Here are reasons why Monday, 5 October, 2026 will be a day of nostalgia.
*I celebrate my 95th birthday.
*Helen and I will enjoy the experience of walking eleven kilometres around Uluru, the spiritual heart of Australia.
*We will raise 100,000 dollars for DorcasACTS, a community charity I founded at the Aspley Uniting Church 15 years ago. It makes cash grants to people in crisis situations, most of whom do not belong to a Church.
*It is 70 years since I began work as founding CEO of St.Andrew’s War Memorial Hospital, raising its funding and supervising its construction in Brisbane in 1956.
*50 years ago in 1976 I founded National Seniors Australia which has gained many significant achievements for Senior Australians.
*It was 30 years ago in 1996 that I began a long battle to build an Inland Railway. I have not yet succeeded, but I have not given up and never will.
*I will submit to my publisher the latest of my seven books, LUCINDA. Its a vibrant history of the ship on which the Australian Constitution was written in 1891.
*Will also begin to implement my 5 year plan of the goals I intend to kick for Australia before I reach my century.
*Sadly, I will surrender my drivers licence after 74 years of motoring. I reckon its time for old drivers to get off the roads. Taxis, Ubers, Buses, Railways and Ferries will enable me to read lots of books.
*Five days after enjoying all of the nostalgia, Helen and I will celebrate 68 years of marriage. Its been a wonderful partnership that has been the cornerstone of our lives. If you look below, you will see a photo of us celebrating a quite special 66th anniversary on Lord Howe Island.
I neither expect nor deserve an accolade for any of those memories but I will be delighted if you will be my partner in raising 100,000 dollars for DorcasACTS. Just click below.
I intend to raise at least 100,000 dollars for DorcasACTS, a small charity I founded 15 years ago that makes direct financial grants into bank accounts of people in crisis situations anywhere in Australia. Last year we made 63 grants of $1000 each.
Will be great if you can click link below to join our team of donors.
The portrait below was painted by a good friend for my 90th birthday when I raised $35000 for DorcasACTS which is the caring and sharing community service of my local church, the Aspley Uniting Church.
On my 95th, I intend to treble that figure so that DorcasACTS can expand its good work of making cash grants direct to bank accounts of people in crisis situations.
Accompanied by friends, I will walk for eleven kilometres around Uluru, a mountain that I regard as the spiritual heart of Australia.
I will be proud and grateful if you can join me and my team of donors and remit a tax deductible gift direct to the DorcasACTS bank account. Here is a link.
May I especially invite you to take one extra step and also sign up to walk with me around Uluru. 33 friends have already registered to join me for all (or part) of my 3 hour walk when we will reform the entire world as we chat all the way.
If you have an extra busy schedule, you can do it in just two days.
Fly to Uluru on Sunday morning, 4 October, join me and my walking team for dinner, walk with us at daybreak on Monday, 5 October, enjoy our ‘we did it’ lunch, then get an afternoon flight home.
Just go back to the link above and click Register.
Whatever you decide to do, let’s together enjoy a personal spiritual experience that encourages us to help Australia become a more caring and sharing nation.
I enjoy my memories as well as my thoughts on how I could have handled them better.
One of them is my meeting with John Howard in 1996 when he gave me approval to begin planning a freight railway from Melbourne to Darwin via New South Wales and Queensland.
After two decades trying to unite politicians and bureaucrats from 5 governments in backing one vision, I was stunned when a decision was made to build Inland Rail from Melbourne and Brisbane but not connecting to their ports. I was even more staggered as they irresponsibly wasted billions of dollars in gross mismanagement of its construction.
So, I left to create a new company and have spent 4 years with a new team planning the GREENLINK RAILWAY to link the Port of Gladstone with the national freight network at Goondiwindi.
Problem is that, when our Federal Government decided not to build Inland Rail beyond Parkes, it placed Greenlink in jeopardy.
We have taken steps to save the day by offering to build the Parkes Goondiwindi Railway with private capital and we are currently negotiating agreements with the Federal, New South Wales and Queensland governments as well as the Australian Rail Track Corporation and the Port of Gladstone.
