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

10 Years On...

Yes, its ten years on (not since my last blog post, but close...)... Ten years on since the world changed in profound ways as the result of the terror attacks on the Word Trade Centre and the Pentagon in the US. It's hard to remember life before the very bizarre "the war on terror" that followed and remains with us to this day.

One of the things that has changed, of course, is the perception of Muslim people in our world. 

Research has shown that there has been a dramatic rise in the levels of demonisation that Muslim people have experienced across the globe since the 2001 attacks. There seems to be a new xenophobia in town, or at least new expressions of old xenophobia that has been lurking not too far from the surface of our communal life. This developing mindset has coloured our own our nation's views on worthwhile pursuits like multiculturalism and the processing on asylum-seekers.

Personally, I don't know that many people who identify as "Muslim". I could count them on one hand. But when you know someone, it certainly cuts through all the xenophobia that swirls around you... When I was a school chaplain, one of the teachers at my school was a devout Muslim - a lovely, lovely man. One day, I was preparing to do some religious teaching in a class that this teacher was presiding over and he asked me if he could say something before I began. I wasn't too sure if I should let him (him being "Muslim" and all) but it was his class, what was I going to do? Besides, he was such a great guy... So, he spoke to the class for two or three minutes about the importance of God, and that even if God wasn't high on their agenda at the moment, if they listened, maybe later on in their lives their agenda might change and something they heard today might come back to them and be useful. He then handed back to me... but I was at a loss for words... I felt as thought the religion lesson had been well taught - well, it had been to me at least... 

I was so impressed with his words and his inclusion of me in his spiritual world. He had been far more gracious towards me than I would have been towards him. Something quite profound changed in me as a result of that exchange... It helped me to see that while we can spend a lot of time trying to work out who is "us" and who is "them, that mostly, I think, in a lot of ways, it is just all "us" out there, trying to work it all out and make the most out of our lives.

My encouragement on this suspicious anniversary is to go and hug a "them" today... Well, at least say "hi"... particularly if you are planning on hugging them next... Anyway, I'm sure you'll work it out...

Shalom

Steve

It's the End of the World As We Know It...

You might have heard that the end of the world  has been predicted for tomorrow... Harold Camping, a Christian radio broadcaster from  America, has made the call, after making a calculation of some kind  based on Biblical data. Unfortunately, in a pretty big hit to his credibility, he has been here before, predicting that the world would end in 1994...

...but it didn't, in case you were wondering why you are still here.

For some more info on this, you can watch a news video on the The Australian website by clicking here and/or go directly to the Family Radio website and read all about it (from the horse's mouth, so to speak) by clicking here... 

People are having a lot of fun with this, and it is hard to blame them. Having said that, this latest prediction provides an opportunity to ask the more serious question, "Where is it all actually heading?" The Jews of Old Testament times did talk about "the day of the Lord" - a time in the future when God would finally make everything that is wrong with the world, right again. A big part of this day would be  the judgement  of all people and the permanent establishment of God's new order of things... There are all kinds of theories about when this is going to happen and what it will involve, but most of the information used to work this stuff out comes from the New Testament book of Revelation, which is a pretty crazy read. You would have to be pretty game to make a hard call on anything based on the material in this book.

Jesus also referred to this "day of the Lord"; the time when the "Kingdom of God" would come once and for all. But his unique take on "the Kingdom" was that it was not just a future event to be expected or hoped for, but that is was something that was also happening in the present. He said things like "the Kingdom is near" and "the Kingdom is among you" and that he was at the centre of this activity. So, maybe Jesus' take on "the Kingdom" should inform our own take on the subject. Maybe we could focus on being a present day  outpost of the establishment of God's future rule over the cosmos. 

One of the things that Revelations does say about "the day of the Lord" is that there will be no more crying, sickness and death - that these "old things would have passed away" and that God will make "all things new". Now that sounds like something worth focusing on in the present. Let's get on with making God's future vision a reality in our own lives and world today.

That would bring about the end of the world as we know it and help to usher in a new world that we all might enjoy living in a whole lot more. 

You could say it might be like living in a kind of "heaven on earth"...

Shalom

Steve

     

Well Done, James...

Like all real men, I took only a cursory interest in the Royal Wedding. I sat at the kitchen table doing anything else while my beautiful wife Megan watched the wedding from prime position on our comfy couch. This arrangement suited me just fine. I was happy with the amount of wedding I was not tuning into... but then you can't help but pick up a few bits and pieces along the way in this kind of set up no matter how hard you try...

When James Middleton started to read the Bible Reading from Romans 12, I was drawn away from my not so important business at the kitchen table, and over to the TV... and this is what I saw and heard:

This reading from Romans 12 is one that I have read or heard many times before. It is the kind of reading that is easy to take for granted... I found James Middleton's reading of this passage very moving. There was a certain power to it that can't just be explained by the coaching he received . Anyway, it got me thinking about how the Bible and its message, in the right hands, can be powerful and moving... and also I guess, how in the wrong hands, it can be hurtful and repugnant...

So, thanks to all those who made the royal wedding possible so that James could deliver that great reading. It was worth the effort if just for that... I'm sure there were some other good things about it too...

Shalom... 

A Flood of Questions...

Homes lost; businesses gone; babies torn out of the arms of mothers; parents washed away in torrents... For some, lives have been ruined. For many, life has been put on hold, at the very least... We are by now, quite familiar with the images and stories of the flooding in Queensland of the past week, and underneath the many questions we have about this natural disaster is one question really - "Why?"...

