I've always thought it a little ironic that, just as the Christmas season gathers momentum and we get busy with present-buying and food shopping and calendar-juggling and work deadlines, we are invited, perhaps challenged, to focus on Peace. For many people, Christmas is not a particularly 'peaceful' time – fun, certainly, but hardly peaceful as we manage children, end-of-year break-ups, family gatherings, traffic, over-eating, and everything else. All that in the context of a wider world riven, in so many places and dimensions, by war and conflict: it may feel quite incongruous to be announcing peace in this Advent season. In this second week in Advent, we focus on Peace – shalom– turning our minds and hearts towards claiming that deep serenity, harmony, wholeness that will be one outworking of the Spirit of God within us.

Background music in this podcast is by E's Jammy Jams.

A reflection for the first Sunday in Advent. The hope that is proclaimed on the first Sunday in Advent is not a hope that some future miraculous event will save us from the impending doom we sense and fear. Rather, the hope that is proclaimed as we begin our journey toward Christmas is a hope that, having glimpsed a better future, having glimpsed a present redemption, having glimpsed that for which we yearn, reaches out to drag a little of that future back into the present! It's a hope that is not focussed on some future miraculous rescue but is focussed on present action to give effect to that which is hoped for. That's the sort of hope I reflect on in this podcast.

If you would like to listen to the song Fragile by Sting you can find it HERE.

Background music in this Advent series is by DJ Williams.

Does the person create the journey, or does the journey create the person? In this podcast I want to encourage you to affirm that it does matter how you make the journey, to reflect on the grace and generosity of those with whom we take that journey, and to consider (without being too morbid) the legacy you are building: how will you be remembered when you are gone?

This episode concludes with a brief reflective practice in which you are invited to particpate.

How might we hold and express strong opinions in the context of diverse perpectives? Does this tension mediate against us taking a stand for what we believe in complex situations? How can we avoid the trap of dualism, of believing things are either right or wrong, good or bad, true or false? These are some of the questions with which I grapple in this podcast.

Thanks to Jem Herbert (and Chopin) for the background music in this episode.

I didn't even know that Christian atheism was a thing until I read about it recently! Is it real or is the term an oxymoron? Here's my take on the nature of God.

This blog reflects on the recent Federal Government decision not to take account of the LGBTIQ+ community in the 2026 Census, and on the potentially concerning influence of conservative Christian lobby groups in this process.

I could never see myself voting for Donald Trump but I can learn from him about the shadow side that lurks within my psyche! In this podcast I reflect on strategies to keep that shadow side in check, strategies like curiosity, stillness, wonder and more.

An invitation to wonder at the beauty of creation, inspired by the beauty of the Nagambie Lakes (Victoria, Australia) and featuring Mary Oliver's poem When I Am Among The Trees. Check out www.oldsoul.blog for some photographs of the Nagambie Lakes.

I want to take you back almost 56 years to the 1968 Olympic Games in Mexico City to recall the story of another Australian Olympic hero. The story of Peter Norman is one of the inspirational stories of Australian sport and stands as a reminder of the importance of holding firm to our values, taking a stand for the cause of justice, and lending our voices in solidarity with those who are oppressed or treated unfairly, even if it appears that no-one is listening.

Resources referenced in this episode are ANTAR and Common Grace. The music in this episode is The Blessing by Rivertribe.