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A Message from the Bishop Graeme Rutherford
"Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought to think but think with sober judgement." (Romans 12:3)
There is a lot about God that we do not know and what we do know is only what he has revealed to us. The implications of the mysteriousness of God are very challenging. One of them is humility. At an attitudinal level humility is the appropriate virtue in approaching God. Humility appreciates both the grandeur of God and our own contrasting limitations. Mystery is not itself a question demanding an answer but an object inviting contemplation.
Frequently people tell me they have prayed about this or that and I see very little humility, very little recognition that we are fallen and finite creatures and that God is grand and great. Could it be that we are just using God to do what we want to do rather than finding out what God wants of us? Anselm (1033 – 1109) prayed, "I do not endeavour, O Lord, to penetrate thy sublimity, for in no wise do I compare my understanding with that; but I long to understand in some degree thy truth, which my heart believes and loves".
May the work of the Institute of Spirituality encourage us in both our contemplation of the mystery of God and the proper attitudinal response of humility.
Bishop Graeme Rutherford
Chairman of the Institute for Spiritual Studies
Program for 2017
Click on the name or title for further details about any event.
- 1. Samuel Alexander & Jonathan Rutherford.
Documentary Film, 'A Simpler Way'
- Thursday 23rd February, 7.30–9.30 pm
- 2. Carol O'Connor & Cath Connelly.
Lenten Quiet Day
- Saturday 25th March, at St James's Anglican Church, Point Lonsdale
- 3. Philip Harvey, William Johnston, and Robert Gribben.
Glory and Beauty in Gerard Manley Hopkins and Robert Bridges
- Thursday 27th April, 7.30–9.30 pm
- 4. The Rev'd Dr Graeme Garrett.
A God's Eye View of the World in the Divine Speeches of Job
- Thursday 18th May, 7.30–9.30 pm
- 5. Professor Simon Biggs.
Spirituality and Ageing
- Thursday 15th June, 7.30–9.30 pm
- 6. Sophia Errey.
Enhancing Bible-Reading Through Images
- Thursday 20th July, 7.30–9.30 pm
- 7. The Rev'd Carlie Hannah.
Cancelled due to illness
- Saturday 26th August, 10.30 am–12.30 pm
- 8. Bishop Ian George and the Venerable Craig D'Alton.
The Impact of the Reformation on British Art
- Thursday 28th September, 7.30–9.30 pm
- 9. The Rt Rev'd Archpriest Lawrence Cross.
Russian Orthodox Theology, Liturgy, and Ecumenism
- Thursday 19th October, 7.30–9.30 pm
- 10. Dr Benjamin Myers.
A Topical Discussion by Ben Myers
- Saturday 11th November, 9.30 am–12.30 pm
Authorized by the Vicar
(vicar@stpeters.org.au)
and the Institute for Spiritual Studies
Maintained by the Editor
(editor@stpeters.org.au)
© 2017 The Institute for Spiritual Studies
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