the ramblings of a perambulent and often distracted sojourner
Last week my desk was under a motley arrangememt of piles of assorted papers, books and projects.
This week it is as barren and featureless as any Antarctic waste.
In a few days, I can guarantee it will once again be as it was last week. And so it goes.
But I haven’t got this bloke’s problem! – The Compulsively Tidy Ursus Wehrli Visually Organizes Life in His Latest Book, “The Art of Clean Up” | Colossal.
What sorts of things does a local church board discuss at it’s annual retreat?
The flower roster?
The need to cut the length of the Sunday morning harangues … I mean … sermons?
The leaky roof?
Not likely, at least not at the one I’ve been involved with today. On our agenda were:
It’s blog-lite today as this weekend’s heavy schedule descends. Eureka Street often comes in to fill a gap at such times as it often is the medium that reflects most closely my own position (with some exceptions). I would probably want to spend some time, should it be available, reflecting on how religion and politics have danced around each other in this week’s parliamentary debates. Instead I offer this video interview with John Warhust, ANU Emeritus Professor of Political Science – Religion and republicanism in Australian politics – Eureka Street. Maybe his observations find some reflection on how MPs have answered some questions in this week’s parliament.
Australia’s asylum seeker detention culture is very much under scrutiny.
The High Court deliberates whether it is in the government power to alleviate pressure on the system through a ‘people-swapping deal’ with Malaysia.The outcome of the case will also have an impact on some backup strategies for warehousing refugees in other off-shore centres.
And in a few days we will observe Refugee Sunday. Most of the rest of the world observed it on June 2oth, but for some reason it runs a little late here. But it is not untimely.
Here’s a reflective contribution from the Disciples of Christ
Congregations that have resettled refugees in the past are encouraged to celebrate that ministry and the accomplishments of the refugees they have resettled. Congregations are also encouraged to reflect on all the thousands of refugees stuck in refugee camps around the world who are awaiting an opportunity for resettlement and a chance to begin their lives again.
The 2011 theme for World Refugee Day is “1 is too many.”
1 family forced to flee is too many;
1 refugee without hope is too many;
1 refugee returned to danger is too many;
1 refugee longing for home is too many;1 child without a nationality is too many;
1 family without shelter is too many;
1 refugee denied a safe haven is too many;
1 child growing up in a camp is too many;1 family torn apart by war is too many;
1 girl raped at gunpoint is too many;
1 refugee child behind bars is too many;
1 refugee without schooling is too many.
As we head towards refugee Sunday, Eureka Street offers some worthy material for reflection, e.g. Improving the refugee debate – Eureka Street.
It well makes the point that multiculturalism, the so called bête noir of our times is really of little account. This reflects a lunch-time conversation from which I have just emerged, where a bunch of us good-solid-British-heritage-stocked fourth-and-fifth generationists were comparing our ancestries and remarking how much more mottled our lines were than we realised. The makeup of this country has been thus varied for the last 200 years. Certainly, the ruling class were decidedly British in demeanour if not ethnicity, but those they ruled reveal a variety of cultural backgrounds. And in a land where Jack/Jill is as good as his/her master, the program is set for distinctions to either fade or be mutually celebrated. The politically manufactured zeitgeist of fear cannot and should not prevail given our collective story. But alas it has and it does but it need not. Just read this inspiring article in the same issue of Eureka street.
So one hopes that law interpreted by the High Court of Australia, as in the Malaysia case now awaiting determination, and the reasoned voices from the middle ground that are now being given some airplay, might begin to turn, or at least soften, the political perception of public opinion. Hope springs eternal!
“Tell a story in six words,” he says, probably guessing it can’t be done.
Plutarch’s Julius Caesar did it: “I came, I saw, I conquered.”
(Technically it was three words “Veni, vidi, vici.”)
Descartes did it in five: “I think, therefore I am.” And such is the font of a million stories.
So here’s my effort: “I think occasionally, therefore I blog.”
All else is commentary!
Why can’t our government get it right with asylum seekers who arrive by boat?
The lawfulness of the disgraceful Malaysia deal is being tested before the full bench of the High Court today.
This morning’s headlines in the West Australian were like a breeze of fresh air through the stench of indifference and acrimony that usually surrounds this issue. A group of eminent Australians representing, among other professions, business and the arts, have called for a rethink of the detention strategies, advocating minimum holding for security and health checks and release into the community while asylum claims are ascertained. More humane, less expensive, win-win. They echo recent representations made by senior officials in Immigration to their political masters.
But how does our government respond ? “Let’s build floating detention centres.” Have they completely lost the plot? What kind of blinkered thinking seeks to take us back to the time Britain used floating hulks to imprison its burgeoning underclass. The irony is that when this strategy became unwieldy transportation to the great south land was deemed the solution. That’s right – they were sent out here as “boat people.” Go figure! Granted these $150 million vessels are intended to deliver intercepted asylum seekers swiftly to unnamed off-shore locations – but really?
I guess things have to reach the zenith of the point of ridiculous before uncommon common sense can break through.
It was a heady day today.
My service this morning featured a combination of technology and human error that threatened to undo us – namely the wrong set of hymn lyrics on PowerPoint . A quick swapping of USB drives fixed that – then I inadvertently destroyed the world – knocking the globe from its podium and witnessing its shattering into half a dozen pieces. I have now glued it back together and it is back in its place. All else went smoothly.
This afternoon’s launch of the Project 54 Prayer initiative for the Commonwealth of Nations in preparation for CHOGM took place as part of Evensong at St George’s Cathedral. Many churches have combined for this project – representing the range of liturgical and free form traditions. It was an unusual blend of high church chorale and revival hymns combined with the pageantry of a parade of flags representing the 54 nations that will be represented at CHOGM. A homespun chat from the cathedral pulpit by well known radio personality and Baptist minister Graham Mabury added to the eclectic nature of the launch.
There was just enough time to grab a Subway then join our friends at the local Uniting Church where renowned New Testament scholar, Bill Loader, gave the first of a series of three talks on John’s Gospel. We are fortunate to have such easy access to the kind of scholarship Bill often brings to the table. We always look forward to the times that we can sit with him to explore the insights that he is able to bring.
Permit me to indulge a little more in my railway alternate universe where I live out my childhood daydreams. I see myself at the throttle of the Coffee Pot chugging through Pichi Richi Pass in South Australia’s lower Flinders Ranges.
Quirky, eh wot?
Why waste a daydream on something so wheezy and small in the scheme of steam? Why not yearn for the serious grunt of the Union Pacific Big Boy or the speed and aristocracy of the Flying Scotsman?
Simple – I like quaint and understated. Hidden treasures that await discovery and delight. I reckon the Coffee Pot fills the order.
Here’s an Oz flick that literally champions the underdog! Red Dog is the monicker given to the red kelpie that mysteriously appears and adopts the good burghers of Dampier, a mining port in WA’s hot Pilbara region. It is based on a true story of the 70s, and the era is faithfully depicted. A commemorative statue stands alongside the road into Dampier today. The narrative is told towards the end of the era by the town characters, alternating between that present and a series of flashbacks without losing continuity. It is the celebration of a canine odyssey and the loose knit multi-cultural community that found common cause in him.
The film has enjoyed an unexpectedly high box office return in the two weeks since its release. It will be interesting to see how its laconic quirkiness is received overseas.
Wondering Pilgrim 