The greatest need each one of us has is for real,unconditional love.
This was most evident to me when working as a school Chaplain.
There is nothing sadder than a child who thinks they are unlovable, who thinks that there is nothing good inside them,
My greatest challenge was to turn their thinking around because it was when we did that their behaviour improved and they began to realise they were worth something.

WHEN Richard and I first moved to Victoria in 1988 I remember the dread of our first driving trip to Melbourne. Not only was it an unfamiliar city, but it was a city, and we were from outback WA.

We were totally out of our comfort zone. We bought our trusty Melways maps, studied the path we wanted to take and with it on my lap we navigated our way through the maze of the city,taking more than one wrong turn along the way.

TODAY we reflect on Jesus the Good shepherd.  In John 10:1-10 Jesus tries to describe the connection between himself and his followers, but he uses images that don't touch our hearts and minds as richly as they would have touched his original hearers.

THIS week we reflect on the story of the disciples on the Emmaus Road.

The disciples in the story had been plunged into gloom, and the road for them was sad and lonely. Their dreams about Jesus being the long awaited Messiah had been reduced to rubble. As they went along they were talking about his death, looking at it from every possible angle, but still could make no sense of it.  A humiliated, crucified Messiah!  It was impossible; it was unthinkable.