Wembley Downs shops. Signs of things to come…?

 

One year and one month after the fire that took out our local shops, and 13 months after expressions of an anticipated rebuilding and re-opening for this Christmas, the site is looking pretty bleak. The tremendous welling of community support and comfort for those who had lost livelihoods and a community meeting place have mellowed from immediate aftermath fervour to a silent wistful daring to hope that maybe, some day, this thriving centre will revive.

But right now, the lot is vacant and it is only the weeds that thrive. The noticeboard provided on site by the city council displays faded designs and hopeful news clippings that are now months out of date. There are gaps in the safety fence and the notices from shop owners redirecting valued customers are covered in graffiti.

The latest newspaper report indicated that tenders were out and that work on the site would start late November. This morning, as the last day of November dawned, there was no indication that anything was different. This afternoon, a semitrailer carrying earthmoving equipment was parked by the site. Does this mean anything? Is this a sign of things to come? Or is this machinery unrelated and just visiting? Who knows?

We are in the early part of the season of Advent, a season of anticipation on a much larger scale than a local shopping centre. Advent celebrates both the first coming of the reign of God as expressed in the life, teaching and mission of Jesus of Nazareth, a coming so tangible that collective memory refers to and celebrates Jesus as “God-with-us.” But there is also a “not-yetness” to all this – a call to “prepare the way” and to “recognise the signs” of the reign of Yahweh that, in the fullness of time, will manifest itself in world-shaking wonder. The signs are already present in those who embrace and apply the kind of peace, forgiveness and love that the way of Jesus manifests. It is obvious however, that shaking of mammoth proportions must occur throughout the planet before it can be asserted that this way has taken form and purpose amongst the world’s populations. It is a way that transcends philosophy, religions and mindsets. The institutional forms that have surrounded and, barnacle like, encrusted it  cannot contain it. It is accessible to every human being, no matter what culture, faith or disposition.  The prophet Isaiah foresaw this as, 500 years before Christ, he dreamed of the fulfillment of shalom, the completion of Yahweh’s purpose of the perfect harmony of human beings in relationship with self, neighbour, Yahweh and creation.

Just as the bobcat at the local shops site teases us at the possibility of things to come, so the season of Advent does likewise on a much bigger and more transcendent scale.

Back to active watching and active waiting!

It all begins…

09112009148Thought I could quietly slip into my seventh decade without anyone noticing. But the cover has been blown in the local church newsletter… and my sister’s not only blabbed it all over Face Book but she used my secret name! (Face-palm! Face-palm!). And I’ve already had two birthday cakes! This one emerged with some fanfare at today’s house group. Better remember to update my “About” page.. but not yet! Got to eke out those last few days in the fabulous fifties.

Yes – Christians & Muslims can Pro-exist!

So claimed Toby Keva, Uniting Church student minister who grew up in Indonesia. Toby was one of two key note speakers at this afternoon’s interfaith dialogue Can Christians and Muslims Co-exist in the Modern World. Toby contended that his own experience answered this question where, even in the face of sporadic violence in his home country, it was more the norm for Christians and Muslims to live peacefully together.  “Pro-existence”, Toby encouraged, takes a further step in mutual active support for each other. While Toby gave many instances of this happening in practical and tangible ways around the globe, he believes, from the Christian perspective, that more work needs to be done on intelligent articulation of doctrinal reasons for doing so, particularly where the exclusive and inclusive claims of the gospel seem to be in conflict. He reminded us that every theology is derived from a specific historical context and that dogma needed to be understood and reinterpreted in this light.

In response, Mehmet Ozalp,  author of 101 Questions You Asked About Islam and representing the Australian Muslim initiative Intercultural Harmony Society, concurred, adding that history is replete with epochs of Christians, Muslims and Jews living mutually and peacefully together –  for example, Spain before the 15th century expulsion of non Christians, Jerusalem prior to the mid 20th century and the interfaith House of Wisdom project in medieval Baghdad.  Mehmet proposed education as a key principle for harmonious community living. This involved:

  • raising a golden generation – where the “science of the mind” and “knowledge of the heart”  enjoyed balanced proportion
  • promotion of the values that promoted harmony, ie
    • tolerance (as a starting point)
    • a view of all humans as equal
    • a belief that diversity leads to greater opportunity for mutual education rather than conflict.

