No Ordinary Sundays

Before you lies my strength and my weakness; preserve the one, heal the other. Before you lies my knowledge and my ignorance; where you have opened to me, receive me as I come in; where you have shut to me, open to me as I knock. Let me remember you, let me understand you, letContinue reading “No Ordinary Sundays”

How we wait

The taste of hospitals and airports says: You are here under whatever circumstances, tired, no doubt stressed. Have a coffee. Sit down. No-one will care if you cry; everyone is going somewhere different sometime soon. Everyone is crying or dazed, on edge yet kept in secure wards or waiting gates, volatile, yet in comfy chairs.Continue reading “How we wait”

Damascus Road: Cradle, Body, Light

Your garments glisten, my brethren, as snow;—and fair is your shining in the likeness of Angels. (St Ephraim the Syrian, “Hymn for the Baptised”) You are the light of the world; you are the body of Life. The persecutor kicked you; you kick within yourself, yet you remain – kept, preserved; you cannot be hidden. You are the beatenContinue reading “Damascus Road: Cradle, Body, Light”

Catechism 49

Where is Christ now? Christ rose bodily from the grave on the third day after his death and is seated at the right hand of the Father, ruling his kingdom and interceding for us, until he returns to judge and renew the whole world. (New City Catechism) And where if the body stands is theContinue reading “Catechism 49”

Catechism 48

What is the church? God chooses and preserves for himself a community elected for eternal life and united by faith, who love, follow, learn from, and worship God together. God sends out this community to proclaim the gospel and prefigure Christ’s kingdom by the quality of their life together and their love for one another. (NewContinue reading “Catechism 48”

Transfiguration Sunday

These are the words of the One who burns with all the fire of the morning star, who shines much whiter than the day in tabernacle flame. These are the words of the risen Son who was, who is, will ever be, the One who sees, who knows, who calls, the first, the last, theContinue reading “Transfiguration Sunday”

Psalm: Chorale (The Cornucopia of Heaven)

Early on Saturday morning, the fire brigade was called to my church – a 150-year-old heritage-listed building on the corner of one of Melbourne’s most iconic streets, and the building which my fiancée and I recently booked to celebrate our marriage. That day, the Bible reading my church family was looking at in our devotional timesContinue reading “Psalm: Chorale (The Cornucopia of Heaven)”

Catechism 31

What do we believe by true faith? Everything taught to us in the gospel. The Apostles’ Creed expresses what we believe in these words… (New City Catechism) We believe: Almighty Father –       maker of all living things,       all things              sustaining,       holding all. We believe: One Son, one Lord –        JesusContinue reading “Catechism 31”

Sprawl: For Les Murray (and Bach)

February is a short month, and so sadly I am having to speed up our journey through Les Murray’s poetry. My final poem for the month is an original work written in response to this interview with Murray from Image (Winter 2009-10) as well as Murray’s own description, in a personal letter, of his visit toContinue reading “Sprawl: For Les Murray (and Bach)”