We can be so certain we’re right. We can believe and insist on all sorts of things, if there are a few people around encouraging us. There are groups of people that sincerely believe the Earth is actually flat. How did it come to the Flat Earth society being a thing in 2018? The patent evidence of science is swept away by willful ignorance, and for what purpose? To not be wrong, to be sure of being right?...

I’ve been thinking - am I the salt of the earth? Or am I salting the earth?
In Matthew, the author records that Jesus calls us to be the salt of the earth. The flavour and depth of our communities. The salt of the earth is such an evocative, grounding call, isn’t it?
And yet, salt can be so destructive. Salinity hinders plant growth, causes corrosion, and erodes masonry. From ancient times into the 19th century, there are stories of conquered lands being sowed with salt to make them unusable for agriculture and building, and to force their people out. Whether a historical fact, or symbolic curse, the practice of salting the earth speaks to a power to hinder, stunt and corrode..

As someone who has recently come out as a transgender person (part of which story can be found here), I have been greatly blessed recently by expressions of love and support by many people.  Not least among them has been the reception I have had from the Milton Anglican church community.  Indeed I was overwhelmed by the positive greetings of both lay and clergy leaders and deeply touched by the words and actions of others.  Some told me moving tales of their own lives and families and which have drawn us more closely together.  This has been a reflection both of something special in the life of this Christian community and of something also stirring deep within other church communities...

 For many marginalized communities, the importance of the cross is that it is the location where Christ chose solidarity with the world’s marginalized. Christ becomes one with the crucified people of his time, as well as with all who are crucified today on the crosses of racism, sexism, classism, and heterosexism. These crosses are places of violence, littered with broken lives and bodies. Jesus’ solidarity with the world’s failures and the world’s powerlessness points to the God of the oppressed. Here is the importance of the cross. God is not the God of those who crucify, only of those who are crucified. The paradox of the cross is that, in spite of what it symbolizes, there is resurrection.[1]
 
This quote from ethicist Miguel de la Torre is confronting.  God is not the God of those who crucify, only of those who are crucified.  What does this mean for us?  God is a God of the margins; therefore, the church should be a movement organically grown from crucified communities particularly as we acknowledge Reconciliation Week, the crosses of racism...

It was such a delight to share in Sanctus last night - the first gathering of our new contemplative community for Brisbane - with a beautiful space, lovely music and brief but evocative readings, sensitivity and silence, and some great wine, cheese, refreshments and conversation afterwards.  Check out Penny's brief keynote reflection.  We meet again on 27 May @5 pm with a Reconciliation focus...

In our journey through Lent into Easter we meet in many places, the desert, the wilderness, by wells of water, in temples, on the cross, in the tomb.  We explore a myriad of environments telling dramatic encounters between heaven and earth.  We explore a tapestry of God moments: moments of heaven breaking loose into the world.  Culminating in the ultimate event of the resurrection of Jesus Christ...

There are positive outcomes associated with faith and spirituality for parents of children with special needs. What you might find surprising (unless you are a parent of a child with special needs) is that being involved in church and religious activities can however be associated with increased parental stress and depression if we do not approach this well (Ekas, Whitman and Shivers, 2009).  Ann Edwards reflects...

Over Lent we hear of Jesus standing on the precipice of the wilderness looking to the future, seeing visions of an alternative narrative to ‘reality’.  This week too, we stand on the precipice.  Only instead of the literal sense, this precipice is a well.  A life-giving construct that contrasts the desert/wilderness with imagery of life-giving water...