Dance fears,
dance anger,
dance failure,
dance sorrow.
Lead, and I
will follow
the steps that will
lead me to You.
Talitha Fraser
Tag Archive: prayer
My way is all trust and love
Hey God,
We’re not down, we’re not out, but we’re hurting.
This vulnerability sits like an open wound and
every new hit jars it.
We breathe through it, lean into it,
listen for what the pain has to tell us.
Lend us quiet that allows us to hear
the harmonies of the universe that let
us know, even in this, as we are, we have
a place in the order of things.
Lend us space that allows us freedom
for those things that are tight to loosen,
those thoughts and events moving quickly
time to slow so that we can look and
see them clearly.
Lend us peace that allows us grace
to tell the difference between our internal
and external insecurities – our own and
also of those around us.
There is much that is unknown,
but You are not.
We are grateful for that.
Lead us. Teach us. Send us.
Amen
Talitha Fraser
On the weekend of 24-25 September Whitley College hosted a conference called Constitutions and Treaties: Law, Justice, Spirituality – these are notes from session 5 of 9. We acknowledge that this gathering, listening and learning occurred of the land of the Wurundjeri People of the Kulin Nations and offer our respects to their elders past and present, and all visiting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island visitors present.
Need to recognise culture AND faith. Deal was made with me and with the land. Parity not vassal treaty. Joshua violated the treaty.
What if churches dared to take the lead and make an apology – a sacred apology?
Primal is the one we share. Abraham recognised the Creator Spirit… El Elyon – Maker of Sea and Sky. Abraham made a treaty with the indigenous people of Canaan.
From 7 Sacred Pauses by Macrina Wiederkehr, p.40-41
Summoned from sleep
in the heart of night
my name is called
and, like Samuel,
I rise from my bed
seeking the caller.
Summoned from sleep
I am drawn into
the beating heart
of the One
who called me.
The angel of night
lights a candle in my soul
inviting me to listen
to the wordless song
of Divine Union.
Deep healing.
Deep listening.
Deep waiting.
Deep watching.
All of these become
a part of my night watch.
In the heart of the night
you prepare me to be
your deep healing
for all who watch
through the night
of their fears.
The Indigenous Hospitality House are hosting learning circles on a breadth of topics. Here are Samara’s reflections on the Quaker session. Photo credit to IHH.
Start with silence – business meetings, weddings, funerals, protests… this is an intentional mechanism for listening to the prophetic voice.
On the table in front of us we have flowers [something from creation], the Bible, and “our book” [the Quaker queries and advices].
Calm, relax, let go, forget day/tasks/concerns.
Be present.
For me this is often about my body yielding and a remembering of the nature of love to change.
A service might go an hour or more, let’s try and go for 10 mins and close with “Thank you friends”
These spaces
– don’t critique
– not intellectually analysing/deconstructing
…but hearing spiritually.
Spaces are to address spiritual wellbeing. To provide a space to see and understand spiritually.
Quakers believe no priest of minister can do it for you. The hour of silence is an hour of active worship. You will be changed. There is an expectation of that.
Someone might ask a question aloud… [Quakers might reference their queries and advices book if relevant]. They do not give “answers”
Only you have your own answer to deepen your spiritual life.
e.g. “I want to talk about why I’m sad…”
“We can, but what makes you happy?”
The process reframes.
SILENCE
– together
– connected to others present
– not worried about what your thinking (don’t stress if you start but a shopping list, but…)
– take a thought, dwell on it as you need to – may or may not become ministry.
– no veil(s) between me and God
– ministry uncanny to what’s on your heart/mind.
N.B. This post may be a negative trigger for survivors of physical and sexual abuse.
This morning we held a peaceful Love Makes a Way vigil outside Tim Watts office in Footscray as part of a bigger movement in response to the heart-wrenching incident reports leaked last week to The Guardian known as the Nauru Files. LMAW members and friends from a wide range of asylum seeker advocacy groups converged on over 45 MP offices and Immigration Dept offices across Australia in pro
test.
Armed with paper dolls to symbolise the men, women and children
who have been abused and traumatised by offshore detention, these small groups read from the incident reports, heard poetry from former refugees and demanded the Government #CloseTheCamps and #BringThemHere
Welcome. We acknowledge that we gather today, to sing and pray, on the land of the Wurundjeri people of the Kulin Nation.
