Thought for the Day

17th October 2025

As the saying goes, ‘been there, done that, got the t-shirt’ – well actually, got three t-shirts! As I write, our six-week trip to Australia is almost over, the list of places and things we planned to visit and do pretty much ticked off. The highlight was, of course, the four nights we had at Uluru (formerly known as Ayers Rock), the massive, sandstone monolith in the Northern Territory outback that appears to change colour dramatically at different times of the day. We walked the 10.5 kilometre circuit around it, trying to be respectful of the sacredness this place has for Aboriginal people, as important to their distinctive spirituality as Biblical scripture is to us. I don’t claim to understand the underlying Dreamtime theology, but I do want to respect it.

Much more accessible was the painting by Jan Brueghel the Younger in Queensland Art Gallery on Brisbane’s beautiful and vibrant South Bank. Dating from 1641, it depicts Jesus calling Simon Peter🌐 to become a ‘fisher of men’ – but only just! Capernaum is represented as a very Dutch fishing village, the scene full of people doing their everyday stuff. Jesus and Peter are easy to miss because they’re at the extreme right, barely making it into the frame. Here, however, I do get the theology! With God, the really important things, what will have massive significance both for the Christian Church in its mission and devotion and also for the world in its self-concerned bustle, these don’t necessarily happen centre-stage in the places of power where the great ones hang out. Try looking instead to the smelly fish quays and fly-ridden wildernesses – just a thought!

Ken Stewart