Greetings,This week a significant birthday will be celebrated in our family. As Elizabeth is turning 18, I have been recalling the joy and challenge of her arrival. I remember looking at how tiny and beautiful she was, and wondering at how the marvel of new life could grow from just a couple of cells. Yet…

Greetings, What’s in a name?  ‘A rose by any other name would smell as sweet’ is a well-known quote from Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet.  It means that the essence or nature of something is not changed by its name.  However, to my way of thinking, a name ends up holding some of the essence of…

Greetings, Whenever I get the chance to go back to Sydney I notice changes, particularly around the area where I grew up.  There is more traffic, more high-rise, and more of what I remember has gone.  While I don’t go to visit the place, these changes make me realise that I have changed too, and…

Greetings,I wouldn’t consider I’m a great artist, but I do have moments of inspiration where an idea comes together and I am able to create something tangible. I don’t really know how this happens, but wonder if it is the Spirit at work.In a recent conversation a friend and I were discussing the beauty that…

Greetings, Over the last week I found it wonderful to be back in the classroom, engaging with other critical thinkers, as we spent time looking at the books of Esther, Ruth, Song of Songs, Susannah and Judith.  These books are maybe not as well-known as others but in many ways are exceptional.  Each have women…

Greetings,You might have noticed last week that the picture in the Community News had changed. Just under the Pastoral Concerns and Prayer Points we now have a picture of some intersecting railway tracks. This might seem an odd choice for an image, but I thought it connected well with the theme we will be exploring…

Greetings, When I was a child, I used to learn a new grace every year. It became a tradition that the new grace would be said the first time for my Mama’s birthday. The grace that sticks with me, probably because it was the one I learnt for her last birthday, goes like this: –…

Greetings, As I’ve been thinking about the call for justice, mercy and humility over the last few weeks, I’ve come across a couple of writings which I have found helpful. The first is a poem.  It is quite short, with only a few words, but they are powerful words.  I didn’t have any luck finding…

Greetings, In light of our thinking about how we ‘do justice, love kindness and walk humbly’, I was interested to see a statement from Rev Charissa Suli, UCA President, which affirms the solidarity of the Uniting Church with a suffering Palestine.  The statement notes the situation of the Israeli hostages as well as the disproportionate…

Greetings, Over the next few weeks, we will be reminded of the call of God to how we should live. This is encapsulated in Micah 6:8 which reads ‘… what does the Lord require of you but to do justice and to love kindness and to walk humbly with your God?’ As we grow together…