Standing in the paddock
For many of us, this is our approach to God: We stand in a paddock, blaspheme at the top of our lungs, and since nothing happens – no lightning bolt – we think God isn’t there. Thank God, things are not that way. PICTURE: Eugene Triguba/Unsplash Rather, life is thick. That is, you can do […]
Align yourself
How do you get the best out of life? PICTURE: Randy Feth/Unsplash Well, in a group, if you align yourself – cooperate – with the biggest force in the group, things go better. Maybe it’s your teacher, coach or captain. Imagine working against them. So in life, if you align yourself with the biggest thing […]
Destructive or constructive?
In life it’s much easier to be destructive, than constructive. Are your conversations destructive or constructive? PICTURE: Etienne Boulanger/Unsplash Everyone’s a critic. We delight in pulling something apart. In fact, it makes us feel bigger and superior than the thing we dismiss. But few movie critics go on to be make critically acclaimed movies. It’s […]
‘L’ plates
My daughter is learning to drive! It’s brought up a whole lot of feelings I didn’t expect! PICTURE: Oscar Nilsson/Unsplash My little girl driving a car- taking her life in her hands!? This is scary stuff – necessary, but scary! Unfortunately young people do die on our roads. I’ve done a couple of funerals. It’s […]
Not consulted – or campaigning?
Not consulted – or campaigning? PICTURE: Hussain Abd/Unsplash As a leader I sometimes hear people complain, after a decision, that they were not consulted. What makes this weird is that often this is after a broad consultation process in which they have had a big say. What is going on!? I now realise that this […]
DEMOCRACY
Most would say that our democracy is largely based on Greek and Roman democracies. Athens was home to what’s often described as the world’s first democracy. PICTURE: Kylie Docherty/Unsplash This system was lost during the dark-ages, but found again when the renaissance rediscovered Greek culture. Not quite. Greco-Roman democracies were not like ours. Only the […]
MORALITY
I’ve been enjoying Larry Siedentop’s book, Inventing the Individual. One thing he covers is social order. PICTURE: John Simitopoulos/Unsplash Once social order – peace – was kept through brute force and submission. Those in power used brute force to keep the peace, and everyone had their place in society, submitting to someone. It works, if you […]
UNIVERSAL HUMAN RIGHTS
Today we take universal human rights for granted. As humans we all deserve the same basic rights. This is a strange development for humanity. A sign at the Center for Civil Rights in Atlanta, Georgia, in the US. PICTURE: Michelle Bonkosky/Unsplash For most of history we have operated in families, clans, tribes and clubs. Those […]
NATURAL LAW
I’m intrigued by atheists who have a go at religion and declare: “If people just treated other people as they wanted to be treated, that’s all we need”. They declare this as if it was a given, natural law, we don’t need God for. Humanity found new freedom from ‘natural law’ thanks to Jesus Christ, […]
INVENTING THE INDIVIDUAL
I’ve been reading Larry Siedentop’s amazing book – Inventing the Individual: The Origins of Western Liberalism. Individually valuable. PICTURE: Jacek Dylag/Unsplash In it he documents how we owe our liberal values to the life of Jesus of Nazareth and His interpreters – St Paul, Augustine and others. It is fascinating how the ideas of Jesus have […]