Desert

Fasts and Feasts: sustainability and a Lenten lifestyle

2012-01-17T14:33:00.000+11:00

On 22 February 2012 - the season of Lent leading up to Good Friday and Easter will begin with Ash Wednesday. In the Western Christian tradition, fast days are Ash Wednesday and all Fridays. Some add Wednesdays as an option. Ash Wednesday and Fridays, are also abstinence days when there is abstinence from meat. On these days Christians have fish and vegetarian dishes.

I am posting as a reminder that, in the season when Christian seafood eating is dominant, we might consider seafood sustainability and the health and welfare of oceans, rivers and watercourses from which seafood comes. Not only can we consider these matters during the Lenten season. We should be seeking to embed such ideas in our lifestyles as permanent patterns. For more on this, please go to my food blog, Oz Tucker.

The Gate of the Year

2011-12-28T05:45:00.000+11:00

This post was originally published on The Trad Pad on 2 January 2011. Happy New Year everyone ... particularly to those who did it tough this year. Please take on board the thoughts of Minnie Louise Haskins

~~~~~~

Happy New Year! May the year be kind to you and bring you blessings, wisdom, peace, and prosperity! The last day or two has exhibited some coincidence. Firstly, Hay Quaker published, in toto, the poem The Gate of the Year by Minnie Louise Haskins.

Minnie Louise Haskins

Picture from here

I said to the man who stood at the gate of the year,
"Give me a light that I may tread safely into the unknown."
And he replied, "Go into the darkness and put your hand into the hand of God.
That shall be to you better than light and safer than a known way!"
So I went forth and finding the Hand of God
Trod gladly into the night.
He led me towards the hills
And the breaking of day in the lone east.
So heart be still!
What need our human life to know
If God hath comprehension?
In all the dizzy strife of things
Both high and low,
God hideth his intention.

Perhaps readers have heard this poem, or part of it, before. It was made famous by the Christmas Speech of King George VI delivered in 1939. You can hear the actual speech – it is quite moving given it is made at the time of the first Christmas of World War II – here.

Picture from here

Secondly, I decided to get out of the house for the first time since Christmas Midnight Carols and Eucharist at All Saints, Mitcham and go to see the much lauded movie, The King’s Speech. It is the story of the relationship between the Australian speech therapist, Lionel Logue, and King George VI.

The movie is being tipped as a frontline contender for an Oscar. In spite of competition from The Social Network in the bookies’ odds as set out here, it is hard to see how this movie could lose with its high proportion of former Academy Award winning actors. The UK still produces the best actors – particularly in ensemble work as demonstrated in The King’s Speech – in the English speaking world. However, it does an Australian heart good – particularly one coming from Queensland – to see and hear Geoffrey Rush mixing it admirably with such a talented cast. To think, this great man of Australian movies was growing up across Brisbane from me in the 1950s!
Those sitting around me in the packed movie theatre were clearly as impressed as I.
I was however surprised at the ending. I don’t think, in such an historical movie, it is giving away much to describe the ending of this movie. I thought the movie somehow would finish with the 1939 Christmas Speech. This is arguably the most famous, most remembered, and most quoted of all the King George VI’s speeches. This doesn’t happen. The movie concludes with the King’s Speech at the beginning of World War II.

Listen to the original speech here.

Children bearing the cost of politics and war: the Holy Innocents and a Peace Procession

2011-12-27T11:24:00.000+11:00

Many Christians think that Jesus did not enter into the political fray. No disparaging name-calling for him. I can't stand the "Gentle Jesus meek and mild" version of Christianity, particularly as portrayed in modern forms as a gentle-faced, fairish blue-eyed Jesus. The scriptures might say He was meek - but do we understand what that word means to-day? And Jesus was certainly far from mild. In Luke 13:32, Jesus refers to the then reigning member of the Herods as a fox. I wonder where that view, that description came from?

I think of a family living in Nazareth. Like all families there are stories and "remember whens". How huge a thing in the life of the Ben David family it must have been when Joseph and Mary, warned by an angel, fled with their young son into Egypt to escape the massacre of young children by Herod the Great (Matthew 2:13). There they remained until there was a change in political leadership from Herod the Great to his son, Archelaus.

When the Ben David family returned from Egypt they did not go back to Bethlehem but to Nazareth. Even if the boy Jesus had no memory of his own regarding these events, he would have been immersed in his family's history and story. How could a family have retold this story without making political comment or passing on a view of those who instigated their refugee status?

The Herod Jesus refers to in Luke is another son of Herod the Great, Antipas: Tetrarch of Galilee and Perea; political opportunist and collaborator under Roman rule in Judaea. Surely, Herod Antipas was a fox indeed: sly, wily, treading warily through the pitfalls and pratfalls of Roman rule. Would the Herods have kept alive the story of the massacre of the little children? I think not. But the Ben David family did. Only by divine intervention did they save a very precious son.

To-morrow, 28 December, the Massacre of the Holy Innocents is remembered. The children who died because of the bloodlust and envy of a powerful and wily king have never been forgotten by the Christian church.

Picture from here

To-morrow in Melbourne, the remembrance will take a contemporary turn:

Wednesday 28 December, 10 am – 11.30 am: Feast of Holy Innocents Peace Procession

In the days after Christmas, while most people are recovering from the indulgence of Christmas Day or deeply immersed in the liturgy of the Boxing Day Test, the Church calendar commemorates the Holy Innocents, the children killed by Herod in a bid to maintain his power and privilege. This is a part of the Christmas story which gets little attention in churches, yet it forms a major part of the biblical birth narrative. It is a day when we remember children and other innocent people killed by today’s Herods, who consider such innocents to be acceptable collateral damage in their quest for power and security. Children are still the most deeply affected by wars around the globe – 65% of Afghans are under the age of 18. 90% of those killed in wars are civilians. Join us for a peace procession from Victoria Barracks in Melbourne to Defence Plaza. We will begin at 10 am with prayers at Victoria Barracks on St Kilda Road, and process to Defence Plaza, 661 Bourke St. Melbourne, for further prayer and reflection.

Children of war: fight, dying, surviving

"The source of most human violence and suffering has been a hidden children's holocaust throughout history, whereby billions of innocent human beings have been routinely murdered, bound, starved, raped, mutilated, battered and tortured by their parents and other caregivers, so that they grow up as emotionally crippled adults and become vengeful time bombs who periodically restage their early traumas in sacrificial rites called wars."

- Lloyd DeMause
Hat Tip to Iain Macadair

The Archbishop of Canterbury: a Christmas message about answering, responding and praying The Prayer Book

2011-12-26T21:58:00.000+11:00

Archbishop Rowan Williams' sermon for Christmas Day 2011

When the first Christians read – or more probably heard – the opening words of John's gospel, they would have understood straight away quite a lot more than we do. They would have remembered, many of them, that in Hebrew 'word' and 'thing' are the same, and they would all have known that in Greek the word used has a huge range of meaning – at the simplest level, just something said; but also a pattern, a rationale, as we might say, even the entire structure of the universe seen as something that makes sense to us, the structure that holds things together and makes it possible for us to think.

Against this background, we can get a glimpse of just what is being said about Jesus. His life is what God says and what God does; it is the life in which things hold together; it is because of the life that lives in him that we can think. Jesus is the place where all reality is focused, brought to a point. Here is where we can see as nowhere else what connects all reality – all human experience and all natural laws. Edward Elgar famously said about his Enigma Variations that they were all based on a tune that everyone knew – and no-one has ever worked out what he meant. But John's gospel declares that the almost infinite variety of the life we encounter is all variations on the theme that is stated in one single clear musical line, one melody, in the life of Jesus of Nazareth. 'In him was life, and the life was the light of men.'

But this shouldn't make us forget entirely the underlying image. The life that lives in Jesus, the everlasting divine agency that is uniquely embodied in him, is like something that is said – a word addressed to us. Because, like any word addressed to us, it demands a response. And the gospel goes on at once to tell us that the expected response was not forthcoming. Before we have even got to Christmas in the words of the gospel we are taken to Good Friday, and to the painful truth that the coming of Jesus splits the world into those who respond and those who don't. Once the word is spoken in the world, there is no way back. Your response to it, says the gospel again and again, is what shows who and what you really are, what is deepest in you, what means most. What we say or do in our response to Jesus is our way of discovering for ourselves and showing to one another what is real in and for us. Like the other gospel writers, John hints very strongly that some people respond deeply and truthfully to Jesus without fully knowing who he is or what exactly they are doing in responding to him; this is not a recipe for tight religious exclusivism. But the truth is still an uncompromising one: if you cannot or will not respond, you are walking away from reality into a realm of trackless fogbound falsehood.

There is the question we cannot ignore. It's been well said that the first question we hear in the Bible is not humanity's question to God but God's question to us, God walking in the cool of the evening in the Garden of Eden, looking for Adam and Eve who are trying to hide from him. 'Adam, where are you?' The life of Jesus is that question translated into an actual human life, into the conversations and encounters of a flesh and blood human being like all others – except that when people meet him they will say, like the woman who talks with him at the well of Samaria, 'Here is a man who told me everything I ever did.' Very near the heart of Christian faith and practice is this encounter with God's questions, 'who are you, where are you?' Are you on the side of the life that lives in Jesus, the life of grace and truth, of unstinting generosity and unsparing honesty, the only life that gives life to others? Or are you on your own side, on the side of disconnection, rivalry, the hoarding of gifts, the obsession with control? To answer that you're on the side of life doesn't mean for a moment that you can now relax into a fuzzy philosophy of 'life-affirming' comfort. On the contrary: it means you are willing to face everything within you that is cheap, fearful, untruthful and evasive, and let the light shine on it. Like Peter in the very last chapter of John's gospel, we can only say that we are trying to love the truth that is in Jesus, even as we acknowledge all we have done that is contrary to his spirit. And we say this because we trust that we are loved by this unfathomable mystery who comes to us in the shape of a newborn child, 'full of grace and truth'.

Finding words to respond to the Word made flesh is and has always been one of the most demanding things human beings can do. Don't believe for a moment that religious language is easier or vaguer than the rest of our language. It's more like the exact opposite: think of St John writing his gospel, crafting the slow, sometimes repetitive pace of a narrative that allows Jesus to change the perspective inch by inch as a conversation unfolds. Or of St Paul, losing his way in his sentences, floundering in metaphors as he struggles to find the words for something so new that there are no precedents for talking about it. Or any number of the great poets and contemplatives of the Christian centuries. It isn't surprising if we need other people's words a lot of the time; and it's of great importance that we have words to hand that have been used by others in lives that obviously have depth and integrity. That's where the language of our shared worship becomes so important.

This coming year we celebrate the 350th anniversary of the Book of Common Prayer. It has shaped the minds and hearts of millions; and it has done so partly because it has never been a book for individuals alone. It is common prayer, prayer that is shared. In its origins, it was meant to be – and we may well be startled by the ambition of this – a book that defined what a whole society said to God together. If the question 'where are you?' or 'who are you?' were being asked, not only individual citizens of Britain but the whole social order could have replied, 'Here we are, speaking together – to recognize our failures and our ideals, to recognize that the story of the Bible is our story, to ask together for strength to live and act together in faithfulness, fairness, pity and generosity.' If you thumb through the Prayer Book, you may be surprised at how much there is that takes for granted a very clear picture of how we behave with each other. Yes, of course, much of this language feels dated – we don't live in the unselfconscious world of social hierarchy that we meet here. But before we draw the easy and cynical conclusion that the Prayer Book is about social control by the ruling classes, we need to ponder the uncompromising way in which those same ruling classes are reminded of what their power is for, from the monarch downwards. And the almost forgotten words of the Long Exhortation in the Communion Service, telling people what questions they should ask themselves before coming to the Sacrament, show a keen critical awareness of the new economic order that, in the mid sixteenth century, was piling up assets of land and property in the hands of a smaller and smaller elite.

The Prayer Book is a treasury of words and phrases that are still for countless English-speaking people the nearest you can come to an adequate language for the mysteries of faith. It gives us words that say where and who we are before God: 'we have erred and strayed from thy ways like lost sheep', 'we are not worthy so much as to gather up the crumbs under thy table', but also, 'we are very members incorporate in the mystical body of thy Son, which is the blessed company of all faithful people; and are also heirs through hope of the everlasting kingdom'. It gives us words for God that hold on to the paradoxes we can't avoid: 'God... who art always more ready to hear than we to pray,' 'who declarest thy almighty power most chiefly in showing mercy and pity, 'whose property is always to have mercy.' A treasury of words for God – but also a source of vision for an entire society: 'Give us grace seriously to lay heart the great dangers we are in by our unhappy divisions'; 'If ye shall perceive your offences to be such as are not only against God but also against your neighbours; then ye shall reconcile yourselves unto them; being ready to make restitution'.

The world has changed, the very rhythms of our speech have changed, our society is irreversibly more plural, and we have – with varying degrees of reluctance – found other and usually less resonant ways of talking to God and identifying who we are in his presence. If we used only the Prayer Book these days we'd risk confusing the strangeness of the mysteries of faith with the strangeness of antique and lovely language. But we're much the poorer for forgetting it and pushing it to the margins as much as we often do in the Church. And it is crucial to remember the point about the Prayer Book as something for a whole society, binding together our obligations to God and to one another, in a dense interweaving of love and duty joyfully performed.

The Prayer Book was once the way our society found words to respond to the Word, to say who and where they were in answer to God's question. Those who prayed the Prayer Book, remember, included those who abolished the slave trade and put an end to child labour, because of what they had learned in this book and in their Bibles about the honour of God and of God's children. They knew their story; they knew how to give an answer for themselves, how to join up the muddle of their experience in a coherent pattern by relating it to the unchanging truth and grace of God. That's why the coming year's celebration is not about a museum piece.

