A FEW WORDS ON OUR PHILOSOPHY

From a philosophical perspective, we believe we are living in a society in which the trend is for money to play a greater role in all aspects of life. The growth of the child-care industry is evidence of this trend. This trend makes governments look good because they can claim credit for an expanding economy. In many ways, when our economy grows there is a societal price to pay. We recognise that money is important for society to function. But in our little way, we hope to be making a statement that money need not reach into all areas of life. In our small way, we like to think we are agents for reversal of this trend.

We believe that this universe is a product of creation, as opposed to being a cosmic accident. We believe that as humans, Earth's creatures with the largest brain/body mass ratio on the planet (there are exceptions to every rule!), we are entrusted to be good stewards of this planet. We are attempting to embrace the teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as we lead our lives. We understand that we do this imperfectly and that our interpretation of his often cryptic messages may be different to the interpretation of others. We have chosen to distance ourselves from the institutional church, seeing it as quaint and irrelevant at its best, and apostate and downright abusive at worst. We (generally) enjoy conversations about faith and spirituality. We have some understanding of the subtle power of spiritual abuse, and we can offer some empathy and sense of connection to people who feel they may have been subjected to it. We also understand that these topics are points of contention for many people, so we undertake to only have conversations along such lines with willing participants. You will not get 'religion or spirituality' rammed down your throat at Calboonya. There are plenty of other places to go for that experience! As a rule, we don't discuss politics on a global, federal, state or local level - unless severely provoked!

We also try to avoid discussions on denominationalism. We acknowledge that there are many sincere people who are members and affiliates of various institutional churches and we do not wish to make judgments based on these allegiances. Without wanting to quote specific bible verses, we gain a sense from the Scriptures that world events may be unfolding in a biblical/prophetical sense, in that we appear to be moving towards a one-world governmental/regualtional system which may sanction an inter-faith world religion under the control of leaders sitting in power in a "new Babylon". Christians for many years have postulated that "the end is near", and many have been embarrassed when found to be incorrect. However, one day we believe, they will be correct, and Jesus of Nazareth will return to rule the earth. Admittedly, we have some trouble getting our head around how this will look! Some of the supporting evidence for this postulation is: the re-establishment of the nation of Israel, increased globalization, decline in importance of national boundaries and the consolidation on various nation states, especially Europe, the rise in the ecumenical movement and inter-faith dialogue, and environmental factors (particularly global warming) which will require global governance and regulation to effectively control. We are happy to be challenged on any of our assertions and certainly do not claim to possess any special 'spiritual insights'. We just read our Bibles, talk with other Christians, and try to make some sense out of this crazy, but still fascinating, world.