In the Old Testament of the Bible, people saw everything as ultimately being of God's doing; as part of God's plan that He was working out. Natural disasters were seen as judgements from God for some lack of fidelity or the general wrong-doing of a people. "Why is this happening?", people would ask. "We are being judged for our wrongdoing." would come the reply. As our scientific knowledge has grown, we don't see this view expressed as robustly as we once did, but it is still out there...

Even if God is not doing something deliberate by sending a flood to devastate a community, surely if God is GOD, He might consider doing something about stopping or diverting the flood waters, mightn't He...? "Why is this happening?" people ask. "God doesn't care, is powerless to help, or isn't really there." comes the reply. God is seen as distant, uncaring, impotent and maybe even just plan evil. In the existential sense, we are alone in this...

If God is not there, then we are still left with the questions of "Why?" We can  strip the whole event of any meaning and talk about La Nina, flood plains, flood mitigation levels and dam management, and while there are concrete answers there to be found to our questions, they don't completely satisfy the yearning behind them. Our hearts still twitch for a deeper answer; for some meaning to the events and their consequences. We still want to know, "Why? Why? Why?"...

On one level, the answers to the question of "Why?" seem beyond our reach.  We may never fully appreciate "Why?" such things happen. But at another level, people seem to have instinctively found a response that is fitting for the moment...

Q - "Why?"

A - 7000 volunteers lined up on Saturday to help strangers across the city - more than the Brisbane City Council could handle...

Q - "Why?"

A - Lines of people, neck deep in water, removing precious possessions to higher ground for strangers, at risk of injury and sickness...

Q - "Why?"

A - Countless stories of people risking their own lives to help strangers or to reduce future life-threatening risks to others... 

Q - "Why?"

A - The lady who turned up to New Farm the other day with a plate of muffins for the volunteers working in that unit complex...

You know what I'm talking about. You've seen and heard all the stories... The best answer to the sometimes sob-ridden question of "Why?" has been presented over and over in the past week. There will be plenty of time to discuss all the other stuff over a beer later on...when all that smelly mud has been cleaned up...

Shalom

Steve

21st Century Christmas

Happy Christmas to all... Thanks to those who have engaged with this blog this year, even when my posting has been so erratic. I hope you have found it interesting or useful from time to time. I know it helps me to think through things, so at least it certainly has been useful for me...

For my final post of the year, here are some 21st century Christmas stories that others have sent me that I thought were worth passing on. You may have already received these... I thought they were great...

A Social Network Christmas

The Digital Story of the Nativity

"Shalom on earth and good will to all"

Steve

Turn the Other Chook

This is one of the best tag lines I've ever seen / heard / read... and for a great product / cause.

Given that Christmas is coming, Tear Australia has once again launched it's "Arguably the World's Most Useful Gifts - Christmas 2010" catalogue to give folks a non-consumerist option for their Christmas present buying this year.

Here's how it works...

Check out the link and have a look around the site. "Useful Gifts" is not limited to buying useful gifts at Christmas time, there are ways contribute throughout the year and even the opportunity to run your own "Useful Gifts" shop.

Check it out...

Shalom

Steve

Doubts and Loves

I recently finished reading a book by Richard Holloway called "Doubts and Loves: What is Left of Christianity". I have blogged on Richard Holloway before. I like his stuff. I think he has a lot to offer...

Richard Holloway used to be the Bishop of Edinburgh with the Scottish Episcopal Church, but resigned in 2000 after attending a Bishop's conference where he was appalled by the overall attitude of the conference to people who identify as gay and lesbian. Now, he calls himself an atheist or agnostic, but still attends and even preaches in a church. He's not sure about God, but he still loves Christianity and the church, and believes that it all still has something to offer. So, he is an 'outsider' of sorts. An outsider who has been on the inside and now likes to have a foot in each camp. I don't know if he would be pleased with that assessment of his current position, but it gives you some idea of where he is at... I hope...

Throughout "Doubts and Loves", Holloway outlines his current theological positions. He's not completely sure, but he doesn't believe there is a God;  he thinks religions are extremely insightful conversations humans have been having with themselves; there are and were no miracles (EG - no virgin birth, no water into wine, no healings and no resurrection etc ); there is no heaven and hell etc etc... you get the idea. His belief is that the gospels were heavily edited later on to include all the God claims and miracles of Jesus. But even without these, he still wants to be a part of "what is left of Christianity". He thinks that if people followed the way of Jesus, in terms of how he lived and what he taught , that even without all the spiritual and miraculous stuff, the world could be transformed, the Kingdom would come, and heaven would come to earth.

I was really challenged by that. Christianity is a faith that has spent a lot of time and effort getting it's beliefs right ("orthodoxy"). But what Holloway is suggesting, is that Christianity should be defined by it's "orthopraxy", that is, it's right practice and ethical living. So, here is a man whose theology is completey "not right" by orthodox standards. He doesn't subscribe to any of the orthodox creedal positions on God, Jesus, the Bible etc, and yet he believes that if we literally follow and imitate Jesus, we'll change the world and make Jesus' vision of the world a reality.

That's all I really wanted to say about that (how very Forrest Gump of me)... I just thought it was a great 'outsider" observation that we could get something from. Francis Schaeffer once asked the question (in the title of his well known book), "How should we then live?". Maybe rather than "What should we believe?", this is most important question of all?

Shalom

Steve