While this is proceeding, we are working full time on our planning as it is our intention to complete the Greenlink Railway in four independent stages.
Gladstone to Goondiwindi via Miles.
Goondiwindi to Narrabri, connecting with existing track to Port of Newcastle.
Narrabri to Narromine, connecting with an existing track to Parkes.
Miles to Toowoomba, to link the Darling Downs into the national freight network.
Along all 4 tracks, we will lead a program of industrial development that will attract population away from capital cities.
It all means that my days are filled with interesting challenges as I work beside a talented Project Deliverer, Grant Flekser, who is 50 years younger than me. Its a genuine intergenerational partnership.
GREENLINK RAIWAY IS NOW UNSTOPPABLE.
I have no doubt there are politicians and bureaucrats who will deliberately cause delays but the voter backlash will be enormous for many reasons. One of them is that there are absolutely no votes out there for any politician who stops a 94 years old guy from doing something important for Australia.
In the meantime, I will enjoy every challenge as I am always delighted when I wake up of a morning.
One of my happiest memories takes me back to 1936 when I was just 5 years old. I was thrilled by my first train ride from the little village of Linville to Toogoolawah.
It would turn out to be a track to somewhere.
I loved it so much I have written a book about it called CATCHING THE LINVILLE TRAIN.
WALK IN THE SPIRIT is a page turning novel about six people of different faiths who are not involved in organised religion but form a team to create a caring and sharing community while encountering bigoted and racist opposition.
It is timely given the current war of religion between USA, Israel and Iran.
Five years ago on my 90th birthday I walked with 50 friends along an old rail corridor in the Brisbane River Valley from my old hometown of Linville to Moore and back again, a distance of 14 kilometres.
I completed the walk in three hours and raised $35000 for Dorcas ACTS, a charity I founded at the Aspley Uniting Church that gives cash grants direct to the bank accounts of people in crisis situations. Every year our congregation makes about 50 grants totaling around $60000 to people of any faith or none, most of whom don’t belong to our church or live in our suburb. We want to improve on this.
Now, as I approach my 95th birthday on Monday 5 October this year, I have made a commitment to walk around ULURU to raise $100,000 for Dorcas ACTS. The distance is only 11 kilometres but it is a magnificent walk of significant spiritual value.
PLEASE WALK WITH ME AND HELP ME TO RAISE 100,000 DOLLARS FOR PEOPLE IN NEED.
You can plan to arrive at Uluru no later than Sunday 4 October as there is a dinner that evening when an eminent indigenous leader will tell us about the spiritual message of ULURU from its dreamtime days.
We begin our walk at sunrise on Monday 5 October and finish in time to enjoy brunch before afternoon planes can fly you home. However, Helen and I will arrive on Friday 2/10 and stay a week to enjoy a holiday break at what we believe is the spiritual heart of Australia. We will welcome your company.
Now, your happy challenge is this.
When you sign up, we invite you to ask your friends to financially sponsor your walk. You set a target that you hope to raise. Helen and I will be doing likewise. You will note on the website where you sign up to participate that it will open a personal account for you to which your supporters can remit their tax deductible gifts. It will tell you when you have reached your target.
Here is your direct link to our website where you can sign up right now or as soon as you can.
If you have any problems with the links, just go to the website of dorcas.org.au and click on spiritwalker.
I hope you will join me in sharing a special spiritual experience.
It may or may not be religious or indigenous. It could be an inner personal spiritual awakening something like the impact of the Camino Walk in Spain. Whichever way it is, you and I will grow as persons of peace who are carers and sharers as we seek to create a better world.
Two important notes.
IF YOU FEEL YOU CAN’T WALK ELEVEN KILOMETRES AROUND ULURU, A MINIBUS WILL PICK YOU UP ALONG THE WAY AND TAKE YOU TO THE FINISH LINE.
IF YOU CAN’T MAKE IT OUT TO ULURU, THERE WILL BE A LOCAL WALK AT MY HOME SUBURB OF ASPLEY IN BRISBANE BEGINNING AT THE SAME TIME AS THE ULURU WALK. WE ARE ALSO ORGANISING WALKS IN OTHER PLACES AROUND THE NATION AND WE WILL WELCOME YOUR OFFER TO ORCANISE A WALK WHEREVER YOU LIVE.
