Studying Spiritual Midwifery briefly but intensively in the 1990’s taught me that motherhood is powered by passion.
But most.of us now cannot handle it.
Has there ever been a more tender, emotionally explosive and honest motherhóod movie than Lynne Ramsay’s “Die My Love”?
Geoff Fox December 1, 2025, Melbourne, Australia
This is my initial poetic response to my first viewing of a truly great cinematic poem:
I am up:
Riveting,
A totality,
Of our living.
Die.
My.
Love.
Go see God.
Geoff Fox, former Registered Midwife, November 10, 2025, Cinema Nova, Carlton, Australia
I studied classical Latin for ten years beginning at high school and finishing at Melbourne University.
Later on I was a registered midwife for thirty years.
Today I was deeply moved to see an image of Mary as Mater Dolorosa (Sorrowful Mother) in the Our Lady Of The Sacred Heart church in the lovely village of Ross in Tasmania.
I think that such simple human places can teach the rest of the modern world cursed by unaffordable housing and rising postnatal depression something about meeting the real needs of mothers.
An African proverb (made more famous by Hillary Clinton) teaches us that “It takes a village to raise a child.”
I have found Ross to be a village where the people stop to say hello and love to be helpful. And my own accomodation here at the Stone Cottage Guesthouse is very affordable.
This village sings to me of good mothering and fathering.
Geoff Fox, October 27, 2025, Stone Cottage Guesthouse, Ross, Tasmania
William Montgomery created the stained glass window shown in this micro-movie.
Lesbia Harford’s poetry was lovingly human, social, physical and spiritual. One of Australia’s truly great writers. We can learn from her. She died in her thirties and was buried at Kew Boroondara Cemetery.
I am in deep grief now for the death in April this year of my best friend, Anna Rumaderun, a young mum, who named her only son after me. Like Harford, Anna died in her thirties and is now buried in Ternate, Indonesia.
In a bewildered spirit of freedom, rewriting Lesbia’s poem Pink Dressing Gown, this slightly complicated concatenation of words words is for Anna (and Ms Harford too) :
Melihatnya memandang Aku/Senang Aku Senang. (Seeing her look at me, I was happy)
Berbaring bebas dia dari kesakitan/Nafasnya hilang (She is now lying free of her pain: her breath is gone.)
Kusenang melihat/Senyumnya padaku (I was so happy seeing her smile.)
Senyumnya padaku (her smile for me)
I hope to hear a better singer than I am singing the above words.
Geoff Fox a previously Registered Midwife and still seeking to live life with women. August 1st, 2025, Melbourne, Australia
The most famous words of Raden Ajeng Kartini are found in the Indonesian language clause: “Habislah Gelap Terbitlah Terang”. (After the Dark, the Light Rises.)
These words come from her original Dutch language writing: “Door Duisternis tot Licht”.
She wrote those words 123 years ago today, on July 28, 1902, at the age of 23, in this profoundly wise and beautiful letter:
“No cloud lasts for ever; neither is there such a thing as eternal sun-shine.
From the darkest night the most beautiful morning is born and here I console myself.
Human life is a true reflection of the life of nature.
What we must pray for day and night is strength.
But the rain which makes the leaf and bud of one plant burst forth, beats another into the earth, where it rots.”
On this day, in 2025, a very real light in my life, after a horrible period of isolating darkness, is Chris Crewther, a Liberal member of Victoria’s state parliament.
In my dealings with him, Chris has been a perfect embodiment of the Indonesian national ideals, as expressed in the national ideology, Pancasila, of civilised humanity and wise representative government.
There is more than one reason for this astonishing human goodness from Chris, but one key factor IMHO is his healthy rural background:
Geoff Fox, July 28, 2025, Melbourne, Australia
Raden Ajeng Kartini was a first wave feminist and is a national hero in Indonesia.
The pillars of her feminism were:
A. Family. This included deep love and respect for her father and husband.
B. What women are as mothers.
C. Education where teachers strive to be like mothers to their students.
D. Pride in her own people and culture.
If only modern feminists could be more Kartiniist.
