Where does offence go to die?Does it linger in the airLike an invisible toxinChoking youCompelling youTo spit back the venomYou have receivedJust so you can breath again?Or do you swallow it?Determined to keep the peaceYou bite-size the offenseUntil the pieces accumulate and formA disturbing lump in your bellyFilling you upWith an empty resentment?Swallowing offense often […]
Read more "On swallowing"There we wereGarbed in fine clothesPerched on an altarSurrounded by loved onesMaking promises to have and to holdIn good times and badEuphoric feelings bubblingJoyful tears streamingPutting to deathThe version of ourselvesThat thrived on doing our own thing.We had come to witnessThe mortal woundingOf our singlehoodThe renunciation of our independenceThe funeral of self.
Read more "Funeral of self"What happens when consumerism comes to church?When our pews start feeling an awful lot likeSeats in front of a slot machine?When our ministers morph into celebritiesEntertaining us from a heavy stage-A stage laden with the gold of the earnest giverAnd the trust of thousands-Trust that will inevitably be broken?The church is not a casino.It is […]
Read more "Church as a casino"Do you really thinkThat you will create a utopiaFor you and yoursAnd your social causeBy hating away the peopleYou don’t like?When has that ever worked?
Read more "Hating your way to utopia"What do the dawnFresh dewAnd a new marriageHave in common?Newness.New things are preciousPrecisely because they are new.Nothing stays still for longOn God’s green earth-Not timeNot circumstanceNot the very planet itself.Each day brings something newEvery minute irrevocably different fromThe one before.A storm eventually yieldsTo a new calm,Peaceful streams flow gentlyUntil they cascade into mighty waterfalls.Newness is […]
Read more "Newness"Her conversation led so easily To laughter, Her joy knocked me senseless Til I forgot my sadness And how heavy the week had been. Her hand was small And made me wonder How so much softness Could take residence on a palm. She felt like a Friday Like a load had been lifted By simply […]
Read more "She felt like a Friday"She never thought she would climb.She’d always watched her brothers climb-Climb treesClimb wallsClimb up to the roof of their dilapidatedChildhood homeAnd later she watched themClimb up ladders of successReaching ever higherAs though the gravity of their upbringingHad insulted themAnd they were hellbentOn teaching it a lesson.They climbed so highShe could barely recognise themFor while they […]
Read more "On becoming middle class"It’s essential. Domain knowledge is a gift. It’s how we advance in our field and in society. The insights and false steps of those that came before … On doing the reading
Read more "On doing the reading"When we go around the room and have each person introduce themselves, we’re burning time, attention and trust. 40 people: 45 minutes, gone. Worse—the… Respecting their time
Read more "Respecting their time"Good ideas feel early. And late ideas are acclaimed by most of the reviewers with opinions that don’t actually matter. Part of our challenge is that … Great ideas always sound like they’re far too soon
Read more "Great ideas always sound like they’re far too soon"
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