To spiritually prepare for your walk, please enjoy reading a novel I have written in partnership with my friend Neill Florence. Like the ULURU WALK, it is called WALK IN THE SPIRIT and its a page turner about people of different faiths who face personal challenges as they work together in creating a peaceful society.
WALK WITH THE SPIRIT is a page-turning novel about people – Christian, Muslim, Jew, Confucian, Indigenous, LGBTI, Atheist – who try to create a caring and sharing and generous society in the Queensland City of Rockhampton despite the current international war in which Christians & Jews & Muslims are at war and destroying world peace and order.
The characters in WALK IN THE SPIRIT face some huge bigotry and challenging experiences as they strive to walk together in search of a cornerstone that brings them unity, purpose and happiness.
They find that Jesus Sermon on the Mount, though Christian, makes commonsense to all of them.
This leaves them to believe that ULURU is the spiritual heart of Australia that generates peace of mind, unity of purpose and a power to live well without it becoming a religious symbol.
I invite you to read WALK IN THE SPIRIT and decide to join them in a positive and prosperous society of spiritual power that is not religious.
The launch of WALK IN THE SPIRIT is on Friday 27 March at Noon at the Royal on the Park in Alice Street Brisbane.
The 126 who have bought tickets have paid 95 dollars each for a special Uluru Burger with a drink and coffee, as well as a signed book, with the surplus funds going to DorcasACTS a charity I founded that makes direct financial grants to people in crisis situations.
The room will seat 140 people for lunch so I warmly invite you to buy one or more of the remaining 14 seats right now.
I promise you a very enjoyable and interesting occasion.
You will enjoy this powerful and inspirational page turning novel about the lives of six very different people.
Its fascinating pages will reveal to you that they are Muslim, Jew, Christian, Indigenous, Confucian, LGBTI.
In varying ways and at different times they choose to adopt Jesus the Man as their role model and try to walk with him, each in their own personal way, to help create a better world. You will be inspired and entertained by the way they meet many challenges and obstacles along the way, especially from fundamentalists with closed minds.
I have written WALK IN THE SPIRIT in partnership with a fellow author of good books, Neill Florence, who, like me, is 94 years of age. Our book seeks to enhance the spirituality of people who don’t go to Church or attend any other religious place. It is a sequel to my book ‘Walking with the Man’ except that it is a novel about real people.
For Neill and I, this fascinating journey leads you and us to Uluru as the spiritual heart of Australia on my 95th birthday, an experience that we can enjoy together.
So, may we personally invite you to join us at two inspirational events.
*The launch of ‘Walk in the Spirit’ in Brisbane on Friday, 27 March at Noon at Royal on the Park in Alice Street.
Cost includes a drink, Uluru beef burger, signed book and gift to Dorcas.
Speakers include Paul de Jersey, Rebecca Levingston, David Muir, Neill, and me.
*A very real ‘Walk in the Spirit’ experience of eleven kilometres around Uluru on my 95th birthday on 5 October this year.
It is planned to raise 100,000 dollars for Dorcas ACTS, a Uniting Church charity I founded 15 years ago that gives cash grants directly to people in crisis situations.
Sign up by typing ‘Everald Walk’ into Google. It also provides a link to accommodation etc.
Neill and I, as the only two 94 years old guys who have ever formed a team to write a book together, hope you will join us for one or both events, hopefully both. At both, all of the royalties from book sales are donated to Dorcas.
Above all, we will be delighted to welcome you personally, have a chat, and join together to use our spiritual strength to achieve great things for Australia.
Nothing better can happen to you during the holiday season than to spend a couple of hours every day in a cool spot under a shady tree reading an entertaining book that has a page-turning message to renew your soul.