The most pressing question we now face, we might well say, is who and where we are as a society. Bonds have been broken, trust abused and lost. Whether it is an urban rioter mindlessly burning down a small shop that serves his community, or a speculator turning his back on the question of who bears the ultimate cost for his acquisitive adventures in the virtual reality of today's financial world, the picture is of atoms spinning apart in the dark.

And into that dark the Word of God has entered, in love and judgment, and has not been overcome;
in the darkness the question sounds as clear as ever,
to each of us and to our church and our society:
'Britain, where are you?' Where are the words we can use to answer?

Advent 4 - Reflection - Justice and Mercy : then and now

2011-12-22T10:23:00.000+11:00

JUSTICE AND MERCY – THEN AND NOW

During Advent,the Social Justice group has asked the people of All Saints to reflect on aportion of Advent scripture in a context of Justice. The SJ group hopes thisreflection too assists in your studies and prayers in the week ahead.

Luke 1: 50-53

His mercy is for those who fear him
   from generation to generation.
He has shown strength with his arm;
   he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of theirhearts.
He has brought down the powerful from their thrones,
   and lifted up the lowly;
he has filled the hungry with good things,
   and sent the rich away empty.

Tucked awayin the Christmas story is Mary’s remarkable response, The Magnificat – My soul does magnify the Lord. Mary (the Jewishversion of her name is Miriam) echoes, with insight, another time and anotherprophetic Miriam, the sister of Moses. Each woman intervened in the narrativeof Israel and the world by bringing into human history a child whose life wouldbe hallmarked with the spirit of redemption.

Mary knewthe character of the God who sent the messaging angel. She knew his mercy, his strength, hisdiminution of the proud and powerful, his uplift of the humble andpowerless. Mary knew her God as aprovider and his disdain for those who relied on wealth and status. Her words are for us to-day. Her activeacceptance of what was being asked of her, personally, is also a model for usto-day.

Mary’s viewof God was broad and deep. In the all-encompassing God was, and is to-day, a placefor herself. The God who deals withnations and generations also takes into account the individual. It is so with God’s justice. God’s actionsare broad and deep: across nations, across generations, across the sweep ofhistory yet into the lives of individuals.

To-day,when we feel the march of history close at hand in the lives of nations andindividuals, we know that God’s mercy, God’s justice is present too.

Advent 3 - Reflection - Of prayer and prophets

2011-12-11T00:00:00.000+11:00

OF PRAYER AND PROPHETS

During Advent,the Social Justice group is asking the people of All Saints to reflect on aportion of Advent scripture in a context of Justice. The SJ group hopes these brief reflections assist in your studies and prayers in the weekahead.

1 Thessalonians 5:16-24

Rejoice always

Pray without ceasing

Give thanks in all circumstances

For this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

Do not quench the Spirit.

Do not despise the words of prophets

But test everything

Hold fast to what is good

Abstain from every form of evil

May the God of peace himself

Sanctify you entirely

And may your spirit and soul and body be kept

Sound and blameless at the coming of our Lord JesusChrist.

The One who calls you is faithful and He will do this.

Two thingsstand out in these words which may not be as well understood in these times asin other periods. Firstly, how do wepray without ceasing? The Eastern Church commends the Jesus Prayer, the Prayerof the Heart. - Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.

This simpleprayer is said repeatedly, over and over again, so often that one discoversthat the prayer almost says itself in one’s heart and mind. Thus its unceasing quality.

Secondly, is theconcept of “prophets”. Paul lists prophecy among the spiritual gifts at theservice of the church. What is prophecy?Who is a prophet? Prophecy is often thought of as foretelling the future. This can be the case but is not the wholestory. Some put emphasis on forthtelling rather than foretelling which is wise. However, there is one thing in the Scripturesthat is common to the prophets found there. That is a concern for justice – God’s justice. Work for justice within the church and theworld is part of God’s prophetic gift to us.

Justice is a projectof restoration, reconciliation, and wholeness.

Tweets 1 - the Spirit of Wisdom

2011-12-07T10:14:00.001+11:00

Advent 2 - Reflection - The Rule of the Kingdom of God

2011-12-04T06:00:00.000+11:00

Picture from here

The reflection below was prepared by the

Social Justice Group

from

All Saints Mitcham, in Melbourne, Australia.

THE RULE of the KINGDOM OF GOD

During Advent, theSocial Justice group is asking the people of All Saints to reflect on a portionof Advent scripture in a context of Justice. As it was last Sunday, is to-dayand wil be for the next two Advent Sundays, the pew sheets include briefreflections to include in your studies and prayers in the week ahead.

Isaiah 40:9-11

Get you up to a high mountain, O Zion, herald of good tidings;

lift up your voice with strength, O Jerusalem, herald of good tidings,

lift it up, do not fear;

say to the cities of Judah, “Here is your God!”

See, the Lord God comes with might, and his arm rules for him;

his reward is with him, and his recompense before him.

He will feed his flock like a shepherd;

he will gather the lambs in his arms, and carry them in his bosom,

and gently lead the mother sheep.

As we prepare for the birth of Christ our Saviour, weprepare to usher in the rule of the Kingdom of God. This is our Good News, God’s gift to theworld which we are asked to proclaim. Attention is drawn to two key words:

Reward and Recompense.

The ability to administer either reward or recompense is inthe gift of a ruler or a government.

Our God is a God of justice and of reconciliation. He rules with strength but, as the Prophetpoints out, we find gentleness within that rule. We find with that gentleness an inclusioninto the Divine Presence and into what some people refer to as the Kin(g)dom. We are kin to our Saviour, the DivineRuler. He makes us his own, makes uspart of his rule. So along with theself-fulfilling purposes of reward and recompense, we find in the coming ofJesus into our history a form of justice and reconciliation which goes farbeyond the outcomes of earthly governments, courts, and judgments.

As we know andunderstand this

In our own lives

We are then confidentto say to others

“Here is your God!”

Advent 1 - Reflection - Justice and Reconciliation

2011-12-03T07:38:00.001+11:00

Picture from here

The reflection below was prepared by the

Social Justice Group

from

All Saints Mitcham, in Melbourne, Australia.

JUSTICE AND RECONCILIATION

During Advent, theSocial Justice group is asking the people of All Saints to reflect on a portionof Advent scripture in a context of Justice. To-day, and in the ensuing threeAdvent Sundays, the pew sheets will include brief reflections to include inyour studies and prayers in the week ahead.

Psalm 80: 7

Restore us, O God of hosts,

Let your face shine,

That we may be saved.

This is a cry in thehearts of God’s people.

It is a cry forrestoring a people,

Restoring arelationship,

Bringing things backto where they once were

To rescue people fromthe current state of affairs.

As we look across the world to-day,we see famine, wars,unemployment, financial disaster, instability in many nations, people fleeingtheir countries for their lives and their security. These conditions impact ata personal level.

There are criesseeking

restoration,reconciliation, salvation.

We have seen this year peoples’ revolutions, the Occupyprotests, riots, as well as environmental catastrophes.

People everywherelong for

restoration, ashining face, salvation.

To-day, this Advent Sunday, we reflect on the verycommencement of our journey to salvation and all that means. It means even-ingup the scales, restoring relationships, putting things back on an even keel,freeing us up to move to a better place.

Restoration means making new.

It means repair andreplacement.

This is where thepersonal meets

the family, meets thecommunity, meets the nation, meets the whole world.

Advent 2011: Resources

2011-11-30T12:35:00.000+11:00

Over at Godspace, Christine Sine has posted with lots of links to

resources which will enrich your Advent experience.

Please visit

Advent: liturgical, personal, a reality of life at various points in life

2011-11-29T15:19:00.001+11:00

This post is printed in full from Interrupting the Silence

with kind permission of its author, Father Michael Marsh,

and gratitude from Miss Eagle.

“In Those Days….” – A Sermon on Mark 13:24-37, Advent 1B

by marshmk

The collect and readings for the First Sunday in Advent, Year B, may be found here. The following sermon focuses on Mark 13:24-37.

“In those days….” So begins our entry into the Season of Advent. It sounds ominous and it is. Advent is not just a liturgical season of the church year. It is a reality of life. It happens in all sorts of ways. It comes at various points in life, not just the four or five weeks before Christmas.

"In those days … the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will be falling from heaven, and the powers in the heavens will be shaken.” These are Jesus words to his disciples. The disciples have been admiring the temple and the large stones. They are impressed. Jesus, however, is telling them that change is coming. The temple of their life is coming down.

If you have ever experienced significant change in your life, whether desired or dreaded, you know about “those days.” You know about Advent. You know what it is like to enter the darkness of change. All change, whether welcome or unwanted, brings some kind of loss. It may be the loss of a relationship, the loss of a loved one, the loss of what is comfortable, familiar, safe. Regardless, the world as we have known it has ended.

The Advents of our lives set before us important questions. How will we find our way forward when the usual lights that illumined our path no longer shine? What do we do when it feels as if our world is falling apart? Where do we go when it seems as if darkness is our only companion and God is no where to be seen?

The dark times of life are threshold moments. The temptation is to do something; to fix it, to ease the pain, to escape the uncertainly, and to get back to what used to be. The God of Advent does not allow that. We can never go back to the way it was before the lights went out. God does not undo our life. God redeems our life. Advent is not so much about the losses as it is about the hope and coming of what will be. That hope and coming is the Son of Man, Jesus the Christ. The presence of Christ is the ultimate answer to every prayer, to every light extinguishing loss, to every Advent of our life.

Every time we tell the Advent story of our life we echo the prophet Isaiah’s cry, “O that you would tear open the heavens and come down” (Is. 64:1 ). And God does. God is faithful. God strengthens us to the end. In the midst of our losses we lack nothing as we await the revealing of Lord Jesus Christ. (1 Cor. 1:7-9).

The Advent times of life are times of waiting. They are liminal times. In Advent we live in between what was and what will be. We are neither here nor there. We are betwixt and between. They are times of transition and it is hard, sometimes even impossible, to see the way forward.

If we allow them to the dark threshold places of life can draw us deeper into the divine mystery. They remind us that we do not know everything. We do not see all possibilities. We can neither predict nor control anything. We are not in charge. Advent challenges us to give up our usual sources of illumination, to let go of our habitual ways of knowing, and to question our typical ways of seeing. Advent invites us to receive the God who comes to us in the darkness of life.

At some point our world falls apart, life changes, or the lights go out. More often than not we see this as the end. When these things happen, Jesus says, remember the fig tree. Read the signs correctly. When its branch becomes tender and it puts forth leaves you know summer is near. So also when the darkness overtakes your life know that the Son of Man is near. Christ’s presence, our healing, and salvation, are always taking place in the dark and messy parts of life. We have not and never will be abandoned to the darkness.

“Be alert,” Jesus warns. He commands us to “Keep awake.” Darkness is not our enemy as much as is falling asleep. We fall asleep whenever fear controls or life, when hope gives way to despair, when busyness is equated with goodness, when entitlement replaces thanksgiving, when we choose what is comfortable rather than life-giving. Whenever we think our life is over, that darkness is our final reality, that we have been abandoned, or that loss and darkness are our only reality then we have fallen asleep.

To often we allow the darkness to deceive us into believing there is nothing worth waiting or watching for. So we close our eyes. We fall asleep and we become part of the darkness. We refuse to see the One who is always coming to us. The danger in the darkness is that we do not give out eyes time to adjust. We do not trust our night vision. Night vision is not about the light around us but the light that is within us, a light that can never be extinguished.

The Advents of our lives ask us to trust the Coming One more than the darkness. It means we must sit, listen, wait, watch. That is contrary to what most of the world believes and what our society rewards. We must show up every moment of our lives not just in spite of but because of the darkness. To show up and be present in the darkness of life is some of the hardest work we will ever do. Run from our darkness and we run from God.

In the darkness of Advent we move slower, we listen more than we speak, we hold questions rather than answers. We wait expectantly but without specific expectations. Waiting in darkness is an act of faithfulness and surrender to the Coming One. Waiting becomes our prayer, a prayer that is and will be answered by God’s presence.

Tell your Advent story; a story of change, loss, darkness. Then sit down. Be still. Be quiet. Listen. Wait. Watch. These are the practices of Advent. Why? Because God “works for those who wait for him” (Is. 64:4).

Non-violent Leadership for Interfaith Peacebuilders

2011-11-22T08:11:00.000+11:00

Nonviolent Leadership for Interfaith Peacebuilders

I would like to draw your attention to a very exciting opportunity entitled, Nonviolent Leadership for Interfaith Peacebuilders. It is a new 8-day residential program designed for young people aged 18-30 years from a variety of different faith backgrounds who hold a common passion to lead their generation towards the goal of a world without violence, intolerance and injustice. It is offered free of charge to successful applicants (excl travel).

The program involves two modules in 2012 and includes supporting participants to engage in a community project developed by each participant in his or her individual faith community. The 8 day residential retreat will take place at the beautiful and idyllic surrounds of Amberley Retreat and Spirituality Centre on the Yarra River in MELBOURNE where participants will journey into the depths of learning the ways and skills of nonviolent living, leadership, interfaith work, community work, social change, developing one's identity, purpose and sense of belonging and self-care.

PROGRAM DATES

Module 1: The Inner and Outer Journey of Nonviolent Leadership (5 day)

4.30 pm Sunday 29th January and 4 pm Friday 3rd February 2012

Module 2: The Tool-Kit For Nonviolent Leadership (3 day)

9 am Wednesday 11th April and 4 pm Friday 13th April 2012

Further details and application forms are available from the website:

WWW.NONVIOLENTINTERFAITHLEADERSHIP.ORG

Or contact Simon Reeves on 0408 299 981 or email simon.reeves81@gmail.com

Please feel free to forward this program onto your networks

and recommend young people from your

organisation, faith network or community group to apply.

Hurry, spaces are limited to 20 participants.

Applications should be in by 30 November.

Crown Him with many crowns: the feast of Christ the King

2011-11-19T08:01:00.001+11:00

Picture from here

The Feast of Christ the King has been my favourite feast of the whole year since I was a child. Father Paul Butler (@RedRector) has tweeted the pew sheet for this Sunday. You can download it from below.

Can I hear you singing along?

Spiritual disciplines and practices

2011-11-17T16:39:00.001+11:00

Thank you to Kurt Willems of The Pangea Blog for drawing my attention to this

Simplicity and making the best of everything

2011-09-27T12:47:00.000+10:00

I hope @Iain 2008 doesn't mind but he sent me a nice cup of coffee in the form of this post below which has come from his Twitwall. Iain lives across The Ditch and you will find more of him here.