This could be achieved by dialogue – listening with the intention to understand and competing in virtue (thus promoting constructiveness in mutual achievement).

Question time revealed that the 100 strong audience had been attentive listeners. One question arose that has often been asked of me, “If Islam is a religion of peace, why do its proponents not publicly oppose the destructive acts of its extremists.”

The answer?

“We put out a press release in response to every reported incident. The frustration is that major media outlets are more interested in whatever is sensational. Our most effective work is with community meetings and schools.”

I think I know where he’s coming from. Christian extremists also get the lion’s share of media attention, but the most effective learning comes through mutually respectful one to one listening anyway.

The gathering was jointly sponsored by Intercultural Harmony Society the Uniting Church in Australia National Assembly Working Group on Relations with Other Faiths.

9781741669046Just bought Don Watson’s new title, Bendable Learnings (Random House). Watson continues his crusade against the pervasive lingo of modern management speak. He’s at his best when he’s poking fun at it. Humour is often the most effective instrument for bursting bubbles of hubris, pomposity and camouflage that uses faux competence to hide mediocrity.

I wonder how Jesus and his disciples would have conversed using contemporary management argot?  Mark 10:35-45 presents an opportunity. See if you can translate it back into everyday English!

The Submission of staff operatives, James and John

Staff operatives James and John, moved forward, and proposed, “Training facilitator, please action a request we will select from a broad range of parameters and submit for approval. “ And he said to them, “What do you want me to action in terms of benefits?” And they said to him,” Create a Key Performance Indicator that grants us an outcome of becoming prime staff operatives when strategy accomplishments are realised.” But Jesus said to them, “Your comprehension platform is sub-standard. Are you able to overcome the comparative tables of potablity and immersion in key performance indicators that are incompatible with management principles.” They replied, “We are able.” Then Jesus said to them, “You will indeed meet the KPIs of potability and immersion, but outcomes of the appointment of prime staff operatives must remain accessible to our total staff and customer base.

When the ten heard this, they began to exercise leverage against James and John. So Jesus called them and said to them, “You assess that amongst the customer base of very broad value pools that chief executive officers regulate entire end-to end governance and that managers pinpoint quality/process outputs with views to strategic termination. But it is not so amongst my staff operatives. Whoever wishes to be a prime staff operative must be a deliverer of basic commodities. For the Progeny of Human Resources came not to receive basic commodities but to deliver basic commodities, and to donate his energies as bonus compensation for the customer base.”

Reporting Back!

Learning how to find bush tucker

Foraging for bush tucker


Our trip took us to the Aboriginal community at Looma (on the edge of the Great Sandy Desert), a mission enterprise in Derby and the indigenous communities of Lombadina, Ngamakoon and One Arm Point on the Dampier Peninsula. There we made our base at Kooljaman, a camping ground and resort owned and managed jointly by Lombadina and One Arm Point. We talked with missionaries, educators, locals and traditional land keepers. We also talked amongst ourselves, reflecting on what we were learning. It was easy to be diverted by the spectacular features of the country we were in ( I’ll put selected photos on Flickr later today). But we anticipate sharing some stories and reflections from our pilgrimage in the morning service at Wembley Downs Church of Christ on Sunday, September 6th.

Picturs now uploaded, not on Flickr, but here.

And you can read a comprehensive journal of the trip at Scott Vawser’s blog (click here)

Listening Journeys

western-australia-kimberley-region-2It’s over twelve months since the Australian nation passed an important milestone – the beginning of a process of reconciliation with  Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders with a formal act of apology for the government’s role in formulating and pursuing policies that led to the phenomenon of the Stolen Generations. Prime Minister Rudd’s words of “sorry” rode the waves of the former government’s “acts of intervention” which continue to return a patchwork of results, depending on the degree of consultation taking place with indigenous leaders and members of the affected communities.

