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Lance Armstrong – are we looking in a mirror?

Lance Armstrong – are we looking in a mirror?

In his book It\'s Not about the Bike, Lance Armstrong wrote some years ago, \"At the end of the day, if there was indeed some Body or presence standing there to judge me, I hoped I would be judged on whether I had lived a true life, not on whether I believed in a certain book, or whether I\'d been baptised…. If I was good to my family, true to my friends, if I gave back to my community or to some cause, if I wasn\'t a liar, a cheat, or a thief, then I believed that should be enough.\" Sad.

  • Gangnam Style, Rebecca Black Friday, Kony 2012...what makes YouTube viral videos? - Best of 2012

    Everyone loves a good laugh, or a great story, but it\'s getting harder and harder to figure out what is worth opening in your inbox and what should be flagged as spam. So to help you sort out the good from the bad, here\'s a list of 10 of the better viral videos that have been in heavy email circulation over the last few years:

  • Don't leave with unfinished business - Best of 2012

    What is your mission? What do you feel God is calling you to achieve, to have a go at? Everyone is called to do something. Some people have missions that call them overseas; some have missions a lot closer to home. Whatever our mission is, whatever we are called to do, and God is calling us to see it through. No matter how great we start the mission, the end is where God can use so much more.

  • He lifted up our car! - Best of 2012

    For Father\'s Day this year, my husband (along with most other fathers in our circle of friends) received the Avengers movie, much to the excitement of our children. Super heroes are big in our house, with costumes galore and heroic acts often being performed on our deck. It reminded me of a conversation between two of my children a few years ago:

  • A lesson from Indonesia - Best of 2012

    Have you ever done anything to hurt poor people? Most of us would probably say no. This eye-catching question from the book 'When helping hurts' caught my attention and led me to reflect on my own experiences. It took me back to Indonesia in 2009.

  • Rest? Yeah! Right! - Best of 2012

    Have you seen how much needs to be done around here? I have guests here who need to eat, the house needs cleaning, the dishes need doing and the kids are running riot!"

  • Keeping the romance beyond valentine's - Best of 2012

    1 in 3 marriages in Australia will end in divorce, based on current trends; according to the Australian Institute of Family Studies. www.aifs.gov.au/institute/pubs/factssheets/2011/fw2011/fw2011a.html

  • The Limitless Man - Best of 2012

    Every four years we get to watch the best in the world performing in a drama they have poured hours of their lives into. Thousands of days of private training culminates in event after event and medal after medal. It's that two-week window, twice a decade where you wish you had Foxtel; because we participate from our lounges. We learn the rules of new sports and see records broken, we hope and cheer and despair as the physical potential of the human body is paraded before us. You have an instant

  • The medicalisation of Sadness

    I recently went to a talk by Dr Neel Burton, a psychiatrist at Oxford University, on "Anatomy of Melancholy: Can depression be good for us?" It was interesting in that he stated what many people in the medical and psychiatric field seems to be feeling: sadness is now seen as a disease.

  • Saying G'day to the Angels - Best of 2012

    My theology lecturer stood in front of us looking up at the roof for an immeasurable amount of time. The students and I wondered if he was okay (I'll just say he was definitely not young so we thought maybe he was having a heart attack). Then, one of the students asked if the lecturer needed anything. No, our lecturer did not need anything. And so we waited.

  • Coaching, Teaching or Farming? - Under 8's Soccer - Best of 2012

    I have recently became an Assistant Coach to my neighbours son who plays Under 8's soccer for the local team. I thought it would be a good bit of fun, get me back into the game and also get me up early on Saturdays – yes, 'Gen Y' do get up early.

  • A few musings on video games - Best of 2012

    I feel it's safe to say that video games, as interactive entertainment, are here to stay. Even on my way into university last week I was greeted by an advertisement for an upcoming video game plastered on the side of a bus. Your local youth group probably hosts "LAN parties" on a semi-regular basis too. Suffice to say, video games have well and truly broken into our contemporary popular culture.