21st December 2025 I hadn’t heard how the asthma puffer came about until a podcast (ABC’s ‘No one saw it coming’) on my travels this week. People have been seeking cures for asthma – or at least a treatment to relieve an attack – and…
14th December 2025 There are times when I’m teaching – particularly adult catechesis – when I say that I’m going to have to ‘play the mystery card’ in answer to a question. It’s not about saying nothing or telling the enquirer not to ask that…
7th December 2025 I was ordained 39 years ago today. After 7 years of training, we left Luther Seminary in Adelaide for a long road trip seeing our family as we headed to north west Queensland and I was ordained along the way. Charlotte and…
30th November 2025 I was the on call hospital chaplain one night this week and at around 1:00am the phone rang. Yes, it was the hospital. I know the routine – get the details and before I drive there get the NHS paperwork, my lanyard,…
The ‘business’ of our world – the planet’s orbit, the weather and seasons, our births and deaths – does not reflect our special occasions such as Christmas (or any other religious observance). The business of our world happens. We can understand the world physically,…
Recently, the opening ceremony of Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris was held. For a country which practises laïcité which is often summarised as ‘freedom from religion’ where there is a strong separation of church and state where the state’s citizens should not be regarded…
Who is tired? Many people seem to be. You might have said an emphatic ‘I am!’. When the days are long and the weeks are busy, I can get tired. We can be in the stresses of work – maybe it is simply the…
Last week I attended Choral Evensong at Westminster Abbey and afterwards a tour of the Abbey and then a reception of the Anglican Lutheran Society. Upon arrival I was ushered into the Quire and seated in a top stall adjacent to the Commonwealth stalls…
Maybe the current freezing conditions have triggered some long dormant neurons to fire and warm me with thoughts of an Australian Christmas. I had a similar moment when thinking of an Advent or Christmas song for the ELCE Advent and Christmas SongFest online at…
Yep, I smiled when I read it. ‘The adult version of “Head, shoulders, knees, and toes” is “Wallet, glasses, keys, and phone”.’ I hadn’t come across this one before – or I’d forgotten if I had! Yes, it’s quite a way from nursery songs…
