Border Crossings

Out of the silence the spirit comes. God’s spirit comes with healing, to a wold that cries our for transformation and renewal. She is the breath of the power of God, She is the a reflection of God’s eternal light. Let us celebrate with joy God’s sacred presence, here in this place and in our world. Come Holy Spirit come. 1 For 59 years I have identified as Catholic.   Christian, yes, but a particular form of Christianity- Catholicism.   I was born into a Catholic family, baptized as a three week old, with much relief to my parents.   Mary, a previous daughter, was born dead and was never baptized.   She was in “limbo,” my parents were told.   Following the loss of Mary, my mother converted to Catholicism.   She had been brought up, and as a youth was relatively active, in the Church of England.   My dad was Polish and much of my Catholic upbringing was influenced by the Polish, pre Vatican II Church that he knew.     I attend...

On the road around the Great Orme Llandudno Wales, December 2018 This morning, I was expecting to be at the Downing Centre, a court house complex in the centre of Sydney.  I had been summoned, although not yet empanelled, for an 8 week criminal case.  However, late yesterday afternoon I received the cancellation email with delight.  Delighted, not because I wanted to get out of it.  I am committed to and happy to support our jury system.  In fact I was amazed at the number of people who said can’t you get out of it using this excuse or that.  If clear thinking, intelligent and compassionate people are excused from jury panels for this reason or that, we cannot expect to have a robust trial by jury system and this is unfair for those relying on it: victims, defendants, judges, and society.   No, my delight is because I was to start jury duty immediately following such an intense period of professional development.   I have been feasting ...

I returned from my sabbatical with a sense of entering into fallow time.  Six months have now passed and what a gift this uncultivated time has been.  The benefits of leaving land fallow for extended periods include rebalancing soil nutrients, re-establishing soil biota, breaking crop pest and disease cycles, and providing a haven for wildlife. Fallow time for me, has been a time of tilling, ploughing, preparing the ground.   Adjusting the furrows of the land, adding manure to the soil, topping with mulch to conserve the water.   Occasionally some self-seeded plants have sprung to life, by largely there is little to “show” for the diligent and focused work.   These past 6 months have enabled a re-balancing in my life, the establishing of new life-giving relationships, the laying of some foundations for forth coming ministry, less illness, and a sanctuary for the cultivation of creative and physical pursuits.   What has surprised me is that fall...