All of this forms a background for a project that myself and others have engaged in – “Listening Journeys.” We realised that if we were ever to understand the pain and trauma of generations of loss of culture, language and kinship ties and how this affected descendants of those who lived under a systemic oppression, we needed to guard against involving ourselves with an albeit compassionate knee-jerk “fix-it” agenda and engage in careful respectful listening instead. We have spent the last eighteen months deliberating on how this might best be done and are honestly still looking for some answers.

Today I pack my swag to join four others for a short flying trip to the Kimberley region in the North West of this state, hopefully to engage with some Aboriginal communities. One might ask what such a short visit can hope to achieve. My hope is that I can return with some perspective and a way of speaking not so much with knowledge, but with understanding, of some ways people like me can contribute to walking the road of reconciliation together.

So I’ll be incommunicado for about a week. Here’s hoping the next post will share some experiences and that sought out perspective.

Gimlets, Raspberry Jam, Sugar Gums and York Gums

Yaraandoo_2009 07 11_0689These are the species of tree we planted yesterday at Yaraandoo, a rural property and permaculture farm near Toodyay, about an hour’s drive from Perth. “Not endemic to the area,” we were told. In fact these trees are specific to the the abutting northern region, but changing climate may see them move southward. The exercise was part of a day long contemplative experience on creation spirituality and “the environment as a journey of faith”. Yaraandoo itself is a practical and continuously developing example of such a journey that has taken several decades. Ange and Jeff Sturman, the owners and our day’s hosts, have been developing the property for some time as a positive and proactive ecological statement since some time before the term “global warming” found popular currency.  As a retired environmental scientist/engineer and Anglican priest, Jeff is well equipped to assist those attending their faith journey to expand awareness towards environmental challenges, offering a taste of a lifestyle that “has a Benedictine flavour, with Ignation lacings, and eco spirituality preservative!” You can see an article on Yaraandoo in the Anglican Messenger (March, 2009), page 20.

Mystery at Wembley Downs

The RAC traytop was off-loading my wife’s disabled Colt last night. It was behind the church, where she usually parks the car. The tray had just lowered the vehicle, when some loud shouts made us look up. Torch lights were bobbing towards us from the road reserve. Behind the lights loomed two characters, running full pelt toward us, shouting. We braced ourselves, not knowing what to expect – and they ran grunting straight past us – faces red, perspiring freely on this cold winters’ evening. They were in athletic singlets and shorts.

“You can’t get through that way” I shouted.

“This is private property!” my bride murmured.

No response – except about eight more characters, similarly attired, wheezed past us. Seeing our bemused faces, one cried out “Call the police!”
Now I was confused – were they chasing someone? There had been a burglary across the road earlier that day. Was he just having a lend of me? Why were they all dressed in athletics? 
One called out “Found it!”

They turned and ran off in the direction they had come, disappearing into the dark. Who were these people?…

… next morning I found these chalk marks on the ground, leading me to pose several hypotheses

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  1. They are alien markings, and our intruders are extraterrestrials in search of their lost space craft.
  2. They are portals to a secret chamber where stolen goods are secreted and this was a raid by undercover police disguised as athletes.
  3. They are markers for a local orienteering club out on a practice run.

Maybe, you, dear reader, can cast a light on this mystery. Or you may have an additional hypothesis as to what was really going on here. Feel free to share.

Thin Places Revisited

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Once again some theologs and I met at King’s Park to explore a question that arises from a Celtic perspective of Christian spirituality – “Is King’s Park a Thin Place?”

The escarpment’s close proximity to the CBD of Perth combined with the beauty of it’s bushland setting create a popular tourist spot. It is a place where beauty natural and man-made meet. This can inspire or distract, the noise and sight of the freeway interchange below and the detail of the city skyline is sometimes jarring. In Aboriginal dreaming, where high ground meets water, it is a place of significant sacredness , something that the peregrinato, the early Celtic Christian monks would have quickly discerned and honoured because of a highly developed attentiveness to creation spirituality.

It is often a long journey from the myopia of  our city-bound functional mindset to the inner quietness that awakens our awareness of the immediacy of the presence of the Creator around us. Places like King’s Park, plonked in the midst of our busyness, serve us well in pointing to that reality.