the ramblings of a perambulent and often distracted sojourner
Maybe the checks and balances in our current political machinery will eventually prevent the execution of this heinous scheme. Hope springs eternal, for I don’t see how UNHCR guidelines can support what our government has in mind.
Asylum-seeker swap deal must have UNHCR approval: Doug Cameron | The Australian.
See synopsis at Of Gods and Men (2010) – IMDb.
Having written earlier this week of “receptive ecumenism” and new cross-cultural invitations to work together, this film reminds us, in its beginnings, that this is an ancient idea. We see a small Christian monastic community living harmoniously and symbiotically within a small Islamic village. Medicine, hospitality and wisdom between the communities is shared. On the desk of the monastery study we see a copy of the Canticles of St Francis and the Koran. The abbot is able to quote either Psalm or Koranic verse as occasion requires. The village imam expresses warmth and receptivity to the Christian presence amongst them. Drama begins as the news and horrific images of fundamentalist Islamic violence filters into the village. Threat looms over both the village and the monastery. The monks must decide whether to succumb to government pressure to leave or to stay come what may. The pressure of internal demons also plays its role. The tension is played out against the background of the rhythm of monastic life – prayer, work and rest.
Based on a true story, one knows what the outcome will be. This serves only to make more poignant our entry into the gripping story of each of the brothers as they wrestle with their calling and their fate.
Until two years ago, it had been over forty years since I had seen Gay. Back then we ran with the Albert Park mob, a loose collection of teenagers linked through church youth clubs in the western suburbs of Adelaide, South Australia. Yesterday I presided over her funeral service, held in the open air at a favorite park alongside a dam in the Perth foothills.
She had survived cancer for over 18 years, not letting it get in the way of her work as a mother, grandmother, businesswoman, and – more lately – a drug and alcohol counselor in Western Australia’s prison system. As I listened to family members and a work colleague pay tribute, I learned much about Gay since our gang had dissipated and gone our adult ways. Coming from a large family of seven, Gay was destined to be a people person and it was inspiring to hear the extent of her positive impact on so many, particularly through the blows that life had dealt her through early widowhood and the onset of her illness. She would claim that her counseling work helped her rise above her own health battles. Testimonials written by inmates testified to this.
There were some quirky moments during the service that would have appealed to Gay’s wry sense of humour. When two turtle doves were released, an enraged magpie, incensed at invasion of territory, gave chase. For a few moments, the crowd was bemused at the aerial acrobatics that took place.
We missed those unable to fly into Perth because of airline disruption caused by the Venezuela volcanic plume.
I experienced the whole event as a precious occasion, reconnecting with a part of my life that seemed to be drawn forth from the mists of passing time, reconnecting with peers I had not seen since my adolescence, but now approaching retirement age.
Welcome to Australia – unity and diversity « Call to radical discipleship.
The melancholy cloud that began my week re Australia’s asylum seeker treatment got a hint of a silver lining this morning when the above post from my nephew, Mark, lit up my screen. It showed what is still possible when we operate on the principles of hospitality, generosity and care rather than fear and hostility. It reminded me of the earlier Community Refugee Resettlement programs that took place right in our midst.
Mark’s post was also a reminder of current conversations around “receptive ecumenism” which looks to gain wisdom and understanding from careful listening to the other rather than being burdened with what we can impart, and the new ecumenical challenge which is no longer cross-denominational but cross-cultural.
Maybe the glass is half-full again!
Bibledex – Expert videos about every book in the Bible.
A colleague just posted a link to this fascinating site that offers a quick video intro to each book of the bible that is intelligent and non-condescending. Produced by the University of Nottingham, the series succinctly surveys the theme of each book and highlights current scholarly issues. Certainly not in-depth, but what more can one expect from a survey. Great discussion starters for groups of enquirers who don’t want to leave their brains at the door when discussing biblical literature. Poke around the site a bit more for some other fascinating projects.
When a picture is worth a thousand words. Just sent to me by an ex-pat…
Asylum seekers go from nothing to zero under cruel policy.
Some have already dismissed the above referenced article because it is written by a former prime minister whose approach to immigration was more draconian than now. Some folks are tired of me posting and referring to articles on this topic. “Give it a rest,” they say.
My response is “Why?” Particularly when this article is referring to asylum seekers already received. Don’t we see what we have become? Once upon a time we had community goodwill and involvement in locally based refugee resettlement schemes that cost very little and gave firm footing for recipients to become contributing integrated members of our society.
Now we have officially sanctioned fear, prejudice and cynicism.
When did we become so mean-spirited and callous? Why do we cry over cattle but not our fellow human beings? How will we recover the community values of hospitality, generosity and a fair go for the battler that are all but a distant memory where those fleeing persecution, danger and death are concerned?
I’ll keep posting until there’s a seismic shift on current community and government values.
This morning, four Wembley Downs congregations representing four different traditions gathered together at St Paul’s Anglican Church for a combined Pentecost Eucharist. Everyone wore red, the liturgical colour representing the tongues of flame that symbolise the pouring out of the Holy Spirit upon the120 gathered in Jerusalem soon after the departure of the resurrected Jesus. The Feast of Pentecost marks the birth of the Church and serves today as a rallying point for the unity of the Church across its diverse traditions. Leaders of all four congregations played roles in celebrating the traditional Anglican Eucharist under the direction of the resident rector. This was not a new event – it was the sixth occasion for the Anglican Churches of Christ and Uniting Church congregations and first time for the local Baptist church. Overflow facilities were needed to cater for the packed church.
The trouble with reviewing a film like Oranges & Sunshine, where one is familiar with locations and back-story, is that one can be overly critical over small detail and miss the thrust and drama of the narrative. It appeared that scenes purported to be Western Australian were filmed in South Australia. Was that a stobie pole I saw outside a house made of Mt Gambier stone?Also, what looked like the lower Flinders Ranges doesn’t quite replicate Bindoon country.
All that aside, however, it is good that this story is portrayed in a tastefully understated manner. We are spared graphic and gratuitous images of the institutional horrors that took place under the child migration schemes as we hear some selected stories through the eyes and ears of Margaret Humphreys, the Nottingham social worker who stumbled across and exposed the need for justice for the survivors of the scheme. All she sought to do was reunite them with the families that they had been told didn’t exist. She finds herself a lightning rod for criticism and retribution as institutional perpetrators run for cover. The story is as much about Margaret Humphreys as those she seeks to assist. All who are in people-helping vocations know how necessary it is to set boundaries for self-preservation. All who are in people-helping vocations know that there are times when the issues are so compelling that the boundaries break down and there is great personal cost. This reality is transcended through the words of “hard case” Len who counsels a weeping Margaret who is frustrated that she can’t make things right for the thousands of families affected by the scheme – “You feel the pain that we no longer can – that is all we need.”
Plagued by mice and climate change deniers – Eureka Street.
I recall the mouse plague of ’75 in the same area – stretching 100s of kms from Eyre Peninsula across the Nullarbor to Eucla. I was driving with my brother across to Perth to take up my first ministry post. We left Ceduna at dusk. The road was nothing but a seething mass of mice until midnight. At Eucla we threw our sleeping bags down on the ground in an area enclosed by an electric boundary to keep the mice out. An hour later it shorted and mice were swarming over us. Nothing for it but to get up and keep going. One of those surreal experiences. The link to climate change? Best tap on the heading and read the article.
Wondering Pilgrim 