~~~~~

Iain2008 Following

Life is Like a Cup of Coffee

posted 10/09/10

"A group of alumni, highly established in their careers, got together to visit their old university professor. Conversation soon turned into complaints about stress in work and life.

Offering his guests coffee, the professor went to the kitchen and returned with a large pot of coffee and an assortment of cups: porcelain, plastic, glass, crystal, some plain looking, some expensive, some exquisite.

He told his guests to help themselves to the coffee.

After everyone had a cup of coffee in hand, the professor said, 'If you noticed, all the nice looking expensive cups have been taken up, leaving behind the plain and cheap ones. While it is normal for you to want only the best for yourselves, that is the source of your problems and stress.

Be assured that the cup adds no quality to the coffee.

In most cases, it is just more expensive, and in some cases, even hides what we drink. What all of you really wanted was coffee, not the cup. But you consciously went for the best cups... And then you began eyeing each other's cups to see who had the best one.

Now consider this...

Life is the coffee; the jobs, money and position in society are the cups. They are just tools to hold and contain Life and the type of cup we have does not define, nor change the quality of life we live. Sometimes, by concentrating only on the cup, we fail to enjoy the coffee.

Savor the coffee, not the cups!

The happiest people don't have the best of everything.

They just make the best of everything.

Live simply.

Speak kindly.

Care deeply.

Love generously.'"

Source: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U3NgzQ9Pcsg

Like it? ReTweet it! Share This!

The Resurrection and the Life in the story of the Buxton Silver Gum

2011-04-18T11:26:00.001+10:00

Eucalyptus crenulata (Buxton Silver Gum)

Picture from here

It's an ill ~~wind~~ bushfire that ~~blows~~ burns nobody any good, it is said.

This story will cause a flutter of excitement in many places. Thanks to the bushfires more was learned about this rare tree and rejuvenation of the species in its special locality is expected. It is this sort of thing that gives us, the human species, hope.

In a week when Christians will be commemmorating a death on a cross and a resurrection to new life, Australia's beautiful, ancient soil has thrown up a story of continuing life in the face of adversity. This is an impressive thing.

2011-03-06T07:33:00.000+11:00

On Friday, I attended the Women 's World Day of Prayer at St John's Catholic Church at Mitcham. Usually, I find WWDP very ho-hum - as can happen when one stretches the bonds of faith across denominations and beyond everyday faith communities. I always do my best to enter into the mindspace of the women from whichever country has organised a particular year's service. I did that this year - and I found the service, given to us this year by the women of Chile, mind-blowing. So much so, that I am going to do a number of posts this week with regard to this service. If you too have attended the World Day of Prayer this year and been affected by the order of service, please join in the conversation either on the comments section of by emailing me at eaglemiss(at)gmail(dot)com.