It won’t surprise you to discover that I enthusiastically recommend that any one of my five books is just the tonic you need this Christmas, so please go to my website,
everaldcompton.com
and order one or more of these best sellers-
*CATCHING THE LINVILLE TRAIN – my public journey
*WALKING WITH THE MAN – my faith journey
*A BEAUTIFUL SUNSET – my expected end of life experience
*DINNER WITH THE FOUNDING FATHERS – my view of Australian history
*THE MAN ON THE TWENTY DOLLAR NOTES – the role model of my life
Each one will cost you only $25 plus postage.
Or you can buy all 5 for only 100 dollars plus postage.
I will personally sign each book you buy and will add your name (or the name of the person you want me to post it to as your gift) plus a greeting.
Better still, send me a direct message on Twitter, Facebook, Bluesky and we can enjoy a happy chat while you buy.
Enjoy Christmas and 2026.
Cheers.
Everald
(The portrait below is me on one of my better days.)
An active group of Progressive Christians meet regularly at Redcliffe to debate the core issues of modern Christianity.
They call themselves the REDCLIFFE EXPLORERS and they are interesting people who have expansive minds.
I am delighted to have accepted their invitation to meet with them on Tuesday of the coming week, 4 November, at 7.00pm, to discuss my book, WALKING WITH THE MAN BUT NOT TO CHURCH.
Venue is the Redcliffe Uniting Church from whom they rent the Ocean Room for the evening.
If you would like to be with them on Tuesday evening, they will warmly welcome your attendance and invite you to join them in asking challenging questions about my book. I will too. Come early and enjoy a coffee.
WALKING WITH THE MAN has been written in secular language for the 90% of people who don’t go to Church but want to find a positive way to follow in the footsteps of Jesus the Man and make Australia a more caring and cohesive society.
Most readers enjoy my book WALKING WITH THE MAN BUT NOT TO CHURCH as it charts an inspirational pathway of life for the 90% of Australians who have left churches and have no intention of ever returning.
They reject organised religion and its ancient outlook on life.
My book sets out a plan for us to make Jesus the Man our role model and the cornerstone of our reasons for being Australians. It does so in simple practical terms that ignore creeds, dogma, exclusion, hypocrisy, and bigotry but have purpose, human decency, personal responsibility and collective well being as core values.
Buy a signed personalised copy today and enjoy a page turning read about 65 great people who have walked with the Man throughout the 2000 years since he was crucified.
Go to my personal website, everaldcompton.com, to buy it for 25 dollars plus 10 dollars postage.
You can also buy it as an audio book or ebook or unsigned print book from any online book store.
I have tried and failed to have the huge potential of unused productivity of Senior Australians on to the agenda of the Productivity Roundtable that takes place in Canberra next week.
While I have been treated with courtesy and respect, my comments have fallen on deaf ears as the agenda of the Roundtable focusses solely on the big end of town, most of whom are there to seek greater profits for their own empires.
If I was at the Summit, I would state concisely these undeniable truths.
*There are 6 million older Australians many of whom are bored by retirement. Together, they have massive life and work experience, but are discouraged from contributing to the prosperity of the nation.
*Indeed, they are hit with financial penalties when they try to return to the workforce.
*There is huge economic potential in fostering Intergenerational Partnerships in which the experience of oldies is linked with the modern technology embraced by youth to form small start up businesses throughout the nation. I have been advocating this for 25 years but no government has been willing to pioneer it.
*Many retirees want to start a second life when they reach retirement age by training for a new occupation. They can begin this with the enthusiasm of youth and work with enthusiasm at for at least 25 years, but governments won’t create skills training programs to encourage them to do this. (and they will live 5 years longer than those who stop work to enjoy a life of leisure)
*Oldies who want to serve the community as volunteers for not for profit institutions are banned from doing so by ridiculous workplace, health, and safety regulations causing volunteering to die across the nation.
*Because of all of the abovementioned negativity of closed minds in governments, Australia loses billions of dollars in productivity and destroys Medicare by denying Oldies the good health created by activity that also creates new taxable income streams for governments.
