A booklet that I’ve put together of words and images about grace. Enjoy!

Those displaced from their homes 

due to violence or war.

Those suffering from mental illness or addiction.

Those whose life slips away

due to dementia.

Those who are struggling

with their identity.

Those who have been raped.

Those who are in pain.

Those in abusive relationships.

Those estranged from their families.

Those who’ve had a child die.

To them and their families,

friends and loved ones:

May dawn dispel the darkness 

or at least

a glimmer.

We thrive

We flourish

We nurture

and are nurtured

in a milieu of love.

Like the air we breathe

love can be taken for granted

or

savoured

revelled in

appreciated

as the only gift

the only grace in life

truly worth mentioning.

In love, we live

and move

and have our being;

We are freed

from our anxiety

or self-doubt

to be our true selves

in glorious daggyness;

where nothing else matters

just

love

and the way

it liberates our soul.

Every drop of love 

should be savoured 

no matter whence it came:

from an animal

from a child 

from an adult

from a friend

from your beloved

or the glorious beginning 

of another day

beckoning us on.

A little volunteering in aged care

is humbling,

challenging

and an enormous privilege.

Marking the start of Lent with them,

I remind myself and those gathered

that God loves us

as we are.

God has already forgiven us

but we need to forgive ourselves

and others

so that we can move on,

be our best selves.

‘I needed to hear that’

said a beatific 99 year old.

As I distribute ashes

to another elderly woman

she says ‘thank you’

and flashes me a glowing, slightly cheeky grin.

I say

‘No, thank you’.

Still burning, bright.

I am a proud Australian. I love our country – its people and its magnificent diversity of animals and landscapes. I am fortunate to have travelled overseas to many wonderful locations – but am always pleased and relieved to return to Australia. I can trace my heritage back to a couple of convicts who were on the First Fleet in 1788 (the same year the Brandenburg Gate was built in Berlin).

Our national anthem says that we are ‘one and free’ – so with the wonderful cultural diversity in our nation including the oldest living culture in the world, why do we continue to define our nationhood based on the date of European settlement which decimated the First Nation peoples and took away their lands based in the legal fiction of ‘terra nullius’? We were signed into law by Queen Victoria as the Commonwealth of Australia on 1st January 1901. Until that point we were a collection of states. Why isn’t 1st January Australia Day? Because New Years’ Day is already a public holiday?  

There will continue to be tension if this isn’t satisfactorily resolved. And it isn’t just an internal matter. How can Australia have any credibility in international human rights discussions if we treat our First Nations people in this way – if we are ostensibly not ‘one and free’? 

Air still

slightly chill.

Sun streaming.

Blend of blues

in sky and sea.

Water shallow

and crystal clear.

Tiny waves

caress the shore.

Who in their right mind

Needs more?

Grace swirling round

pierced a wall

I didn’t know was there.

I’m so happy

tears fall.

Joy lifts the veil.

Stunned

Shocked

Plus hearing months after the fact.

What do I think and feel?

How do I even make sense of this?

This is so much.

Gone too soon!

We hadn’t had our coffee

For some months.

Yet you emailed

Looking forward to seeing me

After my trip.

As I celebrate another year of my life

With its ups and downs

I cannot know how you felt

And I should be grateful.

All I have are questions

And the finality of your death.

Was it a slow erosion

Or did something snap?

Were you too focussed on others’ burdens

That you didn’t see your own 

until it was too late? 

I also have compassion

For loved ones left behind.

Rest in peace, my friend,

As I try to find some, too.

The sunset stopped me

In my tracks.

I had to pull over

and take a snap.

So everyday,

yet this was so magical,

demanding attention.

With a whisper

God yells

‘I’m here!’

The irony of the timing

as I witness this

on my way to Mass

Is not lost on me.

God is always with us.

Am I open to grace?

Am I awake?

Everyday blue sky

reflected in the blue of the sea,

bathes me in its glow.

Fills my being

makes me smile.

Life is uncomplicated in this flow.

I feel at home,

I feel connected.

Unhurried, eternal now.

It is like I’m ‘awake’

When I didn’t realise 

I had been ‘sleeping’. 

So I radiate the joy,

the simple power 

that it shares with me.

This made my day,

just walking around the block.