On New Year’s Eve, 2013, my little family made a pilgrimage to Cape Reinga, Te Rerenga Wairua, the northern tip of New Zealand, where the Pacific Ocean and the Tasman Sea ‘say hello’ as SBJ will tell you, with a dramatic clap of his hands. They clash with a set of white-topped breakers out in […]
I once read a report describing the quality of education in a variety of countries which concluded that the best curriculum in the world is the one used in New Zealand. I spat my tea. Poppycock. The one used in New Zealand is simply the best in New Zealand. It cannot be compared with the […]
Like many of you, I feel almost unresolvably torn when it comes to little kids and games of murder. Raising SBJ to be a kind, non-violent man is a high priority for us, so what do we do about games of cops and robbers or pirates? My besties Nicholas, Richard and I played ‘Luke and […]
If there were just one male role model I could pick for my boy, it might be Jean Valjean. (Who would yours be?) It’s kind of cheating, though, since Victor Hugo created Valjean to represent all humanity, how we relate to God and the people around us. His struggles are our struggles and how he […]
A new year might be an arbitrary piece of mathematical jiggery-pokery, but it’s also a handy opportunity to let the enthusiasm of millions energise our own inclination for change or renewal. I thought I’d introduce you to the wonderful Joyce Rupp today, through this collection of blessings, using imagery from the Bible (thanks, JK, the Ideas […]
Ultimately we have just one moral duty; to reclaim large areas of peace in ourselves, more and more peace and to reflect it towards others. And the more peace there is in us, the more peace there will be also in our troubled world. Esther, or Etty, Hillesum, writer of these words, was born on […]