reflections from my own experience. The first thing I would want to say about holidays is that they are surreal. In the time leading up to the vacation you wonder what it will be...Continue reading→

If I could talk to the animals It is my pleasure and honour to address you on this beautiful day. It is always a great thrill to speak to such a diverse, beautiful and gifted audience as you are. Of course, you may not understand everything I have to say, but perhaps your human companions...Continue reading→

And they gave us a box of matches… In August of this year, 3 primary school-aged girls were stabbed in Southport England. Social media, the source of all wisdom and fount of all knowledge, told us that the perpetrator was of a particular ethnic origin and practised a particular faith. Social media also gave out...Continue reading→

We know not what we bring As I’ve gotten older I find that my curiosity is piqued not by the main characters in bible stories but more and more by those who are behind the scenes that make it all happen. Often they are nameless and frustratingly they disappear from the story seemingly never to...Continue reading→

Your mission today is to be the answer to someone’s prayer. It was a cutesy poster I saw in a church once. The photo showed someone embracing a raggedy child. While the photo engaged me, it was the caption that stayed with me long after. Your mission today is to be the answer to someone’s...Continue reading→