Line of Duty’s “Disappointing” Ending Tells Us Something About the Soul
Line of Duty. Wow. I don’t remember feeling as captivated by a TV series since West Wing. Under the spell of AC-12’s hunt for bent coppers and organised crime, I joined 13 million other viewers for series 6's finale—pulse quickened, breath held, ready to find out who the mysterious ‘H’ was and whether Arnott, Fleming
Ready for a New Adventure? Make Sure it Has These Four Things
If the pandemic has been good for anything, it’s been good for my local park. During the first lockdown, kids made a line of hand-painted rocks that snaked for yards and yards. Fairy houses with tiny doors, windows and picket fences appeared at the base of tree trunks, and recently a community library was set
When You’re Lost in the Wilderness, Remember this
Much of my work is public speaking—a job transformed by the pandemic from one of hotels and conference stages to loungerooms and laptops. Recently I Zoomed in to speak at Walsall Community Church. My topic was going to be joy, but that all changed when a few days before I was to speak, one of
The Bird That Lost its Song. A Parable
The regent honeyeater bird is in trouble—it's losing its song. Once an abundant species in south-eastern Australia, now just 300 remain, and with so few mates to learn from, the males are forgetting their own song and trying to mimic the songs of other birds instead—leaving the female honeyeaters confused and their numbers in decline. Losing
You’re Both So Different? That Could Be What Makes Your Marriage Work
After 21 years, I sometimes look at my wife Merryn and wonder how our marriage works. I’m a writer and speaker, Merryn is a statistician. I work with words, she works with numbers. I want beauty, she wants function. And that’s only the start of our differences! Here’s what’s helped us stick together…
Let’s Turn This Problem into a Quest
A few years ago I wrote a book about starting again after broken dreams. Any naivete I still had about the world and its problems was soon dispelled as hundreds of readers shared their own broken dreams with me. To this day, the hardest part is replying to these stories without resorting to cliché. What Good
Grief is the Honour We Give to Those Who Loved Us Well
Earlier this year, before Covid made things complicated, I attended a thanksgiving service for a much-loved member of our church. We lost Eileen to cancer at just 68 years of age. As the service began, more chairs had to be put out to accommodate the number of people arriving. And it led to a lesson learned
Listen For the Voice that Can Only Be Heard in Stillness
Stop. Breathe. Interrupt the rush. There is deep meaning to be found in our everyday lives, but we won’t find it if we don’t pause to reflect, listening for the Voice that can only be heard in stillness. This is video five in a special series adapted from my new gift book, Reflect with Sheridan.
Good News For Behind-The-Scenes People: Your Work is Indispensable
In a celebrity-driven age like ours it’s easy to applaud those who work on the top deck—the public faces of business, government, medicine, entertainment—while overlooking those who work in the galleys and engine rooms that keep the ship running. Are you a back office, behind-the-scenes kind of person? Well lift your head high as your work
The Day I Met My Seventeen Year-Old Self
What would you say to your seventeen year-old self if you met them face to face? One strange afternoon I had such an experience. Drawn from the new gift book Reflect with Sheridan, this is the third of a five-part video series exploring the book’s themes of joy, wonder, meaning, belonging, compassion, callings, seasons, change and