Opinion

CHRISTMAS is a time of great joy. It’s a time to gather together and count our blessings. For Christians it’s a time of worship – a time to praise God who promises peace and justice for all people, and fulfils that promise with the gift of Jesus Christ. For all Australians it’s a time to come together and renew the ...

THE carols announce that Christmas is near. That is, just in case you had not noticed the calendar filling with end-of-year events and letter boxes bursting with junk mail. The shops have been stocked with Christmas decorations and Christmas food for weeks. While we need to guard against the seduction of consumerism, I am reminded that at Christmas time small ...

I perch on the floor hugging my knees watching as the Indian Ocean tsunami turns paradise into hell. On Christmas night from a cosy hut on the top of snowcapped Swiss mountain, news of the disaster that destroyed hundreds of thousands of lives bursts into our warm Christmas bubble of joy. Just 72 hours earlier I was there. I was ...

THE season of joy is upon us when we sit in church pews hearing about a star that stopped still over a manger, a woman conceiving without a man and heavenly angels talking to shepherds. For years, I struggled through Christmas squelching my doubts, knowing that, if I didn't believe these stories as literal truth, I was bound for hell. ...

THIS Christmas carol is one of my absolute favourites because it sums up why Jesus came to earth — to bring joy, and it also mentions our response to this good news which is to "let every heart prepare Him room". Every time I sing it, I think about how I have prepared room for him in my heart. The ...

EASY ecumenism stood out on my visit to the Presbytery of North Queensland. Big public events like Stable on the Strand in Townsville or Carols by Candlelight in Atherton involve a range of denominations astonishing to a southerner. Everyone seems willing to get on board for the sake of witnessing to Christ – Anglican, Assemblies of God, Baptist, Catholic, Churches ...

AFTER Lorna moved into a unit in a Blue Care village she instructed her family, "If I can't eat it or wear it, I don't want it". It was nearly Christmas and she had spent most of the year culling her possessions to fit into her new home. She kept some furniture and small precious things. The process exhausted her. ...

WE'RE all in it together, human nature being what it is: the compulsion to consume and the belief that bigger, and more, is better. We know that we are looking in the wrong places for what will truly satisfy us when we over-accumulate, overeat, overspend and overleverage – and then complain about the service. In her story on page 9, ...

TWO years ago a close friend of mine passed away from cancer. At just 21 years old she lost her battle. I was devastated that she could be taken so young. On my last visit she had emptied out her wardrobe because she had lost too much weight to fit into her clothes. She insisted that I take any items ...

HAVE you ever watched a TV show about people and the homes they build? One program I like tracks the progress from grand dream to completed reality. A house in France was built from discarded car tyres packed with soil and finished with adobe walls. One in Britain featured solar collectors for hot water, solar panels for electricity and triple ...