Author Archives: wonderingpilgrim

Indigenous Australians taking the next step – Eureka Street

Indigenous Australians taking the next step – Eureka Street. Continuing reflections on NAIDOC week, this article describes a personal odyssey that reminds me very much of the ‘listening journey’ myself and some others undertook in the same region three years ago. Resilience and optimism against the background of the challenges of cultural deprivation and restorationContinue reading “Indigenous Australians taking the next step – Eureka Street”

Reflections on indigenous medicine…

Failure to appreciate the importance of indigenous belief and practice lies behind the limited success of various Western health interventions in the Third World. – Cluny and La’avasa Macpherson (Samoa) So reads this morning’s offering from Native Wisdom for White Minds. As NAIDOC week unfolds I reflect on the various indigenous remedies I have used to keepContinue reading “Reflections on indigenous medicine…”

Yarning over dot painting…

… is a pathway to reconciliation, according to Don, a Noongar artist working in the NAIDOC tent in the centre of Subiaco this week. This was in response to my sharing the information that my church was working with Reconciliation Australia on a Reconciliation Action Plan. I was fascinated with the intricately patterned painting heContinue reading “Yarning over dot painting…”

Battling the self within…

One of tomorrow’s texts, Romans 7:15-25a, contains Paul’s self-revelation of the battle within. Like all of us, he so often fails to achieve the high ideals that he’s sold on. Woe is him! But it is his faith in Christ that rescues him from despair. Nevertheless, the reality Paul describes readily attracts the label “hypocrites”Continue reading “Battling the self within…”

Beginning of the Great Revival – a movie review

This Chinese blockbuster had only one patron in the large Cinema 4 at the local multiplex this morning. This is the second time in a few weeks where I’ve been the sole customer – it says something about my choice of movies, I suppose! Large attendances in China, I am led to understand, are manipulatedContinue reading “Beginning of the Great Revival – a movie review”

Time for something light…

Lawyers for the Department of Transport were busily preparing their case in defense of the charge relating to the station owner’s lost prize Brahman bull. It had gone missing around the same time that the weekly train had gone through and, as far as the squatter was concerned, there was only one conclusion. The government’sContinue reading “Time for something light…”

A Thousand Splendid Suns – a book review

This morning brings the news of a Taliban raid on an international hotel in Kabul. Innocent lives lost have added to the growing tally that amounts to the tortuous agony of Afghanistan. It takes a book like A Thousand Splendid Suns, however, to reveal the complexities of a society that lives with violence almost everyContinue reading “A Thousand Splendid Suns – a book review”

Report on Children in Immigration Detention

            The government proposed deadline for removing children from immigration detention centres is only 2 days away. In March, The Minister for Immigration told parliament all was on track for this to occur. A more recent report by the Australian Government to the UNHRC admits that this deadline will notContinue reading “Report on Children in Immigration Detention”