Listen to the media and our politicians and you’ll hear all kinds of talk about increases in the cost of living and the pressure it is putting on families. Problem is, it’s just not true. The chart below shows changes in the Consumer Price Index, which is the standard measure for...
A Glimpse of the Kingdom of God in Suburban Australia
in that half hour or so I was there I caught a glimpse of the kingdom of God - a kaleidescope of humanity sharing food, life and friendship without pretence, rank or judgement, at the table of a welcoming God.
How Would Jesus Vote? #2
At the end of a 3000 year old document I found the the advice that will shape how I vote in the upcoming Federal election. The words are attributed to the mother of a king named Lemuel. The sayings of King Lemuel—an inspired utterance his mother taught him. 2 Listen, my son! Listen, son of my womb...
How Would Jesus Vote? #1
So, we’re up for a Federal election on September 7. Which gets me wondering, in the spirit of those WWJD wristbands, how would Jesus vote? Ridiculous question really, because I have no idea how Jesus would vote. He lived under a dictatorship and never offered commentary on democratic voting...
On Killing Cats
We’re a cat family. Neighbours on either side have dogs, but we have a cat, a white and ginger cat named Mittens. Earlier this week Mittens disappeared. Three days later we found her, lying weak and helpless in a section of our garden, one of her hind legs dislocated. The vet concluded she...
So Where Would You Go?
The map above shows signatories to the Refugee Convention/Protocol. Countries in gray are not signatories. So if you were fleeing persecution from Sri Lanka, the tiny island off the coast of India where would you flee? You’ve basically got three nearby options if you want to go somewhere...
A Better Way to ‘Stop the Boats’
The problem with the current debate on refugees and the Government’s policy that no boat arrival will be settled in Australia is that it sees the problem as how to prevent people making the trip to Australia by boat. As I listen to the rhetoric it seems that boat arrivals are considered...
The Best Church on Earth
in January 2005 I went to what is possibly the best church on earth. It wasn’t big, the worship time was led by two guys with out of tune guitars, and the bulk of the congregation were uneducated. But here was a faith community in every sense of those words. The church is located in a slum...
Is Fairtrade Fair or Am I a Naive Do-Gooder Who is Hurting the Poor?
What do you do when you discover that the Bangladeshi woman who sewed your new T-shirt gets paid so little that she lives in dire poverty, or that the football you kick around was made by an Indian child whose entire family stitch soccer balls for the princely sum of 70 cents a day, or that Nike...
When Should We Stop Praying for a Miracle?
A few years back I was asked to visit a critically ill man to pray for him. When I arrived at the hospital it was clear that the man, in his late 70’s, was near death. He was unconscious and hospital staff had suggested family members come quickly to say their goodbyes. A number of them were...