Wurundjeri story of creation August 8, 2009
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This is a creation story as told by the indigenous people of the area in which missio Dei meets. It was used as part of our traditional acknowledgement of the land liturgy. Enjoy! Bunjil & Pallian Creation Story
A Look at the Book – Luke Daily(ish) Reflection # 3 July 24, 2009
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Luke 1: 57-80
Zechariah, John’s father, sings a great song of hope, a song which has come down to us through the centuries. It is interesting to note that the hope of salvation he speaks of is both spiritual and practical. God will ‘deliver us from our enemies, and from the hand of all who hate us,’ and give his people ‘the knowledge of salvation through the forgiveness of their sins, because of the tender mercy of our God.’ God wants to work on the external circumstances and the internal brokenness. As we sing our song of hope, we need to sing about the world and our heart, our society and our sin, justice and forgiveness.
As I read this passage, I’m again struck by the weight of the calling which is placed on people in these early stories of Luke. Zechariah is told that his elderly wife is going to have a baby who will announce the salvation of Israel. Mary is called to carry the Son of God, and now Zechariah is placing an enormous weight of expectation on his little baby: ‘You will be called a prophet of the Most High.’ Is it possible that those watching John grow up could have forgotten these words? I think about all the words that are applied throughout the Bible to us – Christians. We are called to be peacemakers, salt and light, to take up our cross, and many other things. If we were born into Christian families, we have to decide, as John must have – am I going to take on these things that are said about me?
A Look at the Book – Luke Daily(ish) Reflection # 2 July 17, 2009
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Luke 1: 39-56
Mary’s words here are known as the Magnificat. It is worth remembering that Mary is a very young woman at this point – a teenager – but she displays here a deep knowledge about the ways of God. She knows that her ‘humble state’ is not just coincidental to the fact that she was chosen to bear God: it’s one of the reasons she was chosen in the first place. It’s the way God has always worked through history: taking the powerful off their thrones, lifting up the humble, sending the rich away, feeding the hungry. Choosing a poor Jewish girl seems strange, but no stranger than the rest of the history of salvation.
A couple of things strike me: One, what does this mean for Christians in politics? Are we supposed to be seeking the thrones of power? And two, God ‘sends the rich away empty’ . . . Am I rich?
Who is the naked, running man? August 3, 2008
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This was one of a few questions asked when we convened this morning to discuss Mark specifically, and engaging the scriptures more generally. This month’s theme is engaging the scriptures. We had a good conversation about the dynamics of reading and interpreting the bible. We have decided that Mark is still the book of the month for this month also, as we did not have a chance to discuss it last month because of the UNOH conference.
This morning, an interpretation primer was handed out and discussed. You can find it here … md-engaging-the-bible-primer
Tune in next month for the identity of the naked running man.
A look at the book – Gospel of Mark July 5, 2008
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I love the Gospel of Mark. It is Gospel time, and we are back to Mark. So, here’s the bookmark for this months book. Check it out, there are some fantastic comments from an article called Dare to Preach This Gospel – Mark’s gospel offers an antidote to domesticated, superficial Christianity, by William O’Brien. You can find the whole article here. The look at the book bookmark can be found here. md-a-look-at-the-book-bookmark-mark
Changes to dna and practices page… May 9, 2008
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Hey all, just a note to let you know that I have updated the page on this site about our dna and practices. I looked at some of the statements about the compass and they were a little bit dated. So I up”dated” them. Any problems, let me know.