To start with, let us look at the logo. The logo is seen in the first photo below in the pulpit piece as well as at the top of the cover of the Order of Service booklet. In the second photo, the logo is dissected and its components explained. The logo was devised by the women of Ireland - and so the Celtic Cross is included. This gladdens not only the Irish heart - but the hearts of those who, like me, consider themselves part of the great Celtic diaspora across the world. Please note St. Brigid's Cross at the end of each Desert post.

More to follow.....1

The Speaker, Mary Cameron.

The Apostles Creed #creeds #ibelieve #christianity

2011-01-27T08:28:00.000+11:00

Thank you to

Micah Bales for tweeting this.

@micahbales

Are you a Red Letter Christian #christianity #spirituality

2011-01-19T10:55:00.000+11:00

Are you a Red Letter Christian?

Red Letter Christians: A Citizen's Guide to Faith and Politics

Choose Love Not Power: How to Right the World's Wrongs from a Place of Weakness

Queensland - in God's hands and its own resourceful abilities #qldfloods #resilience

2011-01-13T20:07:00.005+11:00

Picture from here

I want us to remember who we are.

We are Queenslanders.

We're the people that they breed tough,

north of the border.

We're the ones that they knock down,

and we get up again.

Anna Bligh,

Premier of Queensland.

She said this on the morning

of 13 January 2011

as she held back tears.

The day after the Tucson tragedy #prayer via @zacbailes

2011-01-10T06:03:00.000+11:00

Words cannot fully express the compassion and sympathy

that goes out to the people of Tucson.

It is, therefore, wonderful when someone does find some

good words.

Mark Sandlin over at The God Article has done so.

Please go here.

Desert women's business 25-29 March 2011 #desert #women #indigenous #Aboriginal #NT

2011-01-08T18:02:00.003+11:00

INVITATION TO

DESERT WOMEN'S BUSINESS UMUTJA

25-29 March 2011

Nellie Patterson and the Pitjantjatjara elders

in Central Australia

invite you to share in Women's Business

at a very sacred healing area

approximately 150 kms from Uluru.

(This is a long drive on a desert track).

Cost: $1500.00

Pickup: The Outback Pioneer Motel, Yulara. Tel: (08) 8957 7888

Deposit: $500 by 31st January, 2011

Balance: $1000 by 28^th February, 2011

SORRY NO REFUNDS AFTER 28^th FEBRUARY

Fee covers transport to and from Yulara

(also there is a free shuttle bus from Yulara Airport to the Outback Pioneer),

all meals, swag and cultural fees.

DETAILS:

We are travelling to very powerful land and we are asked to come with deep respect for the law and culture of this area bringing only an open attitude and willingness to be guided by the elders.

We meet at the Outback Pioneer at around 12 noon on 25 March. Please be ready to load up into the Troopies by then so that we can reach our destination early. We will return to the Yulara Ceremonial site as usual for rest and integration of our experience at Umutja and then return to the Outback Pioneer around Noon on 29March but earlier times can be arranged for flights if necessary.
We travel in 4x4 Troopies. Space is very limited so luggage must be kept to an absolute minimum (additional items for before and after the event can be stored at the Outback)
You will need to bring 10 litres water for personal use - can be purchased at Yulara when you arrive.
We provide swags but please let us know if you are bringing your own so that we do not double up.

WHAT TO BRING:

warm sleeping bag, small pillow and sheet
large tarp for over and under swag – approx 3 metre x 4 metre
soft bag for clothes etc - keep it very small for transport
water and drinking bottle
torch – headlights are easier and best
black skirt, knee length or longer. You will spend most of your time in this and will need very little additional clothing for the site other than some warm covering clothes for the evenings and early mornings and maybe socks and beanie for bed if nights get cool. A sarong or two comes in handy too.
wipes like wet-ones, for washing
toilet paper and small trowel
zip lock bags for your own rubbish (incl. used toilet paper!!)
small towel
sunscreen and hat
insect repellent
Gastrolyte or other electrolyte drink
additional food for snacking on if you need it. MEALS ARE SIMPLE, VEGETARIAN, AND NUTRICIOUS. (Let us know if you have special dietary needs and we will see what we can do, e.g. gluten free).
willingness to assist in the kitchen for preparation & clean-up at meal times (a roster will be available for you to sign up on)
willingness to assist with serving our Aboriginal sisters at meal times.
we are asked not to bring any recreational drugs, alcohol, drums and other instruments, jewellery, healing items like crystals, etc. as they interfere with the way the women work with the land in ceremony. Photography is not allowed and we are asked to keep our writing, artwork for later.
it is important for you to know that you will be responsible for yourself and your experience at this event as it is not covered by insurance.

ADDITIONAL ITEMS AS GIVE-AWAYS IF YOU WANT:

the ladies love and need black skirts - mostly large size
wool - red, white, black and yellow
white feathers
paints, brushes
canvas

Please email Lorraine at lorrainemoses1(at)bigpond(dot)com to book, also for more information.

Please send deposit or full fee to:

St George Bank

Account Name: Lorraine Moses

BSB: 112-879

Acct No. 473807023

Or: Mail a cheque/money order to:

Lorraine Moses

PO Box 88,

Alice Springs NT 0871

VERY IMPORTANT

PLEASE BE SURE TO ADD YOUR NAME WITH YOUR DEPOSIT

AND LET ME KNOW BY EMAIL WHEN YOU DO THAT,

OTHERWISE IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO TELL

WHO HAS PAID WHAT - MAMMOTH TASK!

THANKS.

Please feel free to phone me if you have any questions 0428 406009.

Love and blessings, Lorraine

www.desertwomensbusiness.com

Further reading:

Liminal songlines

Egypt's Muslims serve as human shields for Coptic Christmas Mass #christianity #islam #egypt

2011-01-08T17:26:00.000+11:00

Site sources of religious symbols:-

Islam's Crescent from

Muslims Against Sharia - Islamic Reform Movement

Christian Cross - Coptic from

St Antonious Coptic Orthodox Church, Portland, Oregon

The article below has come to me via Steve Hayes, my long time 'net friend in South Africa. Its original source is here.

Egypt's Muslims attend Coptic Christmas mass, serving as "human shields"

Muslims turned up in droves for the Coptic Christmas mass Thursday night, offering their bodies, and lives, as “shields” to Egypt’s threatened Christian community
Yasmine El-Rashidi , Friday 7 Jan 2011

In Egypt, ministers and movie stars turn out for trouble-free Christmas mass. Egypt’s majority Muslim population stuck to its word Thursday night. What had been a promise of solidarity to the weary Coptic community, was honoured, when thousands of Muslims showed up at Coptic Christmas eve mass services in churches around the country and at candle light vigils held outside.

From the well-known to the unknown, Muslims had offered their bodies as “human shields” for last night’s mass, making a pledge to collectively fight the threat of Islamic militants and towards an Egypt free from sectarian strife.

“We either live together, or we die together,” was the sloganeering genius of Mohamed El-Sawy, a Muslim arts tycoon whose cultural centre distributed flyers at churches in Cairo Thursday night, and who has been credited with first floating the “human shield” idea.

Among those shields were movie stars Adel Imam and Yousra, popular preacher Amr Khaled, the two sons of President Hosni Mubarak, and thousands of citizens who have said they consider the attack one on Egypt as a whole.

“This is not about us and them,” said Dalia Mustafa, a student who attended mass at Virgin Mary Church on Maraashly. “We are one. This was an attack on Egypt as a whole, and I am standing with the Copts because the only way things will change in this country is if we come together.”

In the days following the brutal attack on Saints Church in Alexandria, which left 21 dead on New Year’ eve, solidarity between Muslims and Copts has seen an unprecedented peak. Millions of Egyptians changed their Facebook profile pictures to the image of a cross within a crescent – the symbol of an “Egypt for All”. Around the city, banners went up calling for unity, and depicting mosques and churches, crosses and crescents, together as one.

The attack has rocked a nation that is no stranger to acts of terror, against all of Muslims, Jews and Copts. In January of last year, on the eve of Coptic Christmas, a drive-by shooting in the southern town of Nag Hammadi killed eight Copts as they were leaving Church following mass. In 2004 and 2005, bombings in the Red Sea resorts of Taba and Sharm El-Sheikh claimed over 100 lives, and in the late 90’s, Islamic militants executed a series of bombings and massacres that left dozens dead.

This attack though comes after a series of more recent incidents that have left Egyptians feeling left out in the cold by a government meant to protect them.

Last summer, 28-year-old businessman Khaled Said was beaten to death by police, also in Alexandria, causing a local and international uproar. Around his death, there have been numerous other reports of police brutality, random arrests and torture.

Last year was also witness to a brutal parliamentary election process in which the government’s security apparatus and thugs seemed to spiral out of control. The result, aside from injuries and deaths, was a sweeping win by the ruling party thanks to its own carefully-orchestrated campaign that included vote-rigging, corruption and rife brutality. The opposition was essentially annihilated. And just days before the elections, Copts - who make up 10 percent of the population - were once again the subject of persecution, when a government moratorium on construction of a Christian community centre resulted in clashes between police and protestors. Two people were left dead and over 100 were detained, facing sentences of up to life in jail.

The economic woes of a country that favours the rich have only exacerbated the frustration of a population of 80 million whose majority struggle each day to survive. Accounts of thefts, drugs, and violence have surged in recent years, and the chorus of voices of discontent has continued to grow.

The terror attack that struck the country on New Year’s eve is in many ways a final straw – a breaking point, not just for the Coptic community, but for Muslims as well, who too feel marginalized, persecuted, and overlooked, by a government that fails to address their needs. On this Coptic Christmas eve, the solidarity was not just one of religion, but of a desperate and
collective plea for a better life and a government with accountability.

http://su.pr/5VmSc1
http://tumblr.com/xne17rnkmv

--
Steve Hayes
E-mail: shayes@dunelm.org.uk
Web: http://hayesstw.tumblr.com/ (follow me on Tumblr)
Blog: http://methodius.blogspot.com

Past, Present, Future - truths for all times and seasons #quotes

2011-01-08T10:32:00.000+11:00

Picture from here

The truth of sacred scripture

is never limited to or contained

only in the past.

Quote from Interrupting the Silence

Naked Vegetarians and a Garden : God's original plan

2011-01-05T14:49:00.000+11:00

Picture from Restoring Eden

Reflective times : looking back into the past and ahead into the future

2010-12-31T20:30:00.003+11:00

This picture comes from here.
I sought permission to use this picture.
If you wish to use it, please do so as well.

Not only will you see this picture at the link above.

You will see other work by

the artist, Lauren E Simonutti

and you will find links

to her online presence.

