Articles
Feet, Faith, and Humility
Stepping Into Reflection: Feet, Faith, and the Path We Walk Opportunities for thought and spiritual reflection often arise in unexpected ways. Recently, following a routine visit to my podiatrist, I found myself pondering feet — something we rarely think about unless...
The Shepherd’s Joy
I’ve stood watch for many a long night. Counted the wandering sheep, every one, my ears pricked sharp for the ghost-hush of wolves. Seen the black storms tumble down the hills, and me there, braced against the wind, keeping the small, the fragile, alive. That was my...
New Language, New Connections – Try Chinese!
New Language, New Connections - Try Chinese! Why not expand your horizons by attempting to learn a new language, with a trained teacher! Unlock the world of Chinese language and culture with Chinese language classes offered by Stonnington Community Uniting Church in...
“You Are the Christ” — A Reflection of Peter
I did not know what moved within me then— a wind, a light, a trembling in the soul— when I looked on your face and saw more than a man, and words not my own rose like fire: “You are the Christ.” Not title, not triumph, not crown— but something vast, ancient, tender—...
Healing
God is at the loom, unseen, weaving threads of quiet spirit through bone and breath, through sorrow and song, through the aching of flesh and the hidden trembling of the mind. A cut closes without our asking, scar tissue sealing the wound as though heaven had leaned...
Communion in a Living Cosmos
The bread will be broken, and in its breaking the whole of nature speaks— wheat from the field, sunlight stored in grain, rainfall, soil, and farmer’s hands, all threads in God’s great tapestry. The cup will be lifted, and in its crimson depth we taste the vine’s long...
Introduction to John Bottomley’s Sermon on our Colonial Past
Introduction to John Bottomley’s Sermon on our Colonial Past Rev John Bottomley provided a sermon to a Springvale congregation in April 2025, titled Confessing our Church’s Colonial Captivity. John Bottomley has a long and impressive life of Ministry in the Methodist...
Confessing our Church’s Colonial Captivity
Confessing our Church’s Colonial Captivity A sermon by Rev. John Bottomley Phillippians 2: 5-11 Passion Sunday 13 April 2025 Springvale Uniting Church Francis Ormond (1829-1889) arrived in the Victorian colony in 1840 aged 11 years old. At age 25, he took over his...
Introducing Panpsychism and God
Panpsychism and God: Discovering a Living Universe Panpsychism suggests consciousness is not a late product of evolution but present throughout reality. From atoms to galaxies, all things carry experience. This vision transforms how we see both the cosmos and God—not...
Awake my soul
Awake my Soul My soul has slept too long in small rooms, dreaming of walls. But dawn is breaking — not only on the horizon, but in me. Awake, my soul. For life is not a circle that closes— it is a river, a spiral, a widening dance. I rise. The stars are burning. The...
