Secret Women's Business

Scientists can tell us about space and energy and atoms and enzymes and DNA… which is all fascinating. And the deeper into the science you go, the more it draws you into wonder. That anything exists at all is fantastical; miraculous! But human beings make sense of their lives not via disconnected facts but via stories and rituals. Small children thrive on routine and rituals: mealtimes, playtimes, bathtimes, storytimes, bedtimes. Their minds and hearts expand via stories. Stories help children to make sense of chaos, clarify a sense of morality, give names and metaphors to human experience, gain insight into relationships, expand their imagination. At Easter time we retell an extraordinary story of a victim of injustice, misguided religious zeal and corrupt power. A story of the brutal murder of an innocent man. A story of sacrifice. Stories about sacrifice are repeated across the ages and in contemporary culture. Carton dying in the place of Darnay in A Tale of Two Cities ; Jac...

In any one year, over 2 million Australians will have an anxiety disorder. Among young people in Australia, one in six is currently experiencing an anxiety disorder. Even these horrifying statistics do not factor in the distressing, but non-clinical levels of anxiety experienced by many. We can readily blame externals like job insecurity, house prices, family breakdown, international conflict and terrorism for this malaise. I suggest swirling beneath this is an unnamed spiritual anxiety . We have unresolved and often unnamed questions deep within our souls. Does my life have any meaning, how do I deal with a vague sense of guilt or unworthiness, how do I respond to all that seems wrong in the world, how can I find inner peace, how can I find lasting love, and if we simply live and die, what is the point of it all? At Easter time we proclaim anew the ancient message: “Do not be afraid; for I know that you are looking for Jesus who has been crucified. He is not here, for He has r...

One of the many wondrous things about Christian faith is that the Way to Life is not a proposition but a Person; the Living Word we call Jesus Christ. Even demons might believe correct theology (James 2:19), but the life of the Spirit is not a matter of correct “doctrine” so much as right relationships. We are called to shalom with God, with others, with ourselves, and with the created order; not to a check list of correct ideas. Strangely however (perhaps due the fact Western theology has a long history of patriarchal domination) the church has tended to be obsessed with “right” ideas about God. In perhaps the ultimate betrayal of Christ, there have even been periods of history where the official church persecuted or killed people for “wrong” ideas about God. When the name of the One who proclaimed and demonstrated sacrificial love is used for oppression and violence, then surely blasphemy has occurred. One area of much theological discussion (and argument) has been around the nat...