For me ,this doll with two faces

between the pages of a book,

symbolises the looking forward and looking back

at the adventures and narratives of life.

As the year draws to its close – along with the first decade of the 21st Century - I wanted to share this post from Steve Hayes’ blog, Khanya.

Steve has found himself in reflective mood – and there is much that others of us might wish to imitate at year’s and decade’s end. Warning:: it may be good to have a tissue or handkerchief with you as you read.

The #spiritual path takes #courage

2010-12-28T11:36:00.001+11:00

Jewish fast for Gaza. Break the silence. Lift the blockade. Pursue peace

2010-12-27T14:45:00.000+11:00

It is good to know that there are others in the Jewish community abroad as well as in Israel who want to bring about peace in Israel and Palestine. One Israeli friend of mine works on a volunteer basis in a Palestinianhospital. These are the unsung heroes searching for a peace and a justice befitting both Israel and Palestine. I wish them all success.

Tweet them @fastforgaza

Jesus – the Aramaic speaking Palestinian person #Jesus#Christmas

2010-12-27T09:46:00.000+11:00

Aramaic Jesus

Picture from here

My thoughts are stimulated by this article.

How attractive would western-oriented Christians find Jesus to-day? For starters, he would not look like most of the pictures Christians have used to portray Jesus. He certainly did not have blonde hair and blue eyes – not even mid-brown hair.

The pictures we have to portray Jesus are not only false but probably idolatrous or bordering thereon.

One thing they do manage to do is contradict the most basic of Christian doctrines: the Incarnation. Christian belief centres on the belief that Jesus was an historical figure, both truly human and truly God. All Christian belief is centred on this belief and it is what we celebrate at this time of Christmas – God become human.

Jesus was not a fake human. His humanity was not pretence. Again, to believe that he was so holy that he couldn’t burp, fart, or open his bowels does disservice to the Christian faith, the Christian community in which lives have been given for this incarnational belief.

To imagine what Jesus – just another human being in appearance – looked like we conjure up a mental picture of what we know of people living at that time. He would not have been tall – people seldom were back then. He would have been swarthy in appearance. Perhaps ‘greasy’ even to Western European ideas. His hair would have been dark and – if he was in good health – glossy. His eyes would have been dark, probably darker than just plain ‘brown’. It is almost certain that he, as a conforming and religious Jew, would have worn forelocks. There is a strong likelihood that his beard was untrimmed.

In short, it is possible that, to modern Western eyes, Jesus was not physically attractive at all – and the very opposite of male beauty and acceptance in Western society.

And he didn’t speak Hebrew in daily life. He spoke Aramaic.

There are many Christian communities in the protestant tradition who are unfamiliar with the Creeds of the Church. To lose this connection is not only to lose touch with two millennia of Christian history, it is to lose connection with the basis of our faith, the centrality of our beliefs, and what we – the Body of Christ – hold in common wherever and whoever and whenever we are.

As an aide memoire to those who are not familiar with the Nicene Creed – said every Sunday in so many Christian communities – I publish it below. Next time, dear Reader, that you recite this Creed picture your historic Jesus based on the outline above and think of the Christians of Palestine – those small numbers who remain in the Holy Land – to-day.

We believe in one God,
the Father, the Almighty,
maker of heaven and earth,
of all that is, seen and unseen.
We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ,
the only Son of God,
eternally begotten of the Father,
God from God, Light from Light,
true God from true God,
begotten, not made,
of one Being with the Father.
Through him all things were made.
For us and for our salvation
he came down from heaven:
by the power of the Holy Spirit
he became incarnate from the Virgin Mary,
and was made man.
For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate;
he suffered death and was buried.
On the third day he rose again
in accordance with the Scriptures;
he ascended into heaven
and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead,
and his kingdom will have no end.
We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life,
who proceeds from the Father and the Son.
With the Father and the Son he is worshiped and glorified.
He has spoken through the Prophets.
We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church.
We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins.
We look for the resurrection of the dead,
and the life of the world to come. Amen.

Gaps in the Gospels: Women of means: gaps in the Christian experience #Christianity#bible#women

2010-12-26T11:39:00.001+11:00

Picture from here

Leslie Cannold makes some important points in The Da Vinci sisters. However, there are gaps in her thesis. So often these days, I think of the gaps – the gaps in the Biblical stories which do not include things that are important to us to-day and yet are not transient but have always been there.

Cannold writes about the sisters of Jesus and throws in a mention of Mary Magdalen. Clearly, Cannold’s familiarity with the Christian Gospels is minimal because she left out women – some named, some nameless – who I consider rather vital to the public ministry and advocacy of Jesus and whose type still abounds in Christian communities of all types and sizes across the world to-day.

The women I speak of are named/mentioned in Luke 8:23 – the verse following the one that names Mary, called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out. They are Joanna and Susanna and we are told there were many others. These women provided, we are told by Luke, out of their means for Jesus and The Twelve as they moved about the cities and villages, preaching and bringing the good news of the kingdom of God.

Joanna was the wife of Chuz, the steward of Herod….yes THAT dreadful Herod.

These women have fascinated me for a long time. They followed Jesus out of gratitude for what He had done in their lives. But their devotion went further than that. These women seem not to be poor, penniless women. They are women with “means”. We don’t know whether this is their own private “means” or the means belonging to their husbands. I wonder about Joanna’s means which may have come to her indirectly from the persecuting, ambitious, collaborating, murderous Herod into the promotion of a way of life which is the very opposite of the qualities describing Herod.

I look at the women in my lifetime who keep the Christian church going through their means, their organisational skill, their energy, their love, their gratitude. Women love Jesus – because He first loved, listened to, and respected them. The women mentioned in Luke Chapter 8 were among the first women to have experienced this face to face, person to person. They didn’t forget and they expressed that remembrance together with their gratitude in real and practical ways.

Just like women to-day: the women who make jam for stalls to raise money for poverty stricken schools in Papua New Guinea; the women who populate the halls of peace to abolish and have removed the land mines of war; the women forbidden ordination by their tradition yet minister to whole parishes without priests; the women who have wielded the paintbrush to freshen the fabric of the church when no bloke was there to do it; the women who form communities which example for us something of how the kingdom of God might look and how it might be experienced.

Mary Magdalene and Joanna and others were at the tomb when The Twelve and other males had gone to ground. They were the eye-witnesses of the Resurrection. Not The Twelve. Women were the first to bring the Good News that Jesus lives. Church tradition refers to Mary Magdalene as Apostle to the Apostles. And yet….and yet many traditions do not open to women the fullness of Christian work and experience possible for males. Just as there are gaps in the biblical record, there are gaps between the experience of being male and being female in the Christian church.

Picture from here

In the Orthodox tradition, these women are remembered for their first Easter work as the “myrrh-bearers”. I can’t help feeling, though, that this is merely a pious token of their presence at the tomb. It is high time their substantial role in the extension of the kingdom of God was recognised by extending to their sisters in Christ from henceforth every right and entitlement within the Body of Christ that is extended to men.

Lastly, I can’t let the opportunity go by to express my gratitude to Luke, the Beloved Physician, my brother in Christ. Luke, tradition has it, was very close to Mary, the mother of Jesus, and much of the gospel carries stories of peculiarly female experience. I am indebted to Luke for undergirding my kingdom experience with his gospel recording.

The Queen, The King James Bible, and keeping it all together

2010-12-26T09:10:00.002+11:00

Picture from here

2011 is the quatercentenary of the British language and publishing phenomenon, the King James Bible. Simon Barrow writes about The curious politics of the King James Bible. I wonder what it might all mean in The Antipodes.

Richest Christmas Blessings

2010-12-25T11:07:00.001+11:00

From Drop Box

When Christians leave the Holy Land will we still deem it holy #Palestine#Israel#Christians#Bethlehem

2010-12-24T11:16:00.002+11:00

Bethlehem’s 40 centuries of goodwill

The beleaguered Christians in Bethlehem

Hundreds of Gaza Christians leave for Bethlehem

Palestinian Christians: challenges and hopes

Hold on.....

2010-12-12T07:21:00.000+11:00

Hold on to what is good,

Even if it's a handful of earth.

Hold on to what you believe,

Even if it's a tree that stands by itself.

Hold on to what you must do,

Even if it's a long way from here.

Hold on to your life,

Even if it's easier to let go.

Hold on to my hand,

Even if someday I'll be gone away from you

David Bodewadmi

NATSIEC Human Rights Day 2010 Statement: The Intervention: Racial Discrimination Act : #Aboriginal

2010-12-11T17:58:00.001+11:00

Human Rights Day 2010

As we celebrate Human Rights day in 2010 we are reminded of the many individuals who suffer human rights abuses around the world. We also celebrate the many people who shine a light on these abuses and whose efforts to stand up for the rights of others are often unrecognised.

NATSIEC pays particular respect to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and their continuing struggles against oppression and attacks on culture, lands and peoples.

In 2010, Australia is a country that has much to be proud of, but we can not shy away from examining our shadow, those areas where we are failing to protect our citizens from abuse. Many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples are having their rights violated on a daily basis. Whether it is through racism or through discriminatory public policies the rights of many Indigenous Australians are often compromised.

Although Australia does not have a Bill of Rights we are signatories to a number of International Human Rights instruments which should guide us to protect the rights of those most vulnerable. In particular, Australia now supports the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (the Declaration). We now need to ensure that the principles of the Declaration are brought into Australian law and policy. No legislation that affects the Indigenous peoples of this country should be enacted unless it has been subjected to scrutiny through the lens of the Declaration.

One policy area that urgently needs to be scrutinized

using the Declaration framework is

the Northern Territory (NT) Intervention.

The United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) has said the Intervention continues to discriminate on the basis of race. During a recent visit NATSIEC undertook to Aboriginal communities in the NT, we heard personal stories of discrimination and racism. Rev. Dr. Djiniyini Gondarra OAM, from Galiwin'ku who had recently returned from Geneva where he talked to CERD said about the Intervention:

It's the most evil and most racist (policy) ever established.

The Government report to CERD said ok - they are happy people.

It's a lie!

One of the most discriminatory aspects of the NT Intervention was the roll back of the Racial Discrimination Act (RDA), which ensured that many aspects of the Intervention were excluded from the protection of the RDA. On December 31^stlegislation which is supposed to reinstate the RDA in full will come into effect. Despite the Government's repeated statements that this new legislation will ensure that the rights of NT Aboriginal people will be protected in full, we are not confident that this is true.