I believe that is what a true fourth wave of feminism needs to aim for: no
more misandry and no more marginalisation of mums.
Like Kartini when she wrote with pride of having new life inside her:
“Rembang, March 6th, 1904.
My Own Dearest Moedertje:
I wish that I could throw my arms around your neck, I long from my soul to tell you of my great joy, to make you a sharer in our splendid secret. A great, sweet happiness awaits me. If Gods so wills it, toward the end of September, there will come one sent from heaven to make our beautiful life still more beautiful, to draw the bond closer and tighter that already binds us together. Mother, my mother, think of the little soul that will be born from our two souls to call me mother.
Can you picture it? I a mother! I shall make you, old Moedertje, I shall make you a grandmother! Will you come later on to see your grandchild? I shall not be able now to go to Batavia. Our plan was first to go on a journey this month, to take a month’s holiday. Now we must give up the idea. I am not able to travel, and when our little one is here, then, too, I may not travel. So I shall see Batavia no more, at least while you are there. And what would it be worth to me without you and Mijnheer? My husband is so glowingly happy because of this new life which I carry under my heart. That alone was wanting to our happiness.”
(A letter to her friend in Holland written 101 years ago today by Javanese Princess and Indonesian national hero, Raden Ajeng Kartini.)
Kartiniism.
Could this be Indonesia’s great gift to the world?
Geoff Fox, 6th March, 2025, Melbourne, Australia
53 years ago today, on February 21, 1970, the Simon and Garfunkel album “Bridge Over Troubled Water” hit number 1 on the UK chart and stayed in that chart for 300 weeks. It went back to the top of that chart 8 times and spent a total of 41 weeks at number 1.
That is astonishing longevity in popular music.
So, I now use today as an auspicious day to launch this website, dedicated to the idea that when we go way back in time, into the depths of our beings, and when we look at the present and into the future, we people are all human and we need to live in peace with each other and overcome any hatreds that get in the way of doing that.
The Abrahamic religions are all cousins.
They should be able to live in peace.
But they can’t.
Lets look at the meaning of a few very similar words to examine human spirituality from an Ibrahamic point of view and beyond.
Eloha is a ancient Hebrew name for God, more often spelt Eloah. Its plural form is Elohim. (According to the website blueletterbible.com the plural form Elohim meaning “God, Creator, Judge” occurs in the Old Testament over 2,000 times.)
Ilaha is an Arabic word, meaning, as I understand it, “God, Deity, Object Of Worship”. It is part of the first half of the Islamic confession of faith “La Ilaha IllAllah.” which I like to transcreate as “There is no god but God.”
Aloha is defined by Wikipedia as “the Hawaiian word for love, affection, peace, compassion and mercy, (and) is commonly used as a greeting.”
Aloha is not Abrahamic at all, but allows me to indulge my penchant for discursive thinking and introduce into this post the mention of a personal hero of mine, America’s new Director Of National Intelligence, the extraordinarily intelligent Tulsi Gabbard, who is both a graduate of Hawaii Pacific University with a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration with a concentration in international business and also a serving Lieutenant Colonel, in the US Army Reserve. Gabbard is currently in command of the 1st Battalion, 354th Regiment, based in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
I revere Tulsi Gabbard as an outstanding woman of peace for statements like this:
“My mom was a practicing Hindu, and my dad was a Catholic who practiced yoga meditation and karma yoga. My earliest memories are of the bright colors, beautiful sounds, and fragrant aromas of both Christian and Hindu celebrations ……. My siblings and I grew up studying from both the Bhagavad-Gita and the Bible, going to Mass, and then coming home to a yoga kirtan.”
“When a person thinks, I am a Christian, this other person is a Muslim, therefore he is my enemy, or I am a Muslim, this other person is a Hindu, therefore she is my enemy, they reveal their own lack of spiritual depth. No religion teaches this, and any understanding of any religion that adopts this divisive attitude proves itself false by doing so.”
“The best way to honor our troops, the less than 1% of our country’s population who voluntarily put their lives on the line in service to our country, is by making sure that when they are sent into combat, it is the last option, not the first, and that the mission is worthy of their great sacrifice.”
