wonderingpilgrim

Nothing a 13 hour snooze can’t fix!

A few cough lollies, some aspro, heater turned up high and sweating it out through a 13 hour sleep helps chase the collie-wobbles away. The gentleness and considerations of a TLS (tender loving spouse) is also indispensable. I usually flee the scene on Sunday mornings when on leave (we live right next to the church),Continue reading “Nothing a 13 hour snooze can’t fix!”

Crook…

… is Aussie vernacular for feeling off-colour. Happens commonly amongst people on their first day of leave. Anyhow, that’s the only nod postaday2011 is getting today!

Our need to know keeps us from learning so much…

Begin to care for nature and nature cares for you, in unsuspected ways – Bill Neidjie, Aboriginal elder and author of Kakadu Man. On the eve of the climax of the great angst – the PM’s announcement of the details of the Carbon Tax package – we hear more wisdom from the earth’s indigenous peoples.Continue reading “Our need to know keeps us from learning so much…”

First & Last Peoples

What is an Aboriginal view concerning asylum seekers? Ironically, while mainstream Australia quakes at the prospect of the “great invasion” by leaky boats, our first peoples (who have an outstanding and legitimate claim to having been invaded by “boat people”) are more accommodating. Here is a brilliant speech by Lowitja O’Donoghue: Return to Afghanistan: resettlementContinue reading “First & Last Peoples”

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…”

Sinner and Saint

Well we got stuck into Romans 7:15-25 this morning. It prompted Ken (second row on the right) to rise and recite something he knew by heart from G. A. Studdert Kennedy, a WWI army padre: Sinner and Saint A Sermon in a Billet OUR Padre, ‘e says I’m a sinner, And John Bull says I’mContinue reading “Sinner and Saint”

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”