There are still several areas which remain as "special measures" and there remains a distinct lack of consultation on all aspects of the Intervention. Despite Government rhetoric the benefits of the Intervention remain questionable. The means of attaining these supposed benefits are outrageous in a democratic country which prides itself on the concept of a "fair go". We have the knowledge, we have the resources, but we do not seem have the will to implement policies which will celebrate and empower Aboriginal peoples.

The media, and through them the public, often accept at face value the Government statements which tell us that things are improving in the NT while conveniently ignoring the voices of the people affected; the stories of suffering and anguish caused by these measures. We must take notice of what people are experiencing; how much longer are we going to stand by and let these things happen?

We must question the need for these special measures; we must question why Aboriginal communities are being pressured to trade land title for housing, education and health. Do they not have the right to expect Government to provide these things - as does every other Australian citizen? We should be suspicious of the rhetoric around the "problems" of Aboriginal communities and we should fight against any attempts to diminish the capacity of Aboriginal communities to make decisions for themselves and their futures.

People often ask me "what can I do?" There is plenty each and every one of us can do; start right here and now. Today, on human rights day we are being asked to "Speak up: Stop discrimination". To speak up it's necessary to ask questions and look beyond the superficial, listen to the people and take action...

You could start by watching an excellent film called Our Generation. This is an important film which gives voice to those people affected by the Intervention... Go to http://www.ourgeneration.org.au/ to find out when a community screening is being held in your area. If there isn't one, buy the DVD and organize one.

One of the key messages in the Make Indigenous Poverty History campaign was to Remember, Recognise and Rectify. We need to Remember the past, to know a true and honest picture of what has gone before. We need to Recognise what is still going on today; to understand that colonization and discrimination are alive and well around the country. Most importantly we need to Rectify. It's not enough to know about something, we must take action. It may be as simple as challenging an ignorant statement at a dinner party or it may be taking to the street; writing to the Prime Minister; visiting your local MP. It doesn't have to be big, but it has to be something. Nobody in Australia can say "we didn't know" - we do know and each and every one of us is responsible to take an action to help end discrimination and racism. So on Human Rights Day 2010, I hope you will join us at NATSIEC in speaking up and saying no to discrimination and yes to human rights for all.

Graeme Mundine, Executive Secretary, NATSIEC

Find out more about the RDA -

read the NATSIEC briefing note on our website.

http://www.ncca.org.au/departments/natsiec/advocacy/issues

Old, existing realities : new, other realities

2010-12-07T08:41:00.001+11:00

Picture from here

Intimations of another reality

by Alister McGrath

Heresy: A History of Defending the Truth

Doubting: Growing Through the Uncertainties of Faith

Christian Theology: An Introduction

A Fine-Tuned Universe: The Quest for God in Science and Theology (Gifford Lectures)

The Dawkins Delusion?: Atheist Fundamentalism and the Denial of the Divine (Veritas Books)

Historical Theology: An Introduction to the History of Christian Thought

Intellectuals Don't Need God and Other Modern Myths

There is one, even Christ Jesus, that can speak to thy condition

2010-12-06T09:16:00.003+11:00

Precious George!

then, oh, then, I heard a voice which said,
"There is one, even Christ Jesus, that can speak to thy condition";
and when I heard it my heart did leap for joy.
Then the Lord let me see why there was none upon the earth
that could speak to my condition, namely, that I might give Him all the glory; for all are concluded under sin, and shut up in unbelief as I had been,
that Jesus Christ might have the pre-eminence who enlightens,
and gives grace, and faith, and power.
Thus when God doth work, who shall let
And this I knew experimentally.

Please go over to Hay Quaker to find out more

Holy Restlessness

2010-12-04T09:31:00.002+11:00

Picture from here

I longed for the darkness as a wounded animal seeks the night, to either heal or die, to be re-created in the silence of God.
To be in the grip of such a longing is to be driven by a spirituality of restlessness. It is to be fired by a passion for that pure truth that cannot be known outside of its own immediate revelation. It is to be driven away from a false peace, from the false securities of settled truths, from captivity to gods who have become too small. There is a kind of Holy Restlessness that drives us into the desert, into silence, into waiting, for seasoned words require silence, and right action requires waiting. We long to know the God who is beyond our imaginings, the God who reveals Herself to us on her own terms.

Taken from:

The Spirituality of Restlessness by Daniel O. Snyder

William Cooper Walk, 5 December 2010, Federation Square: an Aboriginal and Jewish celebration

2010-11-30T08:01:00.002+11:00

AThank you, Avraham, for keeping Desert updated on this.....

1) There will be a new feature on William Cooper on the "7.30 Report" one night this week on ABC-TV, probably this Wednesday 1^st December.
Watch out for it - also it will be archived on 7.30 Report's website!
2) On Sunday 5th December, Uncle William's Great-Grandson, Kevin Russell, will retrace Uncle William's famous 1938 Protest Walk from Footscray to the City. Kevin will personally walk the entire route, with invitees joining him for certain parts –
However, ALL are WELCOME to join in from the
“William Cooper Footbridge” (Footscray Station), at 9.00am approximately.
The Walk is culminating in a
huge Jewish/Aboriginal celebration at Federation Square from 11.30am - 2.00pm.
NB: Aunty Joy Murphy-Wandin will WELCOME to COUNTRY
BYO instruments, celebrate Jewish Chanukah and enjoy Aboriginal musos and dancers!
All details on the flier above - and background info from this website:
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=171662672858332
Please, please!... spread the word -EVERYWHERE!
Place this Event on blogs, in Newsletters, print out and distribute, and of course through Facebook - let us know your RSVP by saying "I'm attending!"
Teachers/Youth Leaders - bring the whole group!
3) William Cooper entourage joining Kevin Rudd and Israeli PM Binyamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem on the following Sunday 12th and Monday 13th December - when the main Holocaust Museum in the world, Yad Vashemin Jerusalem, hosts a tribute to its first ever Indigenous Australian.
(Fundraising for this trip continues - please see Facebook of Kevin Milstein for details).
Looking forward to seeing you as this amazing journey continues
of Uncle William being honoured far-and-wide...
"when you see evil, even 1 person can make a difference..."
- if only the Federal Government of Australia
would show the interest shown by other Governments...
Please reply-email with any requests for further details, etc.
Thank you,
Shalom,
A
Further Info - 0413 962 037

Advent or advent: a celebration of life in Christ or a life of consumerism?

2010-11-28T12:56:00.000+11:00

Advent for those in the Western tradition

begins on 28 November

Advent for those in the Eastern tradition

begins on 15 November.

Advent to is a time of looking forward. Below is a dictionary definition of the word "advent".

ad·vent (dvnt)

1. The coming or arrival, especially of something extremely important: the advent of the computer.

2. Advent

a. The liturgical period preceding Christmas, beginning in Western churches on the fourth Sunday before Christmas and in Eastern churches in mid-November, and observed by many Christians as a season of prayer, fasting, and penitence.

b. Christianity The coming of Jesus at the Incarnation.

c. Christianity See Second Coming.

[Middle English, the Advent season, from Old French, from Latin adventus, arrival, from past participle ofadvenre, to come to : ad-, ad- + venre, to come; see g^w- in Indo-European roots.]

As you will note from the derivation of the word, it refers to an arrival or a coming. Currently, advent calendars are arriving in the shops which rely more on sale because of novelty or chocolate consumption with no hint of the what Advent means. Please note, I have used the capital letter for Advent which relies on the spiritual context and lower case for the word when used in relation to consumerism.

I take the trouble for remembrance of this because Advent is a time of preparation to celebrate the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ and to remember that while there was a First Advent as faithful people looked forward to His coming, this is also a time of preparation as faithful people look forward to His second coming when He returns to reclaim His own.

So, with the help of Christine Sine's beautiful video above, let us take time to emphasise Advent and truly enter into the the spirit of the Christmas season with a life lived in Christ. If we only celebrate advent, what is it that we are commemorating? An introduction to and preparation for consumerism and life with monopoloistic retailers and confectionary and noveltry producers?

The Uncluttered Heart: Making Room for God During Advent and Christmas

Advent and Christmas Wisdom from Henri J.M. Nouwen: Daily Scripture and Prayers together with Nouwen's Own Words

We Light the Candles: Devotions Related to Family Use of the Advent Wreath

Simply Wait: Cultivating Stillness in the Season of Advent

Advent and Christmas Wisdom From G. K. Chesterton

Preparing My Heart for Advent

A Family Advent: Keeping the Savior in the Season

Mining disaster, Pike River, New Zealand: please pray for the men, their families and friends, and those involved in their rescue.

2010-11-23T16:36:00.001+11:00

From here.

It is looking bleak.
Families hope against irrational hope.
Our boys, Kiwis and Aussies, need to be home
with those that love and care for them.
Whatever is the outcome,
may love, grace, blessing, peace and providence
prevail in the lives of all.

Josh Ufer from Townsville, Queensland

Willy Joynson from Tinana near Maryborough, Queensland

Grew up in Howard, an old coal mining town.

Further reading:

Mine blast: 'considerable force'

(above link includes video with CEO explaining explosion)

The coal miners of Pike River, NZ and their families are in my thoughts

2010-11-22T09:50:00.001+11:00

Please go here to leave a message.

Mine says:

Thinking and praying for those below the ground and those above.

Peace be to you and may your men come home to where they belong

Women's Interfaith Network and National Council of Jewish Women of Australia celebrate Chanukah

2010-11-21T11:00:00.000+11:00

Chanuka Interfaith Celebration

promoted

by Women's Interfaith Network, Melbourne.

Film night to raise funds for TEAR’s Pakistan Flood Relief fund

2010-11-17T10:38:00.004+11:00

OSAMA - Inspired by a true story, this film which centres on three generations of women, deeply affected by the advent of the Taliban's rule in their land. "Osama," is a Golden Globe award winning film. It was the first feature film to be made in post-Taliban Afghanistan. Some review comments: “a powerful film”…. “ offers valuable insights into a foreign culture that few of us have more than a cursory knowledge about” …. “great films like Osama, thoughtfully considered, give us the ability to withhold blanket judgments and come that much closer to the truth”
· Note: The film is rated M. It is not suitable for children under 15 years of age.

Picture from here

· John Tresidder is TEAR’s Pakistan coordinator. He will have been back from Pakistan from less than one week. He will give an up-to-date description of the post-flood situation in Pakistan, how TEAR is involved in the re-development of communities and how future funds will be spent.

