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I wrote this after reading the speech given by Martin Luther King Jr, and considered the notion of what we might consider another metaphor for God's kingdom might be.

The Dalai Lama is going to be in Canberra soon. We received an email suggesting we might be interested in going, and I passed that on to a range of people. One of them emailed back saying that I needed to be truer to the Word of God - that the Dalai Lama "may be a good man but he stands for everything that my Christian faith says is unacceptable".

This very real story seems to be a living expression of the Acts passage for May 6 - the sheet of food dropping from the roof that Peter sees in his vision.

I think we've been sidetracked around Easter. I reckon that Mel Gibson's movie was an exaggerated form, but just made the sidetracking clear. I wonder if we can celebrate Easter without indulging in voyeuristic violence.

Faith for Households
Peacemaking - A Christian practice for Lent
John Emmett, Kippax Uniting Church

Have you ever looked at ‘before and after’ photographs? Family photograph albums provide opportunities to see family members as children, young adults, then as aged adults.

Comparing photographs, we contrast each family member’s appearance. Often we see similarities between family members, which develop an image. A concept of family likeness forms. We can identify family members by applying visual concept we carry of the family image.

A background image created with Photoshop.

Lent often seems to be used as a time for personal reflection, about personal repentence, about personal devotion and piety. What if it got opened up into a "wider" concept. Luke's readings seem to do this pretty well.

We're going to be doing some playing with the idea of Lent being a "journey into the unknown" with each week being about a journey beyond something.

Lent 1: Beyond the blockages of life
Lent 2: Beyond political power towards God's companionship [PDF postcard]

I have photoshop'd a small series of images around the Lent C1 gospel passage (Luke 4:1-13).

You might want to use them as backgrounds for songs or for doing the reading.

When the Spirit leads you into the desert it is a journey of the heart. The journey is intentional.

As I approach the middle age crisis I have noted that on my birthday (September 11) I have begun to spend more time reflecting on my life. I think about what has happened over the years, and ponder on what I would like the future to be like. Then I make a covenant with myself on some of the things that I think are important. Not in the way you make New Year resolutions where you vow to lose some of those extra kilos or do more exercise. The kind of things I covenant on is more about living out some of the sacraments of life. Even trying to be