I have a new open-access article out today in Religions. It's on James Denney’s claim that the church’s confessions should be sung, not signed. #theology www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/17...

Monoculturalism isn't just bad policy. It's theological heresy – and most churches in #Australia#Australiastill won't name it. Some scribbles from me on the subject. #Australia #culture #politics #theology #monoculturalism

'Unless #AI helps us to develop mastery of subjects, it will not be an emancipating expansion of our #intelligence. It will instead be ... a form of wizardry — wizardry we will soon become dependent upon to keep the world running'. www.thenewatlantis.com/publications...

The Winter Gathering: An evening of #stories, #music, #creativity, #conversation, and #community inspired by this season's theme – Hidden Growth. #art #theatre #Melbourne www.kendallbryantartist.com/winter-gathe...

Standing in Divine Assembly Photo by Josh Withers on Unsplash. standingin Divine assemblyeachtree with its own connectionsitsown messageitsown roleitsown journeythroughlife sotoo, we humansstandin Divine assemblyeachof us with our own connectionsourown storyourown journeythroughlife nomatter where…

"We cannot keep conferring degrees on students who cannot do what the degree is supposed to certify. ... If we want literate citizens, we will have to rebuild the conditions for #literacy deliberately." – Tyler Jagt #education #reading #learning #teaching #AI www.chronicle.com/article/my-s...

“When a person leaves his home, he loses his dignity and worth,” he says quietly. … “A person should never abandon his homeland.” 
— Abdel Mahdi al-Wuheidi 
aje.news/nwkktx

Seized by the clouds Vincent van Gogh, A Wheatfield with Cypresses, 1889. Oil on canvas, 73 x 93.4 cm. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, USA. Across the swaying yellow fields,Vincent is startled by the stunted olive treesThat stretch outwards, upwardsBuffeted by the West wind,Yearning to seize…

Les Less Miserable: The Poetic Journey of Les Murray David Naseby, Les Murray, 1995. Oil on canvas, 179.5 x 184.5 cm. National Portrait Gallery, Canberra. The recent death of David Malouf, aged 92, has left many readers grieving the loss of a writer whose prose was marked by unostentatious care,…

Studio Studio is a book-length journal publishing poetry and short fiction of literary merit, offering a venue for established, new, and aspiring writers. Studio also publishes literary articles, essays, news, and reviews of writing, writers, and events of interest to members. Studio was first…

Three on the Road Pro Hart, The Good Samaritan, c. 1980. Oil on board, 30 x 44 cm. Private collection. II was escaping a traumatic dayon the road with my dearest friendswhen he fell in step beside us on the wayand the world began to glow again III was a bastard, a tool of the Stateuntil face down…

A good news story. www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...

#Theatre #Choir is unlike anything I've done – bold, warm, full-body music-making with the best bunch of humans. No auditions. Come try it. #Melbourne #BoxHill 🎭 artforpeoplessake.com/theatrechoir

Leonard Brown: Painting the Celestial The survey exhibition of the work of painter Leonard Brown is currently on exhibition at the Ipswich Art Gallery in Queensland until 14 June 2026. Curated by the distinguished art historian Sasha Grishin, this survey explores his distinctive abstract works…

The Dust of Memory Photo by P. M. Flynn. Here I sit in nothingness, asleepwhile I close my eyes to darknessas it falls around me. There is a line darkness does not cross.And still there are shadows: flesh doesn’t wander over spirit or death.(The flesh is quickest to disagree with eternity;the…

'I ... don’t want to make my work easier. The hard bits are the point; the bits I get wrong are just as interesting as the bits I nail; taking the easy way is akin to the setting up the old pianola: it sounds pretty good but I’m just pumping my feet'. #writing #AI www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Les Less Miserable: The Poetic Journey of Les Murray Tickets available here.

This song, inspired by words penned by the Palestinian poet Zeina Azzam, tells the story of some parents in #Gaza who, in 2023, resorted to writing their children’s names on their legs to help identify them should they or their children be killed. #Palestine jasongoroncy.bandcamp.com/track/write-...

Some wonderful #music out of #Iran mahyarhemati.bandcamp.com/album/mimesis

“It is full throated fascist.” –Abby Martin on #Israel youtube.com/watch?v=hLQb...

Through the Torn Place: A Threshold for Good Friday Through Lent and Good Friday, the High Altar of St Paul's in Auckland held something rare: an artwork that does not announce itself, but waits. Titled The Opening, conceived and created by Karen Sewell under the auspices of SPAM (St Paul's Arts &…

The image of the invisible God Photo by Savannah B. on Unsplash. I thought I saw you at the marketafter you died, and again roundinga corner on Monte Sano, past Holy Trinity. Convinced, despite your ashesin an alabaster urn, I follow my mother until she turns to look at me with the wrongeyes,…

Call for Papers: Sacred Christian Art in Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand The editors of Sacrum et Decorum, a peer-reviewed international journal dedicated to the history and study of sacred art, invite submissions for a special focus on sacred Christian art in Australia and Aotearoa New…

where we conclude we already do not want for anything Photo by Charles Pickrell on Unsplash. the Lord is my shepherd and I / do not want to / lie down in your pastures / of fake grass and chlorinated pools / where the sun beats down on / our languid bodies and we are told / this is good even /…

March for #forests marchforforests.org

A Pisgah Viewing of Michael Galovic’s Kyrie Eleison Michael Galovic, Fallen, 2024. 80 x 150 cm. No painting can be adjudged, can reveal its true meanings, can expose the deeper insights and sensitivities of the artist, unless one physically confronts and breathes in the paint. The message is in…

What Will Happen to G!d? Photo by Mitchell Luo on Unsplash. Ihave often asked myselfaseemingly unanswerable question.Overand again, I have wondered,Whatwill happen to G?dinthe not-so-distant futurewhenall of us earthlingswillhave perished,when,as a result of our plunderingofthis precious…

Reach Out Your Hand (John 20.27) Patricia Piccinini, Doubting Thomas, 2008. Silicone, fibreglass, human hair, clothing, chair, 100 x 53 x 90 cm. McClelland, Langwarrin, Australia. Photo by Mark Ashkanasy. ‘Reach out your handand put it in my side’moved at hearing of Thomas’s act –that…

Very well said!

