St. John’s Anglican Church is an old building and it’s full of cracks. We’ve tried patching them, but they always come back. Back in 2020, I started monitoring one crack to see what was going on. We were still in drought and, at the time, it was 3mm wide. Over the next few months it opened up to over 4mm. But then we had a wet year. At my most recent check, the crack had reduced to just over 1mm wide…

You might be familiar with the words of Jesus, “Do to others as you would like them to do to you” (Luke 6:31). Some call this the golden rule… The English author and philosopher, G. K. Chesterton, reflecting on these words, said that “Christianity isn’t just difficult – it’s impossible.”

I recall late one summer afternoon a few years ago jumping into my hammock on our back verandah intending to relax for an hour with a book. I’d done that many times before, so I didn’t bother to check the hammock first. I assumed that, as on every past occasion, it was secure and I would soon be swinging gently from side to side in the cool afternoon breeze…