Marco Basaiti (1470-1530), "Call of the Sons of Zebedee" (detail), 1510. Now and then in the Gospels, we stumble upon the most extraordinary and unexpected interactions with Jesus. One of the most unexpected and divisive is recorded in Mark 10:35-40. Presumably, the twelve disciples were together, until they weren't. James and John, the sons of …
River hope
Jan van Eyck, "Adoration of the Mystic Lamb," c. 1390-1441 In the early chapters of the Book of Genesis, there are four rivers. Two are unknown to us today; the others are the Tigris and the Euphrates, flowing through present-day Iraq. At the end of the Bible’s narrative arc, there is also a river. John …
River healing
Over the past two weeks, we have been immersed in Ezekiel’s visionary account of a futuristic temple where the presence of God is real and the grace of God is palpable and free-flowing in the form of a river emanating from the doors of the temple to restore and replenish the earth that humankind has …
River dependence
Where did you learn to swim? For me it was an indoor swimming pool out the back of Westfield Figtree in Wollongong. We lived near the beach, and we spent some school holidays with cousins at Beecroft who had a pool in their back yard, but mastering freestyle, backstroke, and later butterfly in an environment where I …
As for me and my house
A young Barack Obama, who would one day be the first Black President of the United States of America. It was nineteenth-century German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche who coined the phrase, “a long obedience in the same direction.” In Beyond Good and Evil, he argues that the enduring achievements of civilisation arise through sustained discipline not fleeting inspiration. …
