In the context of an approaching Anzac Day, Kris begins today's address today by reading our seven Unitarian Principles. Altruistic as these 'Seven Principles' are as Unitarian Universalist aspirations for a better world for all, the community consensus with which they are received encourages "a certain kind of passivity" ... lip service? "Somethin…

Those lucky enough to be born in the Chinese "Year of the Dragon" are said to be endowed with Power, Abundance, Majesty and Longevity. Kris's address today takes its title from Bruce "The Dragon" Lee's martial arts film - "Enter the Dragon". It is about a darker side: that "dragon" within ourselves and commences with a reading from an interview wit…

Today Kris delves into the symbolism behind the plot of the 1990s film "The Matrix", drawing from the Matrix's similarities with the Martin Scorsese film, "The Last Temptation of Christ, the folk-law of the Greek heroes and (Joseph Campbell's) The Hero's journey". There is also a Christian context to the symbolism of "The Matrix". Kris asks - "What…

On this third day of Easter, Resurrection Day, in an address called "Risen", Kris explores some of the Resurrection Mythology from other cultures and religious traditions that preceded the New Testament account of the bodily resurrection of Jesus. Kris asks: "Why have humans throughout history and in so many cultures from around the world, woven st…

Today, as the focus of our Easter service, Kris talks about Courage in defiance of Authority:- - that ultimate sacrifice of Jesus as Messiah, - to the Jews, that ultimate blasphemy. To get us into an Easter mind-set, Kris asks us some key questions:- Is there a cause we feel very strongly about? How far would we be prepared to go in pursuit of that…

Today our young people joint with us in celebrating our annual water "communion" . We were each given an opportunity to contribute our water offering to the common bowl which our young then carried out with them to to add to our garden, to feed other living plants and animals. As our water has intermingled, so do we. It is it illusiory to think tha…

Kris commences "Getting ready for a new year" with some illustrations and observations on ancient stone monuments, astronomically aligned to identify the vernal equinox in the Northern Hemisphere, which - since the stone age, heralded in the commencement of a new year. With Spring came fresh aspirations, to be energised into new resolutions for the…

Today we were privileged to have Salim return to address us about Islam, and especially the Islamic practices and observances during Ramadan - commencing after sunset, tomorrow. After his address, Salim gave us all the chance to ask some questions about Ramadan, and Kris followed with some questions of his own.…

Kris commences his address "What (Do) We Stand For!?" at our Vespers Service at Shady Grove today with an anecdote that comes in the form of a criticism of Unitarians and Unitarianism: "You don't stand for anything!" Perhaps the criticism was from a person searching for the certainties of a creed and we are a Non-Credal church. But it's not that we…

Kris's Address today is on the Buddhist approach to living - The "Eight-fold Path" to Enlightenment, based on the Four Noble Truths:- that suffering is an inevitable part of living- - whose causes can be determined. It's possible to escape suffering and- there is a path - the "eight-fold path" we can follow to end suffering. The Buddha's practical …

In "Paul versus Jerusalem" Kris takes us on a fascinating journey from radical Judaism to Orthodox Christianity. We explore with Kris - the journey of the Jewish Pharisee, Paul. Born to privilege in Tarsus - initially a persecutor of Jews who had believed early accounts of Jesua's teachings, miracles, crucifixion and resurrection. Paul, their perse…

Today I dig down into the true meaning of the Beatitudes (St Matthew Chapters 5-7) as taught by Jesus in his "Sermon On The Mount", over two Millennia ago. To help me, I use the scholarship of the Presbyterian theologian, the Late Rev. Professor William Barclay, who studied the ancient Aramaic language spoken by Jeshua - in Germany, in the years pr…

Today, Kris explores the 'medieval?' pursuit of Alchemy. Many of the concepts of the Alchemists are still relevant within our lives, today: Change and Transformation - as expressed in the Arts, in Psychology, in spiritual writings, and in our search for that 'holy grail' of a transforming, spiritual dimension to our lives. Kris's insights today may…

The first part of today's service was a celebration of our young people - traditionally called "the "blessing of the (school) bags" - in recognition of the new school year facing our young people. Kris interviewed each of them about their hopes and aspirations for the school year ahead. To quote Kris - "What wisdom they bring! what amazing truths"!…

Kris commences his "Astray-ya day" address with some challenging questions to focus our minds: "What is Australia?", "What is our place in Australia?" and "What are the spiritual implications of us being here in this time and place?" - "topics as vast as the continent itself", Kris observes. To help us clarify these issues, Kris looks back to what …

Kris's address today - "Well Donne", explores the life of the English poet, John Donne, a contemporary of Shakespeare, through the medium of his poetry, arguably, the most memorable and enduring of which is "No man is an island entire of itself..". Donne lived in dangerous times. Disadvantaged by the stigma of being born Catholic in Elizabethan Lon…

Under the title - "Big picture - Little picture", Our President, Jenny begins with the superficial attraction of a "big picture" view: focusing on the overall vision at a macro-management level - as contrasting with what is often seen as nit-picking, "little picture" micromanagement, where vision and focus is blurred by the detail. Jenny gives some…

In today's service we are graced with the choral contribution of the Terrace Singers - accompanied and directed by Margaret Lambert and their singing of carols arranged by Sir Karl Kenkins. Kris "cuts to the chase" in today's Christmas Eve service. He commences with reference to the first and original Gospel attributed to Mark's version of the birt…

As the summer Solstice rapidly approaches, pushing Christmas ahead of it and bringing the prospect of warm summer days "perchance to dream", Kris - in these mid-summer musings, draws widely from literature, film, a poem of Joy Burki-Watson - read this morning by Helen; Karl Jung - "We dream of our questions, our difficulties", to find resolution; t…