A wonderful poem by emerging poet, Buki.

The Crystals reef in Port Phillip Bay is a spot teeming with precious marine life – but it has no formal protection. A small extension to Jawbone Marine Sanctuary would change that. change.org/p/protect-the-crystals-extend-jawbone-marine-sanctuary #ProtectTheCrystals #MarineProtection

‘Behold the Man!’ – A Poetry Contest Mary Twomey, Rich Man, Poor Man, Beggar Man. Silk aquatint, monotype, collagraph, drawing, 25.4 x 53.34 cm. Private collection. If you're a poet who has ever found yourself drawn to the figure of Jesus of Nazareth – whether in faith, doubt, curiosity, or…

“… but faced the impossible problem of finding the right person to play Jesus Christ.” Not an uncommon problem, I imagine. www.thenewatlantis.com/publications...

Veins of the Earth Roots coil beneath the soil,veins of the earth pulsing with quiet grace.Rain seeps, soft as mercy,through clay and stone,and the green shoots respondlike hymns that never end.I walk among cedars,hands brushing bark,fingering the faith writtenin rings of patience.God is here, in…

On friendship that persists through blunders Pablo Picasso, L'amitié, 1908. Oil on canvas, 151.3 x 101.8 cm. Hermitage Museum, Saint Petersburg, Russia. Jesus said to him, 'Friend, do what you are here to do'. (Matthew 26.50) In the darkness of Gethsemane, amid the clash of swords and the flicker…

“The stories we tell about one another, and the stories we showcase, shape the possibilities of our shared future.” — Martin Luther King III www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Imagining God in the Nelson Hills: On the Visual Theology of Colin McCahon’s The Angel of the Annunciation In many Christian communities, this time of year is known as Advent (from Latin adventus, ‘arrival’), the pre-Christmas season in which the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem is remembered and his…

The Trance In my head was an ocean of thoughts,And monologues of indistinct voicesFloating, trying not to drown In my depths of silence.Faceless entities broke through my mouthAnd spoke to the wall with my eyes closed. But no sleep— just teleportationThrough nostalgia’s portal.No amount of noise…

Haikus to Him Gold light shatters themornings of mourning, divineprayer slips from mouth shame skewers pride’s lung.God commands me to talk. Ido not know how long has passed. Words sizzle,cumin seeds in burnished oil.Delayed meal tasting like only joy can.Hearts-to-hearts require responsesays my…

Shostakovich String Quartet no 8 in C Minor Faster faster even faster Fly the wheels of industry – turningturningHurry hurry keep moving never stopping All is synchronization regimentationWe the workers cannot stopThe machines ever smarter ever smarter swallow usFaster faster ever faster humming…

“Art in the service of ‘social cohesion’ is propaganda.” – Louise Adler www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

“… while #Trump hoped his muscular #trade policy would lead to a wave of reshoring, restoring US dominance in sectors such as carmaking and steel, manufacturing #employment has continued to decline, with the sector shedding more than 200,000 jobs over two years.” www.theguardian.com/business/202...

“The world’s richest 1% have used up their fair share of #carbon emissions just 10 days into 2026. … [T]he richest 0.1% took just three days to exhaust their annual carbon budget.” #wealth #climatejustice – www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Call for Papers: Bible and Visual Culture unit at SBL (International Meeting) Margaret Preston, The Expulsion, 1952. Colour stencil, gouache on thin black card with gouache hand colouring, 60.5 x 48.5 cm. Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia. We are pleased to invite you to the Bible…

In the midst of such a sombre time, the publication of the new issue of the Australian Journal of Jewish Studies feels like a small but meaningful act of scholarly continuity and shared purpose. I’m grateful to have a piece included in this latest volume. www.aajs.org.au/wp-content/u...

"When colonial violence boomeranged back to its European source, the powerless were drawn to leaders who exemplified the violent pursuit of power for power’s sake." – Christopher Finlay #Arendt #totalitarianism #populism theconversation.com/how-hannah-a...

“And a fog of sameness descends upon the land. But this can’t last forever. Human history teaches us that societies resisting change eventually collapse from sheer inertia.” – @tedgioia.bsky.social www.honest-broker.com/p/the-return...

"The day #theology stops attracting cranks and weirdos is the day we can declare it well and truly dead. From that perspective, our task as theologians is in large part to be the kind of cranks and weirdos we want to see in the world." – Adam Kotsko adamkotsko.substack.com/p/is-theolog...

Some New Publications: Attention, Theology, and the Poetics of Presence Hary Nankin, Platanus luna, 2002. Eight toned gelatin silver shadowgram films paired in four sandwiches each inside a Mylar envelope. Film pairs are 19 x 71 cm, 10 x 72 cm, 19 x 71 cm and 23 x 71 cm respectively. Arrangement…

On #teaching: “While critical thinking is an important skill, what teachers teach … is enthusiasm and a love of #learning. The great teachers are the lovers of learning. What they teach, above all, is the experience of discovery.” – @rogerberkowitz.bsky.social medium.com/amor-mundi/o...