Dear Mugwump Reader, a friend recently reminded me of this blog post and how relevant it is in a world that has been gate-crashed & hijacked by COVID-19. So here is a repost – some may find it helpful. “What gives value to travel is fear” – Camus You’d think I would be used to…Continue reading Turbulence! That Annoying Necessity of Life
Tag: fear
Haunted by Hell: Part 3 – Hell Hath No Fury Like Hell Scorned … and Love Wins
“What is hell? I maintain that it is the suffering of being unable to love.” – Fyodor Dostoevsky What did church fathers like Origen, Clement, Gregory of Nyssa, St. Anthony and Didymus hold in common that would see them snubbed by many modern Christian institutions?? The doctrine of apokatastasis … No, that’s not a cat…Continue reading Haunted by Hell: Part 3 – Hell Hath No Fury Like Hell Scorned … and Love Wins
Challenging the Formidable Twins: Laziness and Stereotyping
“Once you label me you negate me.” Soren Kiekegaard Sometimes they just creep up on you, don’t they? The associates of Prejudice never sleep. A few years ago, I was travelling home on the train after a very long day at work. I was forcing myself to stay awake even though I was exhausted,…Continue reading Challenging the Formidable Twins: Laziness and Stereotyping
Those Terrifying Liminal Spaces: Reflections on Not Knowing
Last week Tim Carson provided an excellent guest blog on Psalm 139: Treasures of Darkness – I thought this blog from 2015 would add to the conversation. “This is the ultimate knowledge of God, to know that we do not know” – Thomas Aquinas I was slowly dying on the inside. The many faith…Continue reading Those Terrifying Liminal Spaces: Reflections on Not Knowing
Patience or Procrastination? Know the Difference … Know Thyself
“The two hardest tests on the spiritual road are the patience to wait for the right moment and the courage not to be disappointed with what we encounter.” – Paulo Coehlo – I often wonder how much of what I call “Patience” is simply me avoiding a decision that I do not want to make?…Continue reading Patience or Procrastination? Know the Difference … Know Thyself
Have Your Cake And Eat It Too: Protecting Our Religious Rights!
“When we hide discrimination under the guise of ‘religious freedom,’ we make a mockery of human rights.” – DaShanne Stokes – There’s been a lot of talk around our fair isle about preserving ‘religious rights’ and ‘religious freedom’ in the last few months. The fear is palpable and has been used to keep campaigns alive…Continue reading Have Your Cake And Eat It Too: Protecting Our Religious Rights!
A very brief Introduction to Christian Fundamentalism
“There are few things more dangerous than inbred religious certainty.” – Bart D. Ehrman This is a REPOST of a blog I wrote a couple of years ago … most fitting at this time of Australian religious and political discussions! There is a danger in assuming that every Christian belief and practice that we adhere to…Continue reading A very brief Introduction to Christian Fundamentalism
The Avoidance Crisis
“Everything worthwhile in life is won through surmounting the associated negative experience. Any attempt to escape the negative, to avoid it or quash it or silence it, only backfires. The avoidance of suffering is a form of suffering. The avoidance of struggle is a struggle. The denial of failure is a failure. Hiding what is…Continue reading The Avoidance Crisis
Life’s Most Ignored Partner: Death
“It is hard to have patience with people who say, ‘There is no death’ or ‘Death doesn’t matter.’ There is death. And whatever it is matters. And whatever happens has consequences, and it and they are irrevocable and irreversible. You might as well say that birth doesn’t matter.” – C.S. Lewis – My sprightly father…Continue reading Life’s Most Ignored Partner: Death
Scars Sealed In Gold
“To banish imperfection is to destroy expression, to check exertion, to paralyze vitality. All things are literally better, lovelier, and more beloved for the imperfections which have been divinely appointed, that the law of human life may be effort, and the law of human judgment, mercy.” – John Rushkin – It seems that “banishing imperfection”…Continue reading Scars Sealed In Gold