ALL OF THIS DUMB LACK OF ENCOURAGEMENT OF OLDER AUSTRALIANS BY GOVERMENTS OF ALL POLITICAL COLOURS WILL BE REFLECTED AT THE PRODUCTIVITY ROUNDTABLE WHICH WILL CONCENTRATE ON EXPANDING THE PROFITS OF THE BIG GUYS, MOST OF WHOM ARE TAX AVOIDERS.
PLEASE EMAIL THIS TO YOUR LOCAL MP AND ASK THEM TO MIGHTILY HARASS THE PRODUCTIVITY ROUNDTABLE.
I recommend you read the book ‘Dreamers and Schemers’ written by Frank Bonjoirno. It is a cracker of a read. It accurately describes the way governments work in Australia.
My hope is that 100 friends will join me at ULURU on a WALK IN THE SPIRIT and each set a goal of funds they will raise personally for Dorcas ACTS.
I hope that another 1000 friends, scattered all over Australia, will do a ‘symbolic’ ULURU WALK IN THE SPIRIT of eleven kilometres in a rural setting somewhere near where they live and invite friends to walk with them, setting a target of funds they will raise for Dorcas ACTS.
I have chosen ULURU as it is in my view the spiritual heart of Australia set in the centre of our continent as the cornerstone of the land on which we live and move and have our being. My hope is that my walk will be a spiritual experience for us all, something similar to the Camino Walk in Spain.
About six weeks from now, DORCAS ACTS will open a special website on which you can sign up to participate and choose the type of accommodation we can reserve for you as well as record your attendance at a DINNER with an Uluru Elder the night before the Walk to learn about the place of ULURU in the Dreamtime, as well as your presence at a BRUNCH at the conclusion of the Walk to share our experiences and hear messages from fellow walkers all over Australia.
For now, just send me a message containing your email address and saying you are interested in taking part. You will then receive an email from Dorcas ACTS when bookings open. You can send the message right now on my website, everaldcompton.com, or by direct message on Twitter or Facebook. If you have my phone number, just send me a text.
I look forward to sharing a special experience with you on 5 OCTOBER 2026 as we WALK IN THE SPIRIT and raise funds for Dorcas ACTS so it can continue, as it has done for 15 years, to send cash grants direct to people in crisis situations.
Currently, my friend Grantlee Kieza is Australia’s best selling history author, a honour that he richly deserves.
Over the past decade he has published a dozen books about the history of Australia that some of you will have read. Absolute gems like Sister Viv, Flinders, Hudson Fysh, Banjo, The Remarkable Mrs Reibey, Lawson, Monash, Banks, Macquarie etc. If you have not read them, I recommend you do so right now as you will enjoy them immensely.
Some years back when Grantlee was a popular journalist at Brisbane’s Courier Mail he wrote some feature articles about my life and work. We struck up a close friendship from which I have hugely benefitted as Grantlee is my mentor who helps me immensely to improve my personal skills as an amateur author.
He especially helped me to write my last three books,
A BEAUTIFUL SUNSET, CATCHING THE LINVILLE TRAIN and WALKING WITH THE MAN BUT NOT TO CHURCH.
This week we met again for one of our regular lunches where he gave me a signed copy of his most recent book about legendary Australian swimmer of a century ago ANNETTE KELLERMAN who swam the English Channel a century ago wearing ‘shocking’ swim gear that enabled women thereafter to swim publicly in ‘revealing bathers’.
We chatted happily for a couple of hours about the books we are currently writing and we are helping one another with research.
Grantlee’s latest will be about MRS PENFOLD, founder of the wine empire.
Mine will be a novel, WALK IN THE SPIRIT, coauthored with Neil Florence. Neil and I are long standing mates who are both 93 years old and we have been advised by our publisher that never before in history have two 93 year old authors written a book together.
The truth is that Grantlee and I love the relaxing pastime of writing books.
I have another three planned in the years between now and my century. Grantlee will easily double that number.
When I reached the outer fringe of old age at 80, I took up book writing seriously and have over the past 13 years published 5 of which I am proud.
The Man on the Twenty Dollar Notes, Dinner with the Founding Fathers, A Beautiful Sunset, Catching the Linville Train and Walking with the Man but not to Church.
