I just heard the news that Billy Graham died. Perhaps the greatest evangelist of history, I was one of millions who were profoundly influenced by his ministry. My mother was on the organising committee for the 1979 “Billy Graham Crusade”, held at Randwick racecourse. This meant that our household was swept up in the fervour of those crusades. I was 14 years old. I can’t remember...
During the deepest, darkest days of apartheid when the government tried to shut down opposition by canceling a political rally, Archbishop Desmond Tutu declared that he would hold a church service instead. St. George’s Cathedral in Cape Town, South Africa was filled with worshippers. Outside the cathedral hundreds of police gathered, a show of force intended to intimidate. As Tutu was preaching...
Some of the world’s greatest wisdom is found in children’s storybooks. The Velveteen Rabbit tells the story of toys in a child’s bedroom that come alive at night. The oldest, wisest toy is a skin horse. The newest toy is a velveteen rabbit. This is a conversation between them. “What is REAL?” asked the Velveteen Rabbit one day… “Does it mean having things that buzz inside you...
Asked by the BBC to identify the defining moment in his life, Archbishop Desmond Tutu spoke of the day he and his mother were walking down the street and a tall white man dressed in a black suit came towards them. Tutu was nine years old and apartheid was in full swing. In the days of apartheid, when a black person and a white person met while walking on a footpath, the black person was expected...
Alexander Papaderous was born on the island of Crete. During the Second World War Alexander’s hometown, Lividas, was destroyed by the Nazis and Alexander, still a child, was interned in a concentration camp. After the war he was determined to be a force for peace and forgiveness. He studied theology in the Orthodox church and in 1965 opened an institute designed to promote peace and...
One of the most inspiring stories I’ve heard about a vision to leave the world changed Who among us could live without computers? It seems they’re everywhere – in our studies at home, on our desks at work, in the library, the bank and even the cafe. We get pleasure from them, we swear at them, we need them. But it’s only a recent thing. Just 3 generations ago the Chairman of IBM declared there is...
Peter Arnett was a CNN television reporter. He tells of a time he was in Israel, in a small town on the West Bank, when a bomb exploded. Bloodied people were everywhere. A man came running up to Peter holding a little girl in his arms. He pleaded with Peter to take her to a hospital. As a member of the press he would be able to get through the security cordon that had been thrown around the...
As I sat there munching on my donut and sipping my coffee at three-thirty in the morning the door of the diner suddenly swung open, and to my discomfort, in marched eight or nine provocative and boisterous prostitutes. It was a small place and they sat on either side of me. Their talk was loud and crude. I felt completely out of place and was just about to make my getaway when I overheard the...
I wish you enough sun to keep your attitude bright. I wish you enough rain to appreciate the sun more. I wish you enough happiness to keep your spirit alive. I wish you enough pain so that the smallest joys in life appear much bigger. I wish you enough gain to satisfy your wanting. I wish you enough loss to appreciate all that you possess. I wish enough ‘Hellos’ to get you through the final...