· Pakistan Christian Fellowship has kindly offered to supply supper for the evening, so there will be plenty of tasty snacks to enjoy during the evening.
· Suggested donation: $15 (all funds go to TEARs Pakistan and North India Flood Appeal)

WHO:

ETAG (Eastern TEAR Action Group) are organising the night.

WHERE:
Blackburn South.

Because this is being held at a private address,

Miss Eagle is not including this in the post.

If you are keen to come and need more information,

please email misseaglesnetwork(at)gmail(dot)com.

WHEN:

Saturday 20 November, 7:30pm – 10pm

WHY:

“In the past I have witnessed many natural disasters around the world, but nothing like this”

(UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon).

In the worst flooding in 80 years, up to 2.6 million people in Pakistan have been made homeless. The waters have swept through 124 districts and have led to the widespread loss of houses, crops and livestock, as well as civil infrastructure such as roads, bridges, water and irrigation systems and schools. While the world’s media has largely moved on from the situation in Pakistan, the reality of re-building from one of the worst natural disasters in history continue for millions of people. This night will help raise much needed funds as well as provide an opportunity to hear an on-ground account of the current situation.

NOTE:

BYO Bean bag or comfy cushion (not essential but will help with seating arrangements!)

Further reading:

Pakistan floods and the timber mafia

Pakistan flood damage 9.7 billion dollars: World Bank, ADB

Will the Pakistan floods strike again

Pakistan's floods are not just a natural disaster

Pakistan's floods: is the worst still to come?

International Union for the Conservation of Nature Pakistan

Australian Quaker Tapestry Project

2010-11-16T08:10:00.000+11:00

The Australian Quaker Tapestry Project

Religions and ethics: public broadcasting in Australia

2010-11-11T21:18:00.000+11:00

Miss Eagle has been a radio listener since she was brought home from hospital after birth during World War 11. Don't have much time for commercial radio. I love public radio.
In Australia this is the Australian Broadcasting Commission known as the ABC. I am also a fan of the BBC. Until a couple of years ago, the ABC used to have a marvellous half-hour program, The Religion Report. This was a very sharp program which covered religion in a current affairs manner. It was a a great shame when the powers-that-be-at-the-ABC closed this down. Nothing has quite taken its place.

At about the same time, the Religion anf Ethics portal took over from a previous net presence. The ABC, like the BBC, is remarkable not only for the quality of programming currently produced. It is remarkable for its archival material.

As a public broadcaster, the ABC covers all manner of spiritual values and faiths under its Religion category. This means that there is much to explore and some to leave behind like scraps on a plate. Generally speaking, the religious broadcasts of the ABC enriches me. In the main, I find it - as often as not - a sound substitute for Sunday sermons of varying quality.

Below is what is on offer this week. In these wonderful days of the internet, we don't have to rely on shortwave radios. We can live stream media as if it is right next door. So please see this post as your introduction to Australia's ABC. Enjoy!

The sacrifices of war
ABC Religion and Ethics - 11 Nov 10
In his book War Is a Force That Gives Us Meaning, Chris Hedges, a war correspondent, tries to explain why he became so addicted to war that he could not live without being in a war. War had quite simply captured his imagination, making it impossible for him to live "normally." He…
More

Seeking asylum in Australia, 1888-2010
ABC Religion and Ethics - 11 Nov 10
The legacies of our past weigh heavily on us. Our attitudes to asylum seekers - those who appear on the horizon, from over the seas, not-white in appearance and uninvited - have deep roots in our formative history as a nation. Indeed such attitudes were constitutive, in a quite l…
More

The moral dilemma of asylum seeker policy
ABC Religion and Ethics - 09 Nov 10
On the issue of asylum seekers, I think we have reached a point of crisis. If it were up to me, and if I did not care about the wider political consequences, I would allow all asylum seekers who arrive spontaneously on Australian shores to live in the community after a short peri…
More

Rights in conflict: The problem of defamation of religions
ABC Religion and Ethics - 10 Nov 10
The "defamation of religions" issue was first brought to the United Nations' Commission on Human Rights (UNCHR) by Pakistan on behalf of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) in 1999 under the agenda item of "racism." According to Pakistan, members of the OIC were grow…
More

This week on ABC TV
Compass - The New Noffs
ABC1 | 14 November 2010
Presented by Geraldine Doogue
The story of Ted Noffs, a maverick Methodist minister, whose groundbreaking work with the young and destitute in 1960s Australia lives on through his son and grandsons. But with one major difference - the Christian message is no longer part of the mission.
More

Songs of Praise - Rochester Cathedral
ABC1 | 14 November 2010
Presented by Pam Rhodes
Rochester Cathedral began life in 604 AD as a monastic community. The building, and its treasure trove of historic art and architecture, has been an inspiration to generations of worshippers and visitors.
More

This week on ABC Radio
Encounter - The Outsider
ABC Radio National | 14 November 2010
Just because God is dead it does not mean that everything is permitted. Fifty years after his death Nobel laureate, Albert Camus, remains compelling for our time.
Producer: Florence Spurling
Repeated Wednesday 17 November, 7.05pm; and Thursday 18 November, 4.05am
More

For The God Who Sings - Cantate Domino
ABC Classic FM | 14 November 2010
Presented by Stephen Watkins
For marvellous things, DeLalande sings a new song, with harp, trumpet and voices.
More

Sunday Nights - Compounding Abuse
ABC Local Radio Across Australia | 14 November 2010
Presented by John Cleary
How well is the church dealing with the issue of sexual abuse, not just in acknowledging the victims, but in addressing the structures that facilitate abuse? This week Australia plays host to an international conference which brings together key advocates for reform, and you can join them on Sunday Night with John Cleary.
More

The Rhythm Divine - Walls Come Down
ABC Radio National | 12 November 2010
Presented by Geoff Wood
'Something there is that doesn't love a wall'. On the 21st anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, we take that line by the poet Robert Frost and run with it, adding glorious noise from Beethoven and Leonard Bernstein, Danish band Slaraffenland, Tamil devotional singer Susheela Raman and the Los Angeles Gospel Choir, all confirming that no matter how imposing they look, walls do come down in the end.
Repeated Sunday 14 November 5.05am
More

The Spirit of Things - Aborigines Choosing Islam
ABC Radio National | 14 November 2010
Presented by Rachael Kohn
'Ramiz', who is part Aboriginal and part Afghan, realised he did not 'fit in' and he spent his youth finding alternative paths, until his life hit 'rock bottom'. That was when Islam offered a way out, and he explains how it gave him a sense of 'manhood'. Dr. Peta Stephenson, author of Islam Dreaming: Indigenous Muslims in Australia, has surveyed the phenomenon Aboriginals turning to Islam and explains its varied expressions and motives.
Repeated Tuesday 16 November 1.05pm and Wednesday 17 November 2.05am

Eagle Blessing: the poetry of Judith Ann Henry

2010-11-10T11:00:00.001+11:00

Pictures and poem from here.

Eagle Blessing

We are never told ‘when’ the eagle will

touch us nor the way in which the feathers

will enfold all of our lives

We are never told of the softness

and the sounds of the brushing away

of all that is accumulated over the trails

We are never told ‘when’ the smile of an elder

will come to be the reason a day unfolds

near the fire and clasping our ‘ways’

hands to hands as in the sign of friendship

We are never told ‘when’ the sage , shell , and smoke

will bring all of the decades to pass

in the silence of standing ‘still’

and dreaming of the fire and the oaks

and the deer and the elk

and the bear

There is ‘no time’ now

just the soft moccasin step

back and forth

in the snows and near the edges of cedars

‘No time’ in the way the boulders still hold

the leaning trees and leaves of ice

We are never told ‘when’ we will be in life

as fully as when the last aspen of autumn

sings to her cove and the fox appears

again

Introducing herself, this poet (Judith Ann Henry) says:

“I live in the Southwestern US and have written poetry of/for/and with this area for the last 25 years. I also have worked with Native communities during these years and am Choctaw for my father's clans and Hungarian for my mother's side.

Blessings from all of the directions, as we say here.”

A journey to Islam and a way of life revealed

2010-11-03T17:21:00.002+11:00

They take their lives into their place of worship and bring their worship into their homes.

I love this quote. To me this is what worship, a life of commitment, is all about. The description is fuller than this:

Free of statues and with rugs instead of pews, I saw them [mosques] rather like a big sitting room where children play, women feed their families pitta bread and milk and grandmothers sit and read the Koran in wheelchairs. They take their lives into their place of worship and bring their worship into their homes.

As a woman I find this description attractive and heartwarming. It is from an article by Lauren Booth describing her journey to Islam. Thank you Steve Hayes on Khanya for drawing my attention to it.

Picture above:

Lady Fatima Masuma

as mentioned in Lauren Booth's article.

Related reading:

Lady Fatima Masuma (A) of Qum

Signs of the times - austerity versus providence

2010-10-25T13:59:00.000+11:00

Picture from here

I often bemoan to myself the fact (is it really a fact?) that the church and its leaders do not see the signs of the times. So I rejoice when people actually do.

Christine Sine writes empathetically and very much to the point here in her post Austerity measures - what would Jesus do? What I like about Christine's point of view is the way she has drawn together and listed the programs and movements that have become part of Christian life over the last decade or so. Is this God's mercy shining through? Are these outworkings, in the final analysis, prophetic moves in the Body of Christ to prepare us to help ourselves and reach out to others in a planetary crisis? Are the people and ideas in all these activities God's smart ideas shining through in His people? I suspect this just might be the case. I hope against hope that this just might be the case.

It would certainly be par for the course for the Designer/Creator/Father/Provider that I know and love.

Contemplative action #2

2010-10-25T13:13:00.001+11:00

I posted on the Jesus Prayer quite a while ago here. I want to refer to it and its references once again because I note that Andy Harnack has done an extensive post on the same topic here - which adds greatly to our knowledge of this wonderful spiritual practice. I hope Andy doesn't mind that I have linked to his graphic as well. And relevant to this topic, is this reflection from Michael Marsh of Interrupting the Silence.

The Riverina floods: reflection: entering the mindset of O'Brien’s Hanrahan

2010-10-17T08:07:00.000+11:00

Grapegrower Steven Barbon, accompanied by Fido

on his sodden property near Griffith yesterday,

believes proposed water cuts will destroy regional Australia.

Picture: Amos Aikman Source: The Australian

See story that goes with picture here.

