Small, Everyday and Ordinary...

Megan and I went to see 'The Hobbit' at the movies while we were on holidays. It was good fun but we both thought that there were too many chase scenes (who'd have thought a man could say such a thing)... Apparently, this rather short book is being made into three rather long movies, so I'm sure it won't be the last time we'll see our favourite wizards, dwarves and halfings running for their lives from hundreds of goblins, orcs and wargs with barely a scratch on them.

Anyway, I digress before I have begun to begin...

For this post I'm going to assume that you know the general storyline of 'The Hobbit'... I won't go into it, but if you aren't familiar with it you can click here for a short summary.

Towards the end of this first movie, there is a scene where Galadriel asks Gandalf why he has chosen to bring a Hobbit on such an important and dangerous adventure... and Gandalf, referring to Saruman, a powerful white wizard in the story, answers, “Saruman believes it is only great power that can hold evil in check, but that is not what I have found. I found it is the small everyday deeds of ordinary folk that keep the darkness at bay. Small acts of kindness and love.” 

I hope I'm not just getting schmaltzy in my old age, but I was quite moved by this scene and by the idea behind it. It isn't a new idea, and while not exclusively a spiritual or religious idea, it is an idea that is expressed in certain religious teachings. One Bible passage that came to mind was Matthew 25:31-46 - often referred to as "The Parable of the Sheep and the Goats", as told by Jesus. In it, the Great Shepherd is sorting out who he considers "blessed" and who he considers "cursed". His "blessed" ones are those who gave a drink of water, shared their food, put someone up in their home and/or visited someone who was sick or in prison when they needed it - and particularly for those who really needed it. Stuff that everybody could do, but that not everybody does...

The good news about such talk is that it is very empowering... For those of us who don't see ourselves particularly as 'world changers', it looks like we can be at the frontline of God's plan to make the world a better place simply by keeping on keeping on with small acts of kindness with those we come across everyday in our ordinary lives, particularly those who aren't 'in' on all the good things that life is dishing out.

Well, at least that is what Gandalf and Jesus think... and if that is not enough for you, Morgan Freeman thinks so too. We watched 'Evan Almighty' the other day, and I couldn't resist including another bit of insightful schmaltz...

Yes, I pulled out the big guns there... Anyway, I hope that there is some encouragement for you to keep on keeping on with those small, everyday, ordinary things you do everyday that make a difference to those who need it. Appararently, the world is changed as a result...

Shalom

Steve

I'm Working for a Better Australia Day

For the two or three years, some friends of mine and I have been discussing the date of Australia Day, and whether the 26th of January is an inappropriate date for the 'celebration of the nation'. This date, of course, marks the arrival of Europeans to Australia. This was a good thing for them (which for me is actually 'us') but a terrible interuption to the culture, history and wellbeing of Australia's indigenous people. If the intention is to include all Australians in our national celebration, then it seems to us that it is not just a bad date to choose, but the worse date that could have been chosen. To many indigenous Australians, the 26th of January is better understood as 'Invasion Day' or 'Survival Day' and on the 26th of January, these folk are either not participating in the celebrations or commemorating the day in other more sombre ways...

My friends and I have begun to play around with the idea of a small campaign to draw attention to this issue. We call it 'I'm Working For A Better Australia Day' and it is an opportunity for people to make a personal statement about the inappropriate Australia Day date by going to work on the Australia Day public holiday (which for this year, is Monday, the 28th of January) instead of joining in the celebration. We're not totally Un-Australian... we still think that Australia Day should be celebrated (because there is much to celebrate - it's awesome), we'll just do it on another day. For this year, we've just put up a facebook page to get the idea out there but if the idea takes off, then who knows what we could do with it in the next few years to come. The facebook page is there to provide a forum for this particular issue, as well as other issues that relate to ways of moving forward together and closing the gap between indigenous and non-indigenous life outcomes. It is also a forum to discuss the protest action of going to work on the Australia Day public holiday, working out what might be involved in doing that and reflecting on the experience afterwards.

So, if this issue and action resonates with you, check out our new 'I'm Working For A Better Australia Day' facebook page and 'like it', 'share it' or 'whatever else it' and get on board...

If you're in the market for a contraversial, theological perspective on the issue of the coming of Europeans to Australia, the plight of Australia's indigenous people today and what we could / should do to move ahead in a God-honouring way, then read through 'Australia - Whose Land?' by Dr Peter Adams. It is a thought-provoking look at the issues through a particular Biblical lens that will certainly get you thinking,even if you won't know what to exactly to think about it.

Many people and groups talk about this issue... even the National Australia Day Council vocalise their thoughts on the appropriateness of the 26th of January as the date for Australia Day, then you can check that our by going to their 'A Date for All Australians?' page and their 'Reconciliation' page.

That'll do for now... Shalom...

Steve

Here We Go Again...

Hi folks, Steve here...

I started this "Steve's Greenspace" blog in 2009 because I wanted to participate in and promote the on-going conversation about the place of spirituality in our shared public life and public spaces. In 2009 I put up 55 posts on this topic, in 2010 I put up 25, in 2011 I put up 4, and in 2012 I didn't put up any. 

Despite this strong evidence to the contrary, I am still passionate about this topic, the on-going conversation and about promoting it... It's just sometimes, you know, life gets busy and blah blah blah / wah wah wah [insert further excuses here]...

So, my New Year's Resolution is to crank up the blog and to do a post every two weeks for all of 2013, which will mean after this one, another 25 for the year. If you're interested in this conversation and participating in it, then please do... and those of you who care that extra little bit about it, might keep me honest and accountable with my continued posting. 

You can become a direct follower of the blog if you like and you will then find out about the posts that go up directly from the site. I have also linked my posts to my Facebook site (somehow - don't ask me how) so some of you will get them that way via Facebook. If you don't want to be part of the conversation and don't want to receive the posts then either ignore them or 'unfriend' me because I don't know how to not make you receive them.

Before you decide, you might like to go to the blog and have a look through some of the previous posts, to get an idea of the kind of topics I've been looking at and what flavour the posts take... The address is stevesgreenspace.blogspot.com

Okay, so you've been warned... 

Shalom

Steve