Effing with the Ineffable: Why we shouldn’t teach the Bible to our Children

Jesus is Not Lord

Should the Church Embrace Universal Reconciliation?

Worship, Hypnosis and the Neuroscience of Spirituality

Drunk Daddy God: Part 1

Andy Warhol’s Religious Pop Art

Is Believing in Hell Bad for Your Mental Health?

Thin Places and Liminal Spaces

ARTICLES

by Emily Messieh

Christmas without the Trappings

It's that time of the year again. Christmas. It's the crazy lead up: the mad stress filled shopping trips, where you park 2km away if you get there anytime after 10am. It's the awkward encounters with family: we really do our best to get along but with so much unspoken of history, it's tense. It's watching my son bloom with excitement: wearing his Christmas outfits every day since mid November, staring at the presents under the tree and the pretty lights - eyes wide with wonder. But this Christmas feels different. For so long Christmas was celebrated in a church for me. We sang songs, and heard a story about a virgin birth and tried our best to say and do the right things. That world is no l

A poem by Emily Messieh

Words to Fill the Pain of Christmas

It's the most wonderful time of the year. But it doesn't feel wonderful to me. It feels heavy. The expectations of distant family, where there's so much unspoken history and awkwardness. We don't have words to fill the silence. It hangs thick in the year. The bank account balance is the lowest it is. The gift vouchers, the presents, the food, the alcohol to get through the events. To what end and for what reason do we spend this? Do you feel more loved when I give you a gift, or is it just meaningless treasures and consumerism to no end? There are people everywhere. But I am alone. I am alone carrying the burdens of a year of removing rose coloured glasses. I am alone aware that n

by Natalie Alexander

I Couldn't Be Bothered With Christmas Until I Met Adem's Mum

I can’t be bothered to put up any Chrissy decorations. They sit in a dusty box in the shed. Apart from the hassle, I’m just not interested. It’s hot, there’s limited space, hubby's indifferent and visitors are rare. I could go on… Trying to hang those annoying Christmas lights only ends in disappointment with tangled cords and blown bulbs. The wind keeps blowing my Christmas cards (2 in count) off the kitchen shelf and I’ve left it too late to write my own. Christmas should make me sparkle and shine but it doesn’t! It's the pressure that turns me away, along with the commercial focus on consuming. Separation, clashing in-laws and fractured families make Christmas difficult. Recently, I surpr

A poem by Emily Messieh

For Those Who have Grown Tired of the Fight

I'm tired of the fight. The fight of little me sparking hope that one day this world will be a better place. The fight of little us standing for people over profit and shouting, "STOP! You will not win." But you see, they are winning. Our Aboriginal brothers and sisters are still dying in police cells, While narratives are spun to the media about what happened. But we know the truth. They torture innocent people who have suffered so much already, fleeing for their lives for hope of a better life. A woman is dying every week at the hands of a man she loves, or once loved, and we do not protect her. The black dog and anxiety are plaguing our people -- yet we offer band aid solutions --

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