In early primary school I remember composing the beginnings of a poem in my head. It went: I was born in Ballarat, some miles away from Melbourne,People always said to me, “Oh my, you must be well-born.” While I chose to prioritise rhyme and rhythm over truth (no-one has ever called me “well-born”, it showsContinue reading “Ordinary Wednesday: Healing Home”
Tag Archives: God
Ordinary Wednesday: Nature’s Hat-stand
Today would have been the 100th birthday of one of the most important people in my life: my maternal grandfather James Savage, known to his friends as Jim and to me and my cousins as Pep. Born in 1921 to an Irish Australian father and Scottish Australian mother, he grew up in working-class Sydney duringContinue reading “Ordinary Wednesday: Nature’s Hat-stand”
Ordinary Wednesday: Everlasting Dust
While I try to go through each day with my eyes open to the little signs of glory and truth that lie around me in the everyday, some days nothing much catches my eye or sinks in. Today was one of those days, my attention too divided for anything in particular to arrest me. SoContinue reading “Ordinary Wednesday: Everlasting Dust”
Ordinary Wednesday: Windows
“Which window will it be today?” Many parents of small children will quickly recognise those words which precede the moment in Play School when we “look through the window” to discover something new and exciting. I have spent much of today sitting by a windowsill with very limited ability to see. Our outside office sitsContinue reading “Ordinary Wednesday: Windows”
The plans I have for you
Itching ears may long to hear,All is well. Everyone relax.But truth is rarely so welcome, or simple;more often we hear All is not well before it is well.More often the doctor diagnoses before healing;the exiles must first be exiledbefore coming home.All shall be well. All manner of thingsshall be well. But first we must learntheContinue reading “The plans I have for you”
Valedictions
Once the new year camein a traffic jam, at Borneo’s mouth,when the crowds who’d fled early to escape the rushnow bid each other a happy onebetween their cars across the street.Another time it came while Iand a friend were lost in the midst of things,driving from one house to another wherethe champagne was chilledand theContinue reading “Valedictions”
Advent with the Prophet Jonah: Day 23
When the sun rose, God provided a scorching east wind, and the sun blazed on Jonah’s head so that he grew faint. He wanted to die, and said, “It would be better for me to die than to live.” Jonah 4:8 There’s a parallel moment to this in the Old Testament, when the prophet Elijah,Continue reading “Advent with the Prophet Jonah: Day 23”
Advent with the Prophet Jonah: Day 22
Then the Lord God provided a leafy plant and made it grow up over Jonah to give shade for his head to ease his discomfort, and Jonah was very happy about the plant. But at dawn the next day God provided a worm, which chewed the plant so that it withered. When the sun rose,Continue reading “Advent with the Prophet Jonah: Day 22”
Advent with the Prophet Jonah: Day 21
Then the Lord God provided a leafy plant and made it grow up over Jonah to give shade for his head to ease his discomfort, and Jonah was very happy about the plant. But at dawn the next day God provided a worm, which chewed the plant so that it withered. When the sun rose,Continue reading “Advent with the Prophet Jonah: Day 21”
Advent with the Prophet Jonah: Day 18
But the Lord replied, “Is it right for you to be angry?” Jonah 4:4 The answer, of course, has to be no. No, it isn’t right for Jonah to be angry. He has just identified one of God’s must defining characteristics for Israel – His mercy – and framed it as a problem, something to “forestall”. SoContinue reading “Advent with the Prophet Jonah: Day 18”
The Consolations of Writing 