Looking back… looking forward

Do you have a “let down” feeling as the days of our eagerly awaited, but necessarily cancelled, Lutheran Women of Australia (LWA) Triennial Convention approach? Here are some snippets from the Convention held just 40 years ago on 23,24 September 1981 at St Paul’s Lutheran Church in Toowoomba, Queensland. The theme for convention was “Aflame for Christ”. A report on the convention observed: “Toowoomba in springtime is aflame with brilliant colours of flowering trees, shrubs and gardens”. Another said: “Toowoomba, city of gardens and churches… decked out for the Carnival …

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Concentrate on God’s Way

There is an ‘ought-ness’ about life that troubles the reflective mind. He or she senses that we ought to be happier than we are, better than we are, wiser, more alive. We ought to be thinner, kinder, more peaceful, more controlled; and most thoughtful people have occasional, late-at-night presentiments that we ought to consider our finiteness.  As Sappho, the poet, said: ‘Not even God Himself can do what cannot be; and surely as starry night follows rosy-armed Dawn and brings us darkness unto the ends of the earth, Death tracks …

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A terracotta pot filled with pink and purple hyacinths in full bloom

Hyacinths for the Soul

“Never mind about the expense, dear. An evening out would be good for all the family. After all, you NEVER have a meal at a restaurant.” “You don’t think that it would be an extravagance Auntie Mae?” “Memories are worth more than money, my dear. Even in these hard times money is less important than people’s feelings. And remember about the pot of hyacinths?” The pot of hyacinths! It was one of Auntie Mae’s favourite stories. Her gentle face would glow as she recounted it. She read, once, of a …

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“We’ve come a long way, baby …”

A popular commercial in the 1960s used these words to publicise the advancement of women’s rights. An article in Lutheran Women 40 years ago, stated that women’s quest for equal rights “has impacted every part of our existence from things as frivolous as fashion to areas as serious as laws”. Some interesting facts quoted included: “In 1925, a woman’s work week totalled between 42 and 49 hours. Today [1981], with women having entered the work force with men, her work week totals between 66 and 75 hours.” Among other things listed in the article …

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