Author Archive

My son is currently searching for the north island of New Zealand. For his birthday he received a map of the world in a thousand jigsaw pieces, but has now the ‘problim’ of finding the piece that is shaped like a cloud. Admittedly it’s not quite a ‘Boy’s Own’ type adventure, and a bit disappointing…

Some numbers in mathematics are wonderfully unique, and twenty-six is one of them. The only positive integer that is sandwiched between a square and a cube; namely five-squared (25) and three-cubed (27). Why is it, that out of the all the sequential numbers that exist in the infinite world of integers, there are no others…

The most poignant moment for me in Russell Crowe’s new flick about Gallipoli, was when his character, west-Australian farmer Mr. Connor, arrives on the former battlefield to look for the remains of his sons who were killed in action. The Turkish sergeant who is reluctantly assisting the Australians in their retrieval of mortal remains, says…

The author of the famous Christmas hymn, Joy to the World, nearly lost his rhyme as a child. While other children coupled carriages to trains, a young Isaac Watts constructed couplets and quatrains, and such was his penchant for rhyming that he nearly drove his family mad. When the camel’s back was finally broken by…

Sam Tsirhc is one backwards guy, famous throughout the world for supernaturally transporting himself to heaven on a mission of cheering up the deity. It is a well-known fact that God is angry with us, not that anyone really knows why, and this world is often on the receiving end of his wrath and judgement….

The Greek myths are so predictable. One of the ones that one can predict the ending, without even being related to a prophet, is the romantic tale of Hero and Leander. Hero is the fair maiden, confined to a lonely island, in want of a strong and handsome suitor. Enter Leander on a white horse,…

I always look forward to the annual issue of the Christmas stamps. Perhaps it’s the little philatelist in me, or perhaps the memory, now denied, of the privileged taste of adhesive gum. Perhaps it’s the little Pavlov’s dog in me, associating the stamps with the arrival of presents. My first memory of a Christmas stamp…

I love the old Church Crest of our denomination. So rich in meaning. Layer upon layer of inspiring story. And useful still, not so much on letterhead, but in reminding the saints not to fear the threats of those who oppose them. At the heart of the Crest is the Cross of Christ: central, foundational,…

He meant it as a mark of derision, but was there ever a mark of greater dignity. Nazareth! “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” was a proverbial question. Pontius Pilate had meant to increase the humiliation by giving instructions for the crucifixion crime-board to bear the following words: “Jesus of Nazareth. The King of…

There’s a jibe made by New South Welshmen that Queensland’s resistance to daylight saving is grounded in the firm belief that a further hour of sunlight each day will fade the curtains. Evidently some two-headed, banana-bender misunderstood the term ‘daylight saving’. Be that as it may, simple terms can be misunderstood. ‘Grace’ is one of…