Melissa Coburn

Beneath the mask

16 August 2020 5:00 am

With mask-wearing obligatory and restrictions in our movements, we sink further into ourselves.  This is not necessarily a bad thing;…

Gentleness is much needed in our restless world

19 July 2020 4:44 pm

On a solitary walk, I encountered two families.   The parents in the first family were upbraiding their daughter —…

How will history judge our behaviour during COVID-19?

5 July 2020 4:45 pm

A local primary school community recently presented to its teachers a framed letter of appreciation for their leadership, initiative and…

Now is maybe the time to start talking about God

24 May 2020 5:00 am

Writer Helen Garner, talking about a difficult time in her life, described a feeling that there was a column of…

Comfort in times of trial

18 March 2020 5:00 am

We are apprehensive, wanting to bring those we love close under protective arms, away from uncertainty and danger. We are…

Social media’s scorpion culture

12 February 2020 5:00 am

The human experiment that has been hyper-connectivity facilitated by social media platforms tends to confirm Sartre’s statement that hell is…

Now for government by normal, sane and decent folk – not the shriek freaks

28 May 2019 12:50 pm

The man on the Clapham omnibus has been travelling to and from that south-west part of London since at least…

And so this is Christmas

21 December 2018 1:52 pm

The bric-a-brac shop is brimming with glittering tinsel, snow-covered reindeer, cheery Santa dolls and wreaths.  I ask for a nativity…

Sex and the capital city

20 February 2018 5:10 pm

From the large headings, multiple columns and country themed caricatures appearing in newspapers spread across kitchen benches and shaken out…

What happened at Fatima 100 years ago?

12 October 2017 12:00 pm

On Friday, 12 October 1917 many had walked barefooted to the Cova da Iria in Fatima, in central Portugal, to…