Last weekend I went on a pilgrimage to a destination very different to the MCG. I hadn’t intended to be quite so countercultural as to clash with the Grand Final – it was just that in my planning I didn’t realise the AFL had changed dates.
Eleven of us spent 4 hours walking from a little bluestone chapel beside the Tullaroop Reservoir near Carisbrook down through the valley beside the Tullaroop creek and up onto Bald Hill for a 360 degree view of the area. The canola crops were a brilliant yellow. The grass was vibrant green and spindly young red gum seedlings indicated where new life was emerging after the January floodwaters. We were conscious of the wind as a symbol of the Spirit’s lively presence. We stopped at various points for times of prayer and reflection. We carried with us a beautiful icon by Rev Dr Rob Gallacher of Jesus meeting the woman at the well. The traditional style incorporated Uluru and a ghost gum, and we pondered the meaning of the shadowy image of the MCG in the cloud! The simple action of carrying the icon with us turned a walk into a journey of reflection. From a 7 year old to one in their seventh decade we all shared the journey, the reflection, the silence and the space.
Next day, back on top of Bald Hill, I watched the sun rise and infuse the whole area with golden light. Thistles have never seemed so beautiful – a lesson that there is more than one way of viewing situations. We spent time with Uncle Brien Nelson, Jaara Elder as he guided us to see signs of the presence of Jaara people along the creek, and we held tools dating back 40 or 60,000 years.
As we concluded our time sharing Holy Communion I suddenly realised we were sitting beside a well of living water, the water for the house. I will treasure the image of the icon placed on the cover of the well, bread and wine in front of it, signs of life for today. I hope I will also be more open to seeing signs of God’s presence surrounding me.
Deliberate time set aside for prayer and reflection with companions on a journey does refresh and give a different perspective. I’m planning another weekend pilgrimage in autumn.
Meanwhile, if you want to arrange a local pilgrimage using the Assembly material and the icon, contact me.
May God lead you by still waters,
May Christ sustain you with living water
And may the Holy Spirit well up within you and give you peace.
Isabel Thomas Dobson
There are 73 churches in the World Methodist Council. The Council meets every 5 years. The three day meeting in Durban spent almost half its time discussing a new Constitution. The Bylaws discussion had to be confined to a few hours of extra time in the midst of the Conference.
All the Australian members were thanking God for the gift of the UCA’s Consensus decision making processes, and for our expectation that in meeting we seek a common way forward, listening for the Holy Spirit. I’ve never experienced so many Points of Order in my entire life!
Elias Chacour began his speech by holding his jacket open to demonstrate that he wasn’t carrying any bombs. People chuckled uncertainly at his comment. After all, Chacour is an Arab, a Palestinian. He is also an Israeli citizen (older than the state of Israel), Archbishop of Nazareth and Galilee in the Melchite Greek Catholic Church, ‘countryman of Jesus’, fluent in 11 languages and courageous in living in peace.
What did he see when he looked at the Israeli soldier who destroyed his father’s home?
“I saw someone who was born a baby, in the image of God.” And when, at the request of Israeli police he negotiated his way through a cordon of thousands of angry Palestinians surrounding a bus containing the body of the Israeli soldier who had killed four Palestinians and wounded many more? “I couldn’t see any difference between Jewish and Palestinian blood. It’s the same.”
Archbishop Chacour also shared stories that don’t fit the stereotypes, which “are too beautiful for TV.” Stories such as 300 Palestinian students at his school giving blood for the Israelis injured in an attack by a Palestinian. Or the 40th day memorial eucharist celebrated for two Christians killed in an Israeli attack. The photos of the two Moslem women alongside them were beside them on the altar. “How could we only pray for two of those killed?”
Religious tourists who go to look at “shrines, stones and sand, without seeing the Risen Lord in Galilee, without meeting Palestinian Christians” were challenged to think about their actions.
“Palestinians and Jews don’t need to learn how to live together. They just have to remember how they used to do so.”
The conference theme of ‘Jesus Christ: for the healing of the Nations’ is being lived out with courage, peace and integrity by this man.
The World Methodist Council and Conference is meeting in Durban South Africa. I’m one of 16 Uniting Church members sprinkled among about 3000 Methodist, Wesleyan, United and Uniting Church people from all around the world. The diversity of churches and people, the variety of clerical dress and the number of bishops is startling.
This morning I worshipped God in a large, plain church in a township area, established when people were forcibly moved from their homes in the late 1950s. The singing was inspiring. The preacher moved seamlessly between four different languages. He reminded us that we weren’t simply to talk about other people’s experience of Jesus. People want to know our experience, and to have a story to tell we need to encounter Jesus ourselves. I’ve encountered Jesus through the faith and faithfulness of many people here. I look forward to sharing some of those stories.
Many of my days are consumed with the immediate- emails, preparations for meetings and phone calls. And then there are other days where I have the privilege of discovering just how varied and wonderful are the people of God. Faithfulness takes many different guises.
In the one day I’ve met with both a group from Hosanna Church in Dili, capital of Timor Leste and with the former General Secretary of the Korean National Council of Churches. As the East Timorese grapple with the challenges of being a small independent nation, rebuilding infrastructure after achieving Independence, a partnership is developing which will help with providing computers and computer skills, teaching English and music. The Ringwood congregation is looking to share its resources of money and skill.
The Rev Oh-Sung Kwon has been Secretary of the Korean Council of Churches for 4 years. He spoke of the desire for peace with North Korea, and the active role the churches are playing in ensuring that some food reaches North Korea, despite the South Korean Government forbidding the export of food. Church members are facing legal action – fines or imprisonment because of their actions yet their faith compels them to offer help.
Rev Kwon also spoke of the combined Churches Dawn Service on Easter Day in the main Square in Seoul attended by about 30,000 people. That’s half the number of those who call themselves Uniting Church in this Synod!
Tough times can help us decide what’s important, and whether our faith matters to us. Please pray for the Christians in East Timor and Korea, both North and South, and for ourselves, that we will be faithful.
Isabel Thomas Dobson
