Reflections

One of the pitfalls of priesthood is that we pray so frequently that we easily gloss over the words without paying any particular  mind to what they really mean. The Lord's prayer is a classic example. A minimum of twice a day everyday, almost guarantees that the words will become glib and prattle. It's good...Continue reading→

I’ll call him Jimmy. Jimmy wasn’t exactly a Sunday by Sunday Anglican. Sometimes you’d look up and he’d be there at the back of the Church, but he would always be gone again by the end of the last hymn. He would phone or drop round just to say ‘Hello’. He flitted elusively but consistently...Continue reading→

I usually get Lent wrong.  I usually think of it as a time when I’m supposed to be holier, when I’m supposed to fast, pray, give alms, do good; all as a way to prepare myself for the celebration of Easter.  All of that usually lasts for about a week or so, but that’s not...Continue reading→

I’m very new to this Facebook thing. Less than 12 months old. One of the terrifying things is the speed with which information is spread around the world. Quite literally, it is an international forum. So you have to be really, really careful before putting anything up there or out there, especially when it is...Continue reading→

For a little while I was a school chaplain. It was a stimulating time and I learnt far more than the students. One of the few lessons that ‘worked’ was the lesson about when and where it is safe to smoke. This was obviously a long time ago. Is it OK to smoke alone in...Continue reading→

Today we have this classic tale that we call “The Transfiguration”. Our Lord takes his inner cabinet of Peter, James and John up the mountain and there for a moment the veil is lifted and they see The Master as he truly is in all his dazzling glory. Moses and Elijah even pop in for...Continue reading→

The gifts we never knew I saw them at 7:00am on Sunday. 3 smartly dressed police officers on Griffin street. They had captured three recalcitrant horses that had been spooked by the storms. Thanks to their calming vibe the horses were now grazing happily on the nature strip. I thought of our police force as...Continue reading→

A couple of words that might set with these stories of healing. in context. The gospel begins in the synagogue on a sabbath. From there Jesus and his companions go immediately to the house of Simon and Andrew. And immediately (there it is again, one of Mark's favorite words) they tell Jesus about Simon's mother...Continue reading→

Fr. Davids musings 2020 was not the most attractive year. What made it so unattractive was not just the ventilators, the tired and frazzled health workers and the refrigerated morgue trucks. No, far more uglier and painful than any of those things was the relationships that became fraught and frayed. Some I imagine were able...Continue reading→

A reflection from Fr. David. For Christmas I was given a splendid book called “Humans”  by Brandon Stanton. Brandon travels the world to interview people and they offer a brief snap shot of their life. Sometimes its just a one liner  like “I’ve seen a lot of death” from a person in a displaced persons...Continue reading→

Each year we read one of the three gospels Matthew, Mark and Luke. We get large slabs of John in Lent and Easter. This year we will be reading through Marks gospel. It is the shortest of the gospels and was designed to be read out loud to a congregation. In Mark’s gospel the figure...Continue reading→

I grew up with Play-school on a black and white TV screen. I can still remember the song. “There’s a bear in there and chair as well; there are people with games and stories to tell…” I heard these words afresh the other day and it occurred to me that they are indicative of every...Continue reading→

I was reading a rollicking yarn the other day. It turns out that this guy was speaking at a mammoth conference. All these people had scheduled 3 days into their E-calendars. They had come from far and wide and listened attentively. They liked what they heard. Some had applauded, two people whistled and a dog...Continue reading→

Let me run through the list. When Jesus saw Nathanael coming Jesus answered, ‘I saw you under the fig tree Jesus said You will see greater things than these. You will see heaven opened. And it got me asking myself… how is it that I don’t see? What are the chunks of driftwood in my own eyes that stop me from seeing what...Continue reading→

When a biographer begins their account of a life the first thing want to do is they want to establish who the person really is. They can do this in a number of ways. By the locality and community into which the person was born or by the person's ancestors. The gospel writers all had...Continue reading→

With all the hand washing and sanitising there has developed this small piece of dry skin at the base of my left little finger. It’s been there for some time now. It’s not sore, it's not itchy, it's not noticeable… it’s just there. I know it’s there because I scratch at it sometimes and it...Continue reading→

Black in colour, the T-shirt had two words printed on it. “Limited Edition”. At first I wondered if the wearer was advertising something for sale. But there was no phone number to dial or email to type. Then I woke up. The T-shirt was making the point that each and everyone of us is a...Continue reading→

Even after we have re read this passage, the Magi of Matthew’s Gospel still remain mysterious people. It seems they are far more unsettling characters than those regal figures riding their camels across our Christmas cards. There are so many layers of meaning to this story, so many symbols, that it is impossible to do...Continue reading→

I miss Park run. I miss it for lots of reasons. The collegiality, the dogs, the people. But there is something else. Maybe it's because I am just a little older but I have discovered that I am not running as quickly as I did when others were there. When park run was happening I...Continue reading→

It was an embarrassment! An experience that was excessively cringeworthy. The family Christmass lunch is one those events where only the brave and foolish prosper. Let me tell you about one such fictional attempt at peace on earth and good will to all people. Fleur and Jack are your welcoming hosts and while there had...Continue reading→