All 5 are selling well, but my personal choice of my best work is THE MAN. Some of its readers have written reviews of it on Amazon and Goodreads & I have recorded just one or two lines from each, as many have more than 50 words.
IAN STEWART- A fabulous read. An easy read. Draws you in with its integrity, credibility and subtle challenges. CEC PEDERSEN – Everald writes about Jesus the Man without the religious gobbly gook and rhetoric and hypocrisy that has driven so many away from mainstream religion. JOHN LYONS – Everald has captured the essence of christian values and practice. STEPHEN KOUKALAS – Everald strikes at the heart of what a good society should be, something missing with many faiths nowadays. TONY BRETHERTON – Everald fearlessly sets out how churches and religion should be if Jesus is to be followed.
BILL SYNNOT – Everald chronicles his journey as a Christian from childhood onwards. JOY SCHLOSS – I share with Everald the strong conviction that Jesus is my primary model for life. JEFF GILLING – In his trademark down to earth conversational relatable style, Everald’s fifth book is a compelling read. DEAN GOULD – Thought provoking call to reconsider Jesus the Man as opposed to the curated and institutionalised version of Christ that most of us grew up with. ALISON COURTICE – As an atheist and humanist, I share values with Everald who is the longest serving Elder in the Uniting Church in Australia.
ANDREW CATSARAS – A wonderful and effortless read. Everald is the living embodiment of what it is to walk with the Man. DAVID McGIFFIN – Everald fills a very intriguing place in the world of religion/philosophy/atheism, principally appealing to the non believer. RUSSELL HARPER – Everald’s book is written with respectful but ‘gut level’ honesty. ANDREW SCHULZ – Walking with the Man is a reflection of a lifetime of analytical deductions and deep passion by its author Everald Compton. CHRIS WRIGHT – A compelling and thought provoking exploration of Everald’s unwavering commitment to living Christianity.
CAROL KENT – Everald’s book is very thought provoking. He has the courage of his convictions and just gets better with age. A READER – Everald’s life journey is an inspiration for Australian’s of all ages. MICHAEL SPRINGER – I am not a Church goer and I am delighted that Everald’s book enthusiastically captures the core principles of Jesus. DAVID MUIR – Everald walks the talk and follows the example of Jesus and people like Flynn of the Inland. MICHAEL NAYLER – Powerful and thought provoking. Everald challenges Christians and non-believers alike to understand Jesus message.
DON MORRIS – Everald, you are a master. Whether you are a believer or not, this book is most thought evoking. GRANTLEE KIEZA – A fascinating and thought provoking book. ROBERT TREDENICK – A really well researched and thoughtful read. Very good. DAVID HETHERINGTON – Warm, wise, insightful book that shares valuable insights for those who believe and those who dont. PETER McGIFFIN – Compelling read that shares a lifetime of thoughtful analysis of Christianity.
A MAN OF THE PEOPLE – This book is like a compass to give people a guide on how to live a fulfilling and compassionate life. ANNIE T – Everald has written a great book that will entertain you and make you wiser. MARK RUDDER – Every book club should have this book on their reading list. Guaranteed to provoke lively discussion. SEABASS88 – This thought provoking book encourages readers to embrace values that foster connection, compassion and sense of purpose. STEPHEN – Have thoroughly enjoyed reading this book on how to improve our society for the better and leave a legacy.
MAEDO – This book for all its many shortfalls jolts the reader to rethink all ‘givens’. DIANE DROMGOLD – Congratulations Everald for your inspired writing and your faithful commitment as a true follower of Jesus the Man. GREG CARY – This book is a journey worth taking. Enjoy the conclusions of a wonderful man and his long and fascinating religious journey. ANONYMOUS – This is a rare find. An easy read that feels like a dinner conversation with good friends. PAJ – Sensational and absorbing read. It follows the simple lessons of a man named Jesus and not all the fuzzie noise in between.
