News
Dozens of church leaders, including many whose communities have been directly affected by flooding and bushfires, have signed an open letter calling for government leaders to take effective action to protect our climate
Reflections
“Towards the end of our conversation, the patient said that he felt as though his faith had been awakened. He also looked physically different – when I arrived he looked disengaged and down, but when I left his bedside he was relaxed and smiling. Before I left, he asked to pray for me, which was profound,” says hospital chaplain The Rev’d Peter Mayen
“Over the years I have known a few women by the name of ‘Hope’, but not one by the names ‘Courage’ or ‘Anger’. Prior to the advent of modern urban fantasy novels or dystopian fantasy novels, almost every courageous character I came across in the literature I read was male,” says The Rev’d Andrew Schmidt
This Advent, Archbishop Phillip Aspinall tells us an amazing story of survival – of three fishermen who survived adrift at sea for seven long months: “What kept the fishermen going, so they said afterwards, were their faith in God and their memories of home and family…The story shows the power of memory and hope. It tells us a lot about the Christian life and about Advent in particular…We remember Christ born in Bethlehem, his amazing life…That life gives us hope that Christ will embrace us for eternity. Memory gives birth to hope…This Advent, please remember and hope.”
“But the people who walk in darkness have seen a great light. The light isn’t fully and completely here yet, but it does point to a new and different kind of future. It holds out hope. We’ve seen the breaking dawn of a new future. The child born in Bethlehem promises a new future for us all and gives us hope…”
The Rev’d Andrew Schmidt reflects on self-help books: “They are the social equivalent of the photo-shopped celebrities that cannot be attained, but still people pay for the privilege of the dream. Just buy the book, follow the trademarked 7-step path to a more fulfilled life, eat this diet to a healthier heart chakra. I could go on”
‘Hope may seem like a strange thing to describe as radical in the context of Christmas….it is not a hope for self, or even a hope for someone we know, but rather it is a hope that goes wider,’ reflects The Rev’d Andrew Schmidt
Get some soul in your inbox
Thank you for subscribing