In Australia, the driest inhabited continent on earth, we have gone from The Big Dry of the ten to twelve years of drought to 2010 and The Big Wet. Floods again in the Riverina. I believe we have entered the mindscape of John O'Brien's Hanrahan - and the poem - in spite of its humour - provides much food for reflection both in terms of Earth's current ecological crisis but also our own ability to find our place in the purposes of the planet.

Lockhart, NSW - Photo from here

More pictures and

Flood infromation from the ABC available here.

SAID HANRAHAN

by John O'Brien

"We'll all be rooned," said Hanrahan,
In accents most forlorn,
Outside the church, ere Mass began,
One frosty Sunday morn.

The congregation stood about,
Coat-collars to the ears,
And talked of stock, and crops, and drought,
As it had done for years.

"It's looking crook," said Daniel Croke;
"Bedad, it's cruke, me lad,
For never since the banks went broke
Has seasons been so bad."

"It's dry, all right," said young O'Neil,
With which astute remark
He squatted down upon his heel
And chewed a piece of bark.

And so around the chorus ran
"It's keepin' dry, no doubt."
"We'll all be rooned," said Hanrahan,
"Before the year is out."

"The crops are done; ye'll have your work
To save one bag of grain;
From here way out to Back-o'-Bourke
They're singin' out for rain.

"They're singin' out for rain," he said,
"And all the tanks are dry."
The congregation scratched its head,
And gazed around the sky.

"There won't be grass, in any case,
Enough to feed an ass;
There's not a blade on Casey's place
As I came down to Mass."

"If rain don't come this month," said Dan,
And cleared his throat to speak-
"We'll all be rooned," said Hanrahan,
"If rain don't come this week."

A heavy silence seemed to steal
On all at this remark;
And each man squatted on his heel,
And chewed a piece of bark.

"We want an inch of rain, we do,"
O'Neil observed at last;
But Croke "maintained" we wanted two
To put the danger past.

"If we don't get three inches, man,
Or four to break this drought,
We'll all be rooned," said Hanrahan,
"Before the year is out."

In God's good time down came the rain;
And all the afternoon
On iron roof and window-pane
It drummed a homely tune.

And through the night it pattered still,
And lightsome, gladsome elves
On dripping spout and window-sill
Kept talking to themselves.

It pelted, pelted all day long,
A-singing at its work,
Till every heart took up the song
Way out to Back-o'-Bourke.

And every creek a banker ran,
And dams filled overtop;
"We'll all be rooned," said Hanrahan,
"If this rain doesn't stop."

And stop it did, in God's good time;
And spring came in to fold
A mantle o'er the hills sublime
Of green and pink and gold.

And days went by on dancing feet,
With harvest-hopes immense,
And laughing eyes beheld the wheat
Nid-nodding o'er the fence.

And, oh, the smiles on every face,
As happy lad and lass
Through grass knee-deep on Casey's place
Went riding down to Mass.

While round the church in clothes genteel
Discoursed the men of mark,
And each man squatted on his heel,
And chewed his piece of bark.

"There'll be bush-fires for sure, me man,
There will, without a doubt;
We'll all be rooned," said Hanrahan,
"Before the year is out."

Around the Boree Log and Other Verses, 1921

This has been republished from the free e-book

available from Project Gutenberg here.

Blog Action Day on WATER : Global Handwashing day - The Wiggles & Nelson Mandela

2010-10-15T10:40:00.003+11:00

Not only for Christians, but for so many faith traditions, water and cleanliness are distinctive spiritual features. People of faith use these features in two ways usually: in relation to the body and to the spirit. Psychologically water does so much for us as well. A cool stream, the sound of water running.

I love the picture at the top of this blog. In many places this many made water would be called a dam, perhaps a turkey's nest dam. In western New South Wales, people refer to them as tanks. Without these human-made water diversions and storages animals would not be able to survive, and human beings would not be able to rest a livelihood from an arid landscape.

Yet like everything in our not-quite-perfect world these water interventions can be problematic. Australia is only just beginning to devise a system of accounting for all our water...but some things, like this tank, for some reason best know to those devising the system will not be included. And as those of us who are Spirit-ed know, unless we tell the whole story - not just a part or a biassed perspective - we kind of meet ourselves coming back sooner or later, don't we.

~~~~~~~~

To-day, as you can see from the post below is Blog Action Day and the theme for this year is WATER. I am trying to kill two birds with one stone so I am combining the Water theme of Blog Action Day with a little soap because to-day is Global Handwashing Day.

A little water and a little soap can make a huge difference in saving lives and helping us to ward off disease. I love the emphasis on the kids because we want them to grow up strong and resilient, don't we.

The first Global Handwashing Day was in 2008.

Our very own Wiggles wrote a special tune.

It is catchy and easy to teach to your kids.

And here is the video for 2010

Please value water.

It is our life.

Please support the human right to water and its understanding.

Article 31

In Australia, water was unbundled from land

by a COAG Agreement in 1994.

This made water a tradeable commodity -

when once it was part of the Commons -

it belonged to all of us.

This definition of water rights comes from Wiserearth:

Definition: Water rights are the legal rights that define ownership of water and water sources (surface and subsurface), the use of water and the priority of water use. Water rights allocate water to different users and can be contentious in areas where water supplies are insufficient for the demands upon the supply, and where people are denied or deprived of access to water. The right to water is increasingly considered as a basic human right that has to be reconciled with legal water rights already in existence. Unfortunately, privatization and commodification of water often undermine this right by cutting off supply to those who cannot afford to pay.

Related reading:

If you go here, you will find books and other material

from Rous Water about water, including Aboriginal stories.

Rous Water is the regional water supply authority

providing potable water in bulk to the Council areas of

Lismore (excluding Nimbin), Ballina (excluding Wardell),

Byron (excluding Mullumbimby) and

Richmond Valley (excluding land to the west of Coraki).

John Archer

Stand Like Mountain, Flow Like Water: Reflections on Stress and Human Spirituality Revised and Expanded Tenth Anniversary Edition

Walking on Water: The Spirituality of the World's Top Surfers

Waters of Eden: The Mystery of the Mikvah

The people of the towel and the water: The spirituality of Madonna House

Water (Quiet Spaces: The BRF Prayer & Spirituality Journal)

Sacred Waters: Stories of Healing, Cleansing and Renewal

Sacred Water: The Spiritual Source of Life

I Drink the Living Water: Finding the Spirit in Nature with Father John B. Kirsch

Breathing Under Water: Spirituality and the 12 Steps

Blog action day on Friday 15 October : we’re blogging about WATER

2010-10-13T07:41:00.001+11:00

Blog Action Day 2010: Water from Blog Action Day on Vimeo.

I wanted to let all bloggers know about an important online event I'm taking part in on October 15th, called Blog Action Day.

Each year bloggers from more than 100 countries come together and blog about a single important issue, and this year's topic is clean water.

The event includes thousands of blogs - including the White House blog and The Official Google Blog - and they're looking for as many blogs to participate as possible, regardless of their size and focus.

I hope you'll think about joining me for this event. If you want more information, check out the Blog Action Day site at http://blogactionday.change.org/.

So to those of you who blog - look forward to seeing your post on this coming Friday.

Desert

Fasts and Feasts: sustainability and a Lenten lifestyle

The Gate of the Year

Children bearing the cost of politics and war: the Holy Innocents and a Peace Procession

The Archbishop of Canterbury: a Christmas message about answering, responding and praying The Prayer Book

Advent 4 - Reflection - Justice and Mercy : then and now

Advent 3 - Reflection - Of prayer and prophets

Tweets 1 - the Spirit of Wisdom

Advent 2 - Reflection - The Rule of the Kingdom of God

Advent 1 - Reflection - Justice and Reconciliation

Advent 2011: Resources

Advent: liturgical, personal, a reality of life at various points in life

“In Those Days….” – A Sermon on Mark 13:24-37, Advent 1B

Non-violent Leadership for Interfaith Peacebuilders

Crown Him with many crowns: the feast of Christ the King

Spiritual disciplines and practices

Simplicity and making the best of everything

Life is Like a Cup of Coffee

The Resurrection and the Life in the story of the Buxton Silver Gum

The Apostles Creed #creeds #ibelieve #christianity

Are you a Red Letter Christian #christianity #spirituality

Queensland - in God's hands and its own resourceful abilities #qldfloods #resilience

The day after the Tucson tragedy #prayer via @zacbailes

Desert women's business 25-29 March 2011 #desert #women #indigenous #Aboriginal #NT

Egypt's Muslims serve as human shields for Coptic Christmas Mass #christianity #islam #egypt

Past, Present, Future - truths for all times and seasons #quotes

Naked Vegetarians and a Garden : God's original plan

Reflective times : looking back into the past and ahead into the future

The #spiritual path takes #courage

Jewish fast for Gaza. Break the silence. Lift the blockade. Pursue peace

Jesus – the Aramaic speaking Palestinian person #Jesus#Christmas

Gaps in the Gospels: Women of means: gaps in the Christian experience #Christianity#bible#women

The Queen, The King James Bible, and keeping it all together

Richest Christmas Blessings

When Christians leave the Holy Land will we still deem it holy #Palestine#Israel#Christians#Bethlehem

Hold on.....

NATSIEC Human Rights Day 2010 Statement: The Intervention: Racial Discrimination Act : #Aboriginal

Old, existing realities : new, other realities

Related articles

There is one, even Christ Jesus, that can speak to thy condition

Holy Restlessness

William Cooper Walk, 5 December 2010, Federation Square: an Aboriginal and Jewish celebration

Advent or advent: a celebration of life in Christ or a life of consumerism?

Mining disaster, Pike River, New Zealand: please pray for the men, their families and friends, and those involved in their rescue.

Related articles

The coal miners of Pike River, NZ and their families are in my thoughts

Thinking and praying for those below the ground and those above.

Peace be to you and may your men come home to where they belong

Women's Interfaith Network and National Council of Jewish Women of Australia celebrate Chanukah

Film night to raise funds for TEAR’s Pakistan Flood Relief fund

Australian Quaker Tapestry Project

Religions and ethics: public broadcasting in Australia

Eagle Blessing: the poetry of Judith Ann Henry

A journey to Islam and a way of life revealed

Signs of the times - austerity versus providence

Contemplative action #2

The Riverina floods: reflection: entering the mindset of O'Brien’s Hanrahan

SAID HANRAHAN

by John O'Brien

Blog Action Day on WATER : Global Handwashing day - The Wiggles & Nelson Mandela

Blog action day on Friday 15 October : we’re blogging about WATER