By David Ahern  Earlier this year we marked the 105th anniversary of the first landing on the Gallipoli Peninsula by the allies, including British, French, Indian, Australian and New Zealand soldiers, who tried unsuccessfully to overrun Turkish positions. Australians and New Zealanders were quick to sign up to defend the British Empire, oblivious to […]
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Dealing With Male Shame By Suvi Mahonen On a mild mid-January day in Los Angeles, over 50 years ago, ten-year-old Joseph Burgo was drawing in his bedroom when he heard his father’s car pull up in the driveway, an hour earlier than usual. Excited, he put his pencil down and went out to greet him.
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Marriage is a Journey of Love
It is very noticeable when you are around the family and friends of a young couple who are getting ready for their wedding day, how much of the conversation is about them losing their freedom, especially the man! People talk about getting married and settling down. The implication is that all the fun of life will now be over. Of course, this is generally good humoured. But there is also an element of seriousness about it.Â
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A view on Halloween By David Ahern Halloween has long been the creepy domain of goblins, witches, ghosts, zombies, skeletons and other ghastly creatures. When I was growing up in the 1960s and 70s, Halloween costumes and ‘trick-or-treating’ belonged in a Hollywood movie. It wasn’t an Antipodean thing to celebrate Halloween. October 31 would come
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Letter to my Granddaughter By Jan Richards To my dearest granddaughter and your husband I am over-joyed. I have just heard the wonderful news that you are having a baby. How exciting! You both must be so happy and be looking forward to welcoming this new life into your family unit. Babies are a gift
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Hungry For Change By Bruce Duncan CsSr Our generation is one of the most fortunate in human history in terms of being well fed and nourished. Generations of people who have worked resolutely to increase food production and yields can be thanked. But the battle is far from over. Many millions still suffer and die
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Healing Through Song By Deborah Robertson Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. (Matthew 5:4) I can’t remember where I was last week when I realised that feeling had gone. Perhaps we were sitting at the kitchen table. That feeling would overwhelm me, especially when I was having a wonderful time with
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The Flawed Beauty of Peace By David Ahern There’s been a lot of talk in recent years about building walls. While some people, sadly, believe such barriers should be used to deter refugees and asylum seekers, walls have also been erected in the past to keep opposing factions apart. Take Belfast, for example. The issue
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Teaching Kid’s Responsibility By Carmel Wynne At one time there was a widespread belief that age brings wisdom. The assumption was that the older we get the more we know. This is no longer the case. In our modern world children of all ages have access to a world of information that few parents and
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1 September 2020 There will be so many people. Old friends and new friends and work friends and bring-a-friends. I’ll introduce friends from different social groups that haven’t met before and watch how they click. Maybe I could set some single friends up! It’s so long since there has been juicy gossip in my life.
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