CARRIE – I am one of the 90% of Australians who do not attend Church but consider myself to be a person of faith and belief. Have a read of this book, you won’t be disappointed. GREG McMAHON – A great read from a great Australian that diverges widely from doctrines taught by christian schools and churches. MICHAEL TEYS – This is a very readable account of the lives of saints and sinners that is uplifting and inspirational. BEVERLEY BELL – Walking with the Man has captured for me the teachings of the human Jesus instead of preaching about an exalted divine Jesus. REBECCA LEVINGSTON – Everald’s energy is irrepressible. To know more about his personal philosophy in life is a gift. We can all grow from his curiosity and care.
BRYAN GILMOUR – Everald articulates the simple and practical principles that underpin the life of Jesus. GRAHAM DOOLEY – Everald explains the turning away from Christianity by the bulk of the historically Christian world. WALLACE TAYLOR – This book unpicks irrelevant dogma from the allegories that aim to convey the timeless messages of decency. AMAZON READER – Thought provoking read that will lift your spirit. LINDSAY MARSHALL – A must read for churchgoers, those who no longer attend and those who have never been.
ANONYMOUS PHONE CALL FROM AN INDIGENOUS AUSTRALIAN – I greatly resent the way christian missionaries have demeaned the spirituality of my people and insisted we must reject it, follow their religion and join their Church. But I have read your book and am convinced that Jesus the Man will positively relate to our dreamtime and our worship of the land. I intend to now walk with him but go nowhere near a Church.
EMAIL FROM A LAPSED ANGLICAN -I have run away from Church for 50 years but your book has convinced me that I cannot run away from Jesus the Man any longer. I am now proud working partner.
MESSAGE THAT MADE WORTHWHILE MY TWO YEARS OF WRITING ABOUT THE MAN – When my parents divorced they were declared sinners by our local priest and refused the sacraments. I have never been back to church since then. Now, I have read your book. So impressed with it I bought six copies for friends who do not go to church. They were inspired too. Now we meet for lunch every month and as working partners of THE MAN we do our best to make our community a better place to live happily and positively.
You can buy a signed copy of WALKING WITH THE MAN from my website – everaldcompton.com – or online from Amazon or any online bookseller as paperback, kindle or audiobook. Alternatively, send me a direct message on Twitter or Facebook or Bluesky
Enjoy the read and the journey.
Everald
The splendid painting below is the work of my friend Noela Lowien of Kilcoy. It depicts the Good Samaritan in modern Australian form as the Bush Samaritan whom you will note is female. As you will expect, she is a working partner of Jesus the Man.
I applaud Jim Chalmers decision to hold a Productivity Roundtable at Parliament in Canberra in August with the aim of creating a plan to increase the productivity of our nation.
25 of Australia’s top financial and industrial power brokers will meet in the Cabinet Room to express the well known views they have been publicly advocating to the government for a long time. Sadly, very little that is new is likely be added to the findings of the Roundtable.
A few days ago, I was presumptuous enough to apply for a place at the roundtable to present three initiatives that will encourage the nation’s 6 million older citizens to happily add their contribution to the productivity of Australia. Jim Chalmers didn’t reject my self invitation. He is too courteous a bloke to do that. He just told me the truth. They have no spare seats left at the table and many people like me were also trying to get there.
So it is that I will make a written submission to the Roundtable that will advocate three important creators of productivity.
*The removal of all restrictions and penalties that discourage older Australians from re-entering the work force and bringing their wisdom, practical experience and positive work culture with them.
*Positive action by Government to foster Intergenerational Partnerships through which older Australians can partner bright young Aussie visionaries to bring their creative dreams to reality by forming ‘Wise Young’ partnerships that will pioneer thousands of new start up companies that will break new ground via visionary projects.
*Actively encourage retirees to go to TAFE as evening students soon after their 60th birthday to learn new skills that will enable them to start a totally new career when they reach the traditional retirement age of 67, instead of retiring to spend 30 years watching Netflix. They can attempt to achieve the dreams they have thought about creating for decades, but had too many responsibilities that deterred them at the time. .
These three initiatives will hugely add to Australia’s productivity and reduce the nation’s health and ageing bills as activity always wards off illness.
Jim, please personally present these three proposals to the Productivity Roundtable on behalf of all talented oldies whose work culture ensures that they never ever think of taking sickies. It will create a wonderful revolution in our nation’s work ethic.
