Progressive, affirming, questing in Warrnambool, Victoria
For many live as enemies of the cross of Christ … (Phil. 3:18)
Saturday saw an appalling spectacle as British campaigner Kellie-Jane Keen, sitting member of Parliament Moira Deeming, and masked neo-Nazis performing the Nazi salute held an anti-trans rally on the steps of Parliament House. And so it was timely and perhaps spirit-led that Sunday’s reflection was a queered up reading of a well-known biblical text (here). Continue reading “Friends of the cross”
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and the God of all consolation … (2 Corinthians 1:2-3)
Tyrendarra IPA is not a beer. It is an Indigenous Protection Area at Tyrendarra, about two kilometres north of the Princes Highway. As you approach the area, you can see to the west a fold of hills running north-south into the sea. To me this seems to guard the flat fertile plain to the east, with the Fitzroy River running north-south between the fold of hills and the fertile plain. Continue reading “7 | tyrendarra IPA | gunditjmara country #Lent 2023”
‘I am the Alpha and Omega,’ says the Lord God, who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty. (Revelation 1:8)
About a year and a half ago, I was listening to a conversation on Radio National. An Aboriginal woman was explaining the Indigenous preference for the word ‘Everywhen’, in place of the term ‘Dreamtime.’ She explained Everywhen as an Indigenous concept of time where past, present and future are interconnected. It resonated deeply with me and, over the last year and a bit, I’ve enjoyed looking at things through the lens of Everywhen. Continue reading “5 | stingray bay to shelley beach / kuurn naa mullin | peek whurrong country #Lent 2023”
Now Rizpah the daughter of Aiah took sackcloth, and spread it on a rock for herself, from the beginning of harvest until rain fell on them from the heavens; she did not allow the birds of the air to come on the bodies by day or the wild animals by night. (2 Samuel 21:10)
One hundred and forty years ago, not far from where I sit here in the solitude of the cemetery, a man gripped the handle of his shovel as he dug to try to set things right. He could not truly set them right. Not by a long shot. He could and he would do what was within his sphere of control. His shovel unearths the body of his dear friend from the scrubby bog as his tears join the raindrops. He lovingly carries him to the place where I now sit. The second and final grave, now with a towering monument, to guard against the evaporation from collective memory. Continue reading “4 | the second and final grave of wombeetch puyuun | camperdown cemetery | leehura gunditj country #Lent 2023”
You send the springs into the valleys; they flow between the mountains. All the animals drink from them; the wallabies quench their thirst. Beside them the birds of the air make their nests and sing among the branches. You water the mountains from your dwelling on high; the earth is fully satisfied with the fruit of your works. (Psalm 104:10-12)
Around 37,000 years, or 1,500 generations ago
‘the land and trees were dancing’
as one of their ancestor creators
revealed part of himself in the landscape
as Budj Bim.
Life was given … with laws to follow …
in the Dreaming. Continue reading “1 | budj bim | gunditjmara country #Lent 2023”
Do I not fill heaven and earth? says the Lord. (Jeremiah 23:24)
Once upon a time, our ancestor Jacob went on a journey. He left the place called Beer-sheba and came to the place called Luz. It had been a long day on the road; it was now twilight. The first stars were becoming visible in the darkling sky. So he took one of the stones of that place, a flat stone, a smooth stone, and brushed off the dirt; then he used it as a pillow. He wrapped himself tightly in his traveling cloak, and drifted into a deep, God-filled sleep. While he was dreaming, he saw a stairway reaching from that place all the way to heaven, and God’s messengers were travelling between heaven and earth. Continue reading “intro | our spiritual geography #Lent 2023”
God-stories are always anchored to particular places. So what are our God-stories, and how can they charge the landscape? (Listen.)
Once upon a time, our ancestor Jacob went on a journey. He left the place called Beer-sheba and came to the place called Luz. It had been a long day on the road; it was now twilight. The first stars were becoming visible in the darkling sky. So he took one of the stones of that place, a flat stone, a smooth stone, and brushed off the dirt; then he used it as a pillow. He wrapped himself tightly in his traveling cloak, and drifted into a deep, God-filled sleep. While he was dreaming, he saw a stairway reaching from that place all the way to heaven, and God’s messengers were moving between heaven and earth. Continue reading “Genesis | ‘Surely God is in this place!’”
Those who trust in the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall soar on wings like eagles… (Isaiah 40:31)
Kirrae Wirrung country. I took myself up Mt Noorat, one of the many sleeping volcanoes dotted around the landscape. Most of you know this walk: the stroll past eucalyptus trees; the short stiff climb to the first lookout for a quick breather. Then the scramble up the next slope and over the stile, and a longer pause at the top to catch your breath and look to Terang, Mt Leura, the plains stretched out like a vast undulating blanket. Then the rolling walk around the rim, as peeping birds flit around the grassy slopes and the wind whistles and sings. Continue reading “Mt Noorat, the eagle, and me”
But Abram said, ‘I have sworn to YHWH, El Elyon, maker of heaven and earth …’ (Genesis 14:22)
Something interesting happens in Genesis 14. Abram swears to YHWH, whom we usually respectfully and obliquely refer to as the LORD. Then he also names El Elyon, maker of heaven and earth: the god whom Melchizedek serves. Perhaps Abram is implying that YHWH and El Elyon are one and the same. Perhaps he is acknowledging and honouring the creator spirit of the land alongside the god he already knows. Whichever, it’s intriguing: for have you ever heard anyone speak in the name of YHWH, Bunjil and Waa, creator ancestors of this land? Continue reading “26 January | YHWH, Bunjil and Waa: Implications for Voice and Treaty”
Sanctuary’s taking a summer break. This month, many of us are on leave and outside every day, so here’s something from the archives on language and country – a longer summer read.
Acorn. Dandelion. Fern. Heron. Ivy. Kingfisher. Nectar. Willow. These are but some of the words which were cut from a revised edition of the Oxford Junior Dictionary a few years ago. A dictionary has only so much space, and the editors decided these words were irrelevant to the modern child. In their place, they added other words: attachment, blog, broadband, bullet-point, celebrity, chatroom, committee. Continue reading “Wisdom of Solomon | Biblical wisdom, cultural knowledge, and the language of healing”
Sanctuary 