The atrocities in Westminster, Manchester and London Bridge are the latest examples in a list of heartache that spans human history. At times like these it feels reasonable to ask if God has left us, or was he ever even there?
Sometimes the deepest truths are most transparent in fairy tales and fantasy. CS Lewis’ story about two children and a Marsh-wiggle reveals some deep truths about the life we may not even realise we are trapped in but which feels oddly unsatisfactory to us.
Books and blogs are constantly offering us the seductive and powerful promise of a more productive life: the end of procrastination, frustration, and incompetence. But our hunger to find out the perfect productivity system reveals something more profound going on in our hearts.
Unemployment sounds great in theory. Imagine pyjama days every day, no alarm clock jackhammering into your mornings, and time to re-evaluate your entire life priorities whilst catching up on Loose Women. Except, as I recently discovered, it also forces you into deep crisis. Say hello to frozen pizzas and a blossoming relationship with your recruitment agent.
Your sense of identity shapes how you act and how you view the world, so who do you think you are?
There are many ways in which the gender divide still wounds women: from unequal pay to the prohibitive cost of childcare, from unshatterable glass ceilings to unrealistic expectations of beauty, performance and achievement. We may say we value women equally, but in reality there are still many disparities to be overcome, both practically and in our own thought processes. So, how can I know who I am as a woman? Is there a rest from this treadmill?
What is it with our obsession with progress? And why doesn't it seem to make things any better?
Why have we seen an explosion in self-improvement literature in recent years? If increased ambition and our tendency to compare ourselves are behind this trend, where does this leave us? How do we cope with being increasingly dissatisfied with ourselves?
Sometimes it takes car troubles and a small family in rural Tasmania to grasp the meaning and relevance of this thing called ‘grace’.