Often have I pondered how society could accept the installation of concentration camps in Nazi Germany as a consequence of increasing public racism towards the Jewish population. Rosie Glasser, a Dutch Jew and survivor of the Shoah, described this gr...

I woke up this morning to the comforting sound of steady rain drumming on the roof. In the darkness of pre-dawn I feel a sense of being safe and secure, my body curled up and cosy. It’s a primal womb-like experience. I relish the feeling.  ...

I was away from home on Pentecost and decided to celebrate this significant  feast of the ‘birth’ of the Church,  in a country town close to where I was staying.    The town boasted a beautiful Cathedral which ...

Picture yourself in the shoes of this refugee advocate sitting 30cm from the haunted eyes, furrowed brow and prematurely aged human who is younger than the advocate's youngest child. When face to face with an emotionless young adult, mentally be...

I sit on the rocks while the great cormorant perches like a statue on the cliff, drying its wings in the sun, surveying the expanse of ocean. Sunbeams dance and sparkle on moving waters, a gentle haze of sea spray is carried in the breeze.  ...

“ If you haven’t made it by 35, you never will ” “ Always aim for the top ” The intended message of the above career advice suggests that better outcomes can be achieved through ‘power over’ than the significance of ‘service to,'. How contradictory i...

It is so easy to feel shame at little things that happen to unravel our cool, our clumsiness or flustering or worse. Loss of control of things in our lives can do this.Sometimes when I am being my most civilised and efficient my very humanness seems ...

What does Resurrection mean?  The Dalai Llama once asked this question of a Christian sitting next to him at a John Main Seminar.  This story struck me at the time of hearing about it as I know I would have been startled by such a...

Gratitude or thankfulness for everything and everybody I was encouraged a few years ago to be thankful and to realise that ‘God is in all things’. It is easy to thank God for the wonderful things of life. The sunrise and sunset. The warmth the cold. ...

There was an unexpected journey during these Lenten days. Sensed the need to go! Not knowing what to expect feared for the worst. Arrived by plane – tried to hide feelings of  concern, sadness, overwhelming love. Set out together on the long roa...

Recently, I undertook an immersion into Ignatian Spirituality at Cova Sant Ignasi, Manresa. A retreat house located in the shadow of the sacred mountains of Montserrat. The brochure promised me the opportunity to study the legacy of Ignatius of Loyol...

“ But to become a refugee advocate would split my family, alienate my parents and lose me my best friends !” Such was a participant’s conflicted response at a recent refugee seminar. All will empathise with the self-doubt that floods one’s mind when ...

Set out early, the sky scattered with lacey morning cloud, a gentle, cool breeze gave no hint of the heat that would unfold with the day.  A horse over the fence gave a quiet snort of recognition as I passed by, thought I might listen to mu...

There is a “burning bush” in my garden – an ancient callistemon tree which most of the year looks old and tired. But every now and again it bursts into bloom with a profusion of bright red bottle-brush blossoms. These attract the birds to feed on its...

Central American migrants meet the USA border… What are the issues here? Central Americans are being forced from their homelands for various reasons. They travel all the way to northern Mexico where they meet the USA border. Everything they know tell...