I love Chopin. I love listening to his music, but I especially love playing his music. His Nocturnes in particular. There's something very satisfying about playing Chopin. He was a pianist, and every piece of music he wrote was for the piano, and so he "gets" what it's like to sit at a piano and wrestle with those 88 keys in front of you. He was a genius who knew how to get the most out of this instrument, and to challenge those who would want to call themselves a pianist (ever tried playing 12 notes at once with 10 fingers?). Perhaps what I like best, though, is the opportunity that playing Chopin gives me to really express myself through the music. It's like nothing else that I know and taps right into the depths of my emotions and indeed my soul. For me, it's very much a kind of prayer to play this music. Anyone who plays a musical instrument well understands (or should understand) that it's so much more than just the notes on the page. In fact, the b...
At the recent Australian Labor Party conference held in Sydney a change of party policy was introduced to allow Federal members a “conscience vote” if an amendment to the Marriage Act is brought before Parliament to change the definition of marriage to include same-sex relationships. To be honest, I think the change is inevitable. The wave of change is swelling towards the shore and no amount of standing ankle deep screaming at the ocean to “cease and desist” is going to avoid same-sex marriage being legalised in this country. It’s now a matter of when, not if. I have to say, I’m not a “doomsday” Christian on this. I don’t think it’s going to cause society to crumble in a heap of moral decay. I don’t think it will tear at the very fabric of society, nor do I think that it will weaken the institution of marriage.
The Salvation Army in Australia is in the midst of an historic journey. Since 1880 the Army has been active in this country, doing all it can to see God’s Kingdom come and his will be done here on earth as it is in heaven. For much of that time, for functional and practical reasons, there have been two territories; Australia Southern and Australia Eastern. Earlier this year it was announced that this would change. The two would become one. As at 1 June the Australia One project was launched and work was begun on joining the two territories together into one unified structure. This move excites me. Not just for the practical reasons, but for theological ones as well. This has the potential to be a symbol of unity to the rest of the Army and, indeed, the world. A symbol of how two different things can come together to form something new and, through that new thing, reform society. This can be a symbol of the incarnation; that moment in time and space when the divine and human were u...
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