Cheers for Australia and its productive oldies.
Everald
(Proudly displayed below is the Everald Compton Community Champion Medal which is presented every year by National Seniors Australia. It is an award that began last year and acknowledges the tremendous achievements Senior Aussies constantly make to the nation and encourages all oldies to put their best foot forward for Australia. Please applaud their huge potential)
My morale got a boost this week when my book Walking with the Man got a #1 best seller rating in a section of books on religion at Amazon, including a 5 star rating. It also got a #2 best seller rating in another section just below a Pope Francis book.
The reason is that most buyers are lapsed Christians who gave up going to Church soon after leaving Church Schools as they had ‘a gut full of religion instruction.’ Those who are Catholics say they had learned nothing more at Church than being told to be loyal, go to Mass and Confession, and put their money in the plate. My book opened the door for them to respectfully question everything about doctrines, creeds and how the Church is run. They find it refreshing and encourages them to seek and find Jesus the Man as a human being who is their role model.
I met one reader who is an Indigenous person who had Christianity rammed down his neck at a Church Mission up in the Gulf Country. He quite naturally revolted against European culture blotting out the spirituality of his people that was their strength, inherited from the dreamtime. After reading ‘Walking with the Man’ he embraces the profound belief that Jesus the Man would, like him, love and treasure the land, air, water, flora and fauna. This conviction is quietly and steadily growing in his mind and he intends to do something positive about it.
I could quote the comments of many other readers but one fact dominates my mind.
THE CHURCHES OF AUSTRALIA HAVE ONLY 10% OF PEOPLE AS MEMBERS. THEY HAVE FAILED TO CONVEY TO THE REMAINING 90% THAT JESUS THE MAN IS THE CORNERSTONE OF LIFE.
But he can be the role model of the nation if people choose to follow him without going to Churches in their current form.
Joint the debate and take part in an inspiring reformation by buying a signed copy of ‘Walking with the Man, but not to Church’ on my website
With significant help from three eminent Australians, Paul de Jersey, David Muir and Anthony Lynham, I have drafted a Preamble I believe our Founding Fathers should have adopted as the opening statement of the Australian Constitution in 1901.
I have lodged a petition to Parliament requesting that a Referendum be held on the same day as the 2028 Federal Election so that future Parliaments, with positive backing of voters, are required to uphold the values we regard as the ground of our being as Australians.
Here are the words I propose and for which I seek your support in signing the petition.
‘We, the people of Australia,
*Proudly acknowledge Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people as original occupants and custodians of our continent and islands who cared for our land, water, flora, and fauna for many thousands of years.
*Recognise that our nation is enriched by people from many ancestries who have chosen to make Australia their home.
*Affirm our commitment to democratic, representative, and secular government of our sovereign nation founded on rule of law, equality before the law, and government by the people.
*Believe in justice through independent courts and equality of social, economic, and political opportunity for all in a manner that minimises inequality.
*Seek visionary reform of our colonial heritage and reject racism, sexism, class distinction, poverty, all forms of violence, and domination by wealth, ideology, religion.
*Affirm the right of every citizen to a vote of equal value and basic benefits of home, food, education, employment, medical care, and social interaction.
*Uphold family life as a cornerstone asset of society.
*Aspire to a cohesive society that rejects greed and is based on honesty, decency, sharing, and goodwill.
*Acknowledge that our freedom of speech and religion is based on our acceptance of responsibility as citizens.
*Seek peace with all nations and our maintenance of global order in matters relating to peace, trade, health and environment.
*Strive to ensure through our collective efforts that Australia is a role model of an enlightened and just society.
With hope and determination, we commit ourselves to this Constitution.’
I welcome your recommendations for improvements.
In my book, DINNER WITH THE FOUNDING FATHERS, I describe the huge effort made by Alfred Deakin at the Federation Conventions of the 1890’s to have a Preamble inserted in the Constitution that would set out the values on which our new nation would be founded. Churches opposed any debate on it as they claimed they were were responsible for the morals and values of our nation, a task for which they have significantly failed.