“While in the Middle East, I saw how quickly religious sectarianism and bigotry can lead to the disintegration of a country – how leaders manipulate people to fear others who are different, who look different, or who have different beliefs.”
“Our actions to overthrow secular dictators in Iraq and Libya, and attempts now to do the same in Syria, have resulted in tremendous loss of life, failed nations, and even worse humanitarian crises while strengthening the very terrorist organizations that have declared war on America ……. There is no denying that the interventionist wars in Iraq and Libya that were propagated as necessary to relieve human suffering actually increased human suffering in those countries – many times over ……. We need to end our country’s counterproductive regime change war policies that have undermined our national security, destroyed so many countries, and taken so many lives.”
“The cause of peace is too great for us to allow political disagreements or partisanship to stand in our way.”
“If we want to change this culture of hate and bigotry, every one of us must stand up and speak with one voice to condemn it, because an attack on one of us is an attack on all of us.”
“As a soldier, I stand ready to serve and protect and defend this country. And as a soldier, I know the cost of war. And as president and commander-in-chief, I will end these regime-change wars.” (when running for President in 2016)
“As a combat veteran, I know the cost of war.”
“We need to stop judging individuals based on their race, profession, gender, religion, or anything other than their own individual behavior and character.”
“Finding common ground means reaching out with respect and aloha – despite the issues that divide us, despite the hurt, despite the fear – and recognize what unites us as human beings.”
Thank you, Tulsi.
Aloha.
Geoff Fox, 21st February, 2025, Mebourne, Australia
Welcome to WordPress! This is a sample post. Edit or delete it to take the first step in your blogging journey. To add more content here, click the small plus icon at the top left corner. There, you will find an existing selection of WordPress blocks and patterns, something to suit your every need for content creation. And don’t forget to check out the List View: click the icon a few spots to the right of the plus icon and you’ll get a tidy, easy-to-view list of the blocks and patterns in your post.
Welcome to WordPress! This is a sample post. Edit or delete it to take the first step in your blogging journey. To add more content here, click the small plus icon at the top left corner. There, you will find an existing selection of WordPress blocks and patterns, something to suit your every need for content creation. And don’t forget to check out the List View: click the icon a few spots to the right of the plus icon and you’ll get a tidy, easy-to-view list of the blocks and patterns in your post.
Anna R is a deeply patriotic, Kartiniist citizen of the Republic Of Indonesia.
Anna embraces the modern world and international friendship. As a student of tourism, her decade long commitment to international engagement has won deep respect from all who know her.
This commitment from Anna reminds me of the words of R A Kartini written on February 1, 1903, “I am also glad to do what I can for “East and West.” I feel that I am only doing myself a service, for it is for our people, and I and my people are one.”
Anna, like Kartini, sees international engagement as a service to the Indonesian people.
But, like Kartini, whose great achievements were made at home and not abroad, there are certain issues where Anna steadfastly chooses her traditional culture ahead of the sometimes mechanical impersonal ways of the west.
For Anna R, for better or for worse, traditional medicine such as Jentungan Suntung has proved effective. Whereas in Anna’s real life experience modern surgery is terrifying and sometimes dangerous.
Her husband fully supports her in her choice. Today he carried her in his arms out of a modern hospital to seek traditional care.
I admire their courage.
Their bravery is founded in a reality of faith.
Today Anna wrote this prayer:
“Tuhan ini takdirku
Yang telah kau Tetapkan
Aku ikhlas semuanya
Tapi jgn biarkan Aku menyerah
Ajari aku tuntun aku agar bisa Kuat.”
(Lord, this is my fate, which you have ordained. I accept it all. But please do not let me become a quitter. Teach and lead me so I can be strong.)
Anna is suffering badly from a very serious illness. But her faith in God and the old ways of her people is rock solid strong.
Habislah gelap terbitlah Terang. (RA Kartini)
After the dark, let light rise.
Geoff Fox, in awe of Anna from Down Under, 16th February, 2025.
MOTHERHOODS MATTER 