'I don't think it,' (Marilyn Webb) replied. 'I know. When you are brought up the way I was, so much part of nature, you see yourself differently. You don't understand yourself in isolation. I know the shape of my life. It's been a good one. I've travelled to a lot of places, and known interesting people. I've always realised that you have to rely on others: you can't just be an island. It's not the knowing of things that's important, but telling other people about that knowledge.'

I had to eventually learn to see past my prejudices rooted in the unnatural simplifications of a comfortable upbringing in WASPish Melbourne suburbia before I could accept that I did not exist in isolation, but rather as part of an ongoing process of telling others. That perspective embodies a certain knowledge beyond faith, and a confidence that my life has been well lived.