Progressive, affirming, questing in Warrnambool, Victoria
In a world racked by climate change, we need the wisdom of custodians. (Listen.)
This week, following the hottest, driest September on record, out-of-control bushfires have been raging in Victoria. Fires are also burning in New South Wales and Tasmania. Regions of New South Wales have been declared an extreme fire danger zone; and some regions of Victoria which were burning this week were flooded the very next day. Continue reading “Matthew | Called to be custodians”
In his encounter with the Canaanite woman, Jesus repeats then repents of Joshua’s policy of no mercy. (Listen.)
Good to know: Jesus’ name is the English rendition of the Greek version of a Hebrew name which in English is rendered Joshua! Yeshua – Iesous – Jesus – Joshua: they’re all the same name.
‘I’m from one of the oldest families,’ he said. ‘We’ve been here since the beginning.’ And with that he effectively erased 60,000 years of continuous living culture, just as his Irish ancestors had tried to erase the people from the land. He’s a lovely guy, straightforward and well-meaning, and totally oblivious to what he had just done. Continue reading “Matthew | Redeeming Joshua”
I am captivated by how often Biblical wisdom is grounded in things of the earth. ‘Consider the birds,’ says Jesus. ‘Consider the wildflowers, how they neither toil nor spin.’ Pay attention to growing things, and you might learn something. Continue reading “Slow reading | 1 Kings | Speak of trees and herbs”
The theme for NAIDOC Week 2023 is ‘For our Elders’ so it’s a good time to introduce you to a very significant Aboriginal Christian Elder, William Cooper.
On December 6, 1938, the Consul General to the Third Reich, Dr Drechsler, received a deputation. A dozen men and women had marched from Footscray to Collins Street to object to “the cruel persecution of the Jewish people by the Nazi Government of Germany and asking that this persecution be brought to an end.” Continue reading “Saints | NAIDOC Week | William Cooper”
Bless the Lord, ice and cold … (Canticle of Daniel)
We’ve just marked the winter solstice and, rather fittingly, we’ve had heavy rain, pounding hail, and a bitterly cold wind which cuts to the bone; and also rumours of koontapool (southern right whales) returning to the bay. So this week, you are invited to dwell in a song of praise which calls on rain, wind, frost, cold and even whales to bless the Lord. Continue reading “Slow reading | Bless the Lord, ice and cold”
The story of Abram points to a more just settlement, paving the way to Voice and Treaty. (Listen.)
Leave your country, your kin, and your ancestral home, you poverty-stricken Cornishfolk, for a land which I will show you. It’s the colony of South Australia, Burra to be precise; and it needs people like you to chop down trees and lay out farms and work the mines and subdue the earth. Continue reading “Genesis | Abram: Our ancestor-colonizer”
If you enter your place of worship then remember that your brother or sister has something against you, abandon your offering and go, be reconciled to your brother or sister. Make things right. Then and only then, come back and offer your gift to God. (Matthew 5:23-24)
I was absolutely sickened by the brutal, arrogant and downright ugly carving of a Jesus-branded message into an Indigenous sacred site on Mount Beerwah last week. (If you missed it, someone used a power tool to gouge “JESUS SAVES JUST ASK HIM” in letters up to an inch deep across the rockface.) Continue reading “Reconciliation Week | Before reconciliation”
They went out and fled from the tomb, for terror and amazement had seized them; and they said nothing to anyone. They were afraid, because … (Mark 16:8)
Easter morning 2020. Pre-dawn, Peek Wurrung country. A group of women appears, walking; one carries a bag with liturgical supplies. One by one, cars roll up, park, and turn off their lights. Figures emerge, hard to see in the shadows. Voices are hushed as people pick their way towards the nature play area, flitting between shadows and trees. Continue reading “dawn | botanic gardens | peek whurrong country #Lent 2023”
For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven: a time to be born, and a time to die … a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; a time to throw away stones, and a time to gather stones together … (Ecclesiastes 3:1-5)
One of my favourite places to go for some alone time, to contemplate, to reflect, to sit and think, or sometimes just to sit, is Childers Cove. It is part of the Bay of Islands State Park, but being to the west of where the Great Ocean Road joins the Princes Highway it is not often visited, good for solitude. Continue reading “40 | childers cove | kirrae whurrung country #Lent 2023”
Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart; and you will find rest for your souls. (Matthew 11:28)
I tried to write this four times during the service, and I kept having to delete it because it kept coming back to the same place. I had never encountered God in a physical place. I did not feel connected to place. I did not feel connected to God. Continue reading “39 | school and all the places | peek whurrong country #Lent 2023”
Sanctuary 