The purpose of the gathering was to sing in Arabic, English and Hebrew and, in the process, to celebrate living together in peace.

The air waves today have been full of shock, disbelief, sadness and grief at the sudden and unexpected death last night (24 September 2020) of Aussie cricketer, Dean Jones, while on commentary duties in Mumbai, India.

In our circles, we talk a lot about community and building community. Sometimes we get confused about whether people are talking about the church community, the community where we live or the local community that is our suburb.

Question: Sometimes in church discussions when lots of words are used to talk about our ‘vision’, ‘values’ and ‘mission’, someone asks the salient question:

“In a nutshell, what as a church are you on about?”

Answer: Boiled down to the basics, here is an answer:

“Being there for others.”

Ever had to fill in a form? Some of us have filled in so many that we have ‘form-filling fatigue.’ Onerous at the best of times, form-filling is particularly difficult when English is not our first language, or if we are stressed or anxious, or if we live with Dyslexia, Dyspraxia, ADHD, or any one of a number of neurological conditions.

In 1995 Barry Larkin ended his life but his suicide left his family and friends in grief and guilt.

In 2009, Barry’s son Gavin Larkin came up with a question both to honour his father’s life and to protect other families from the pain he and his family endured. The question: “Are you OK?”