 It has been good to contribute recently to a number of faith-based initiatives which are seeking to engage constructively with ecological challenges. Edited by the excellent Dr Clive Ayre, one of the Australian leading thinkers in this field, the latest journal of the Australian Association of Mission Studies is for example focused on these issues. It was an honour therefore to contribute some of my thinking and experience of the, often disconnected, relationships between Reconciliation, Ecology and Mission, particularly positively in relation to local projects in Queensland. It has also been good to hear of planning for the first national conference (this September) of the Australian Religious Response to Climate Change (ARRCC) and to begin to link up more closely with that work in which I shared in Sydney. Meanwhile the Anglican Board of Mission (ABM) has been moving forward with its own climate change awareness and advocacy, on behalf of Australian Anglicans as a whole. Some of its work and plans can be found here, including an article I was pleased to contribute from my experience in the Philippines and eco-theological studies. The article itself is also to be found below (just click "Read More"). All these things seem such small steps but together, by God's grace, we can make a difference...
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 Congratulations to St Mark's Buderim for another wonderful Reconciliation event today: Celebration of Country 2017. Following a Welcome to Country by local cultural educator and traditional owner Jacquie Davis, the centrepiece was a sharing of the story of the Nandjimadji outrigger canoe project, with artists Aunty Robyn Lennox and Aunty Tracey Nicholson from the Nanjimadji Artists (a local group of Indigenous people with disabilities). The video shown can be seen below or directly on You Tube here. It is both illustrative of the value of cultural healing - a significant feature of local life in this area of the Sunshine Coast - and of the way in which such artefacts can be vibrant symbolic, and literal (!), vehicles for community, learning and deeper relationships in our Australian society. It was a lovely tonic in the face of the crassness of much that will occur on the horribly mischosen date 'Australia Day' this week. Today's gathering, ably facilitated by the Ven Jeremy Greaves and the St Mark's team, was also the fruit of many years of relationship building, similar events and the hospitality of St Marks. As such it continues to be an encouraging model for others to follow. Indeed, such local connections have now created a welcome new internet resource - the Buderim Indigenous and South Sea Islander Peoples History website. It was launched at the event today by Steve Chillingworth and Meredith Walker who, as a project of Buderim Sails ministry have worked with local Indigenous & South Sea Islanders on it. Including a number of stories, sites and other information, it is another step in the journey of Reconciliation, and will grow - hopefully to be copied and adapted by others elsewhere.  Asked for a prayer, poem or other contribution to greeting Penny at her commissioning service, I could do no better than turn to John O'Donohue's wonderful book of blessings To Bless the Space Between Us. It was a blessing for the space that is the Chapel of the Holy Spirit, and not only for Penny, and I, but also for those who have long found their spiritual home elsewhere. Especially at this time, as we come this week to the pain and promise of the fateful date of 26 January, it is also a blessing for all human beings and their ancestors who have come to Australia. It is a reminder of the 'big history' and mystery beyond us all.
May it be a blessing to all: Before a human voice was ever heard here, This place has known the respect of stone, The friendship of the wind, always returning With news of elsewhere, whispered in seed and pollen, The thin symphonies of birdsong softening the silence, The litanies of rain rearranging the air, Cascades of sunlight opening and closing days, And the glow of the moon gazing through darkness. May all that elemental enrichment Bless the foundation and standing of your home. Before you came here, this place has nown The wonder of children's eyes, The hope of mornings in troubled hearts, The tranquillity of twilight easing the night, The drama of dreams under sleeping eyelids, The generous disturbance of birth, The anxieties of old age unclenching into grace And the final elegance of calmly embraced death. May the life of your new home enter Into this inheritance of spirit. May the rain fall kindly, May daylight illuminate your hearts, May the darkness never burden, May those who dwell here in the unseen Watch over your coming and going. May your lives of love and promise Refine and deepen the spirit of this land. (also posted on the Milton Anglican blog)  In the midst of handover work for our impending move, it was lovely today to have a visit from my dear friends Mr Haniff and Meiling, updating me on the UNESCO partnerships we have been working on with others in Toowoomba and bringing me a beautiful new year's greeting card from the Venerable Master Chin Kung. The front of the card has this interesting picture. What do you see in it? An explanation is given below.... It can be misinterpreted by those who see inter-religious dialogue as seeking some kind of mish-mash of philosophies. Yet I do not feel that this is that at all. Rather it is an expression of the deep understanding of the Venerable Chin Kung that all great pathways of wisdom can connect. Indeed that they connect most deeply when we walk together in peace and harmony. May this be a blessing for us all in 2017.   Occasionally I have a palpable sense of the communion of saints. This week it began in a second-hand bookshop in Sydney's Newtown. Looking up, a book seemed to spring out at me like a blessed shaft of light opening from above. It bore the author's name of Alan Webster, a beloved but sadly departed mentor on my life's journey. Reaching for Reality was a book written late in Alan's life and one of which I was not aware. Sketching people and events which have broken free from deadening routine and oppression, it speaks of vision and change, of the critical need and cost of risk-taking, and of the best of the Anglican spirit Alan embodied - warm, inviting, large hearted, open, culturally and intellectually intelligent, responsive and creative, down-to-earth, intimately concerned with every person and aspect of life, grounded in Julian of Norwich-like 'prayer in struggle', and discovering the transcendent in our earthly dust. As I and my immediate family make many transitions at this time, it is as though Alan again speaks directly to me - be encouraged; don't be afraid to be, bring and suffer change; the mystery of God calls us on...
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AuthorJo Inkpin is an Anglican priest serving as Minister of Pitt St Uniting Church in Sydney, a trans woman, theologian & justice activist. These are some of my reflections on life, spirit, and the search for peace, justice & sustainable creation. Archives
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