I’m sure most of you here are already across the Love Makes A Way movement and what it’s about, we don’t really have words to respond to these leaked Nauru Files. These dolls that you see here, we will be leaving them up and the reason for that is that it will mean someone here at Tim Watts office will have to physically engage in the act of taking them down. The lives of these children, or these people are in their hands. Written on some of these images are the words of case workers and people in detention centres – stories of sexual and physical abuse. We put these images here as a symbol of these people that are entrusted to our care, to our politicians care, and we don’t think they’re doing a very good job with the responsibility that has been entrusted to them. In the tradition of the civil rights movement we want to sing some songs that inspire and speak to the world we want to live in and welcome these people to join us in.
There is room
There is room at the table (x3)
Bring them here, let them stay.
There is room at the border (x3)
Bring them here, let them stay.
There is room in our hearts (x3)
Bring them here, let them stay.
There is hope for a new tomorrow (x3)
Bring them here, let them stay.
We say love makes a way (x3)
Bring them here, let them stay.
Hold on (Love Makes A Way)
(tune: Keep your hand to the plough/Keep your eyes on the prize)
They are coming across the sea,
From their homes they have had to flee,
We say, love will bring them here, hold on.
We are here to sing and shout,
Why you keeping God’s children out?
We say love will let them stay, hold on.
Chorus
Hold on, hold on,
We say, love makes a way, hold on.
We say welcome the refugee
We say set all the people free
We say, love will bring them here, hold on.
We have room in our hearts to care
We have plenty enough to share
We say, love will let them stay, hold on.
We shall bring them here
(words adapted from ‘We shall overcome’)
We shall bring them here, we shall bring them here
We shall bring them here some day
Oh deep in my heart, I do believe
We shall bring them here some day
We will not keep silent, we will not keep silent
We will not keep silent today
Oh deep in my heart, I do believe
We will not keep silent today
The truth shall make us free, the truth shall make us free
The truth shall make us free some day
Oh deep in my heart, I do believe
The truth shall make us free some day
We are not afraid, we are not afraid
We are not afraid today
Oh deep in my heart, I do believe
We are not afraid today
We shall let them stay, we shall let them stay
We shall let them stay some day
Oh deep in my heart, I do believe
We shall let them stay some day
As I went down to Tim’s office to pray
(words adapted from ‘As I went down to the river to pray’)
1) As I went down to Tim’s office to pray
Welcome the refugee, let them stay
And who shall help us bring them here?
Good Lord show me the way!
O sisters let’s go down
Let’s go down, come on down
O sisters let’s go down
Down to Tim’s office to pray
2) As I went down to Tim’s office to pray
Welcome the refugee, let them stay
And who shall call for a change of heart?
Good Lord show me the way!
O brothers let’s go down
Let’s go down, come on down
O brothers, let’s go down
Down to Tim’s office to pray
3) As I went down to Tim’s office to pray
Welcome the refugee, let them stay
And who shall raise their voices here?
Good Lord show me the way
O mothers let’s go down
Let’s go down, come on down
O mothers let’s go down
Down to Tim’s office to pray
4) As I went down to Tim’s office to pray
Welcome the refugee, let them stay
And who shall work for a better plan?
Good Lord show me the way
O fathers let’s go down
Let’s go down, come on down
O fathers, let’s go down
Down to Tim’s office to pray
5) As I went down to Tim’s office to pray
Welcome the refugee, let them stay
And who shall share these boundless plains?
Good Lord show me the way
O people, let’s go down
Let’s go down, come on down
O people, let’s go down
Down to Tim’s office to pray
6) As I went down to Tim’s office to pray
Welcome the refugee, let them stay
And who shall help us bring them here?
Good Lord show me the way
READING — ‘HOME’ (Warsan Shire)
no one leaves home unless
home is the mouth of a shark
you only run for the border
when you see the whole city running as
well
your neighbors running faster than you
breath bloody in their throats
the boy you went to school with
who kissed you dizzy behind the old tin
factory
is holding a gun bigger than his body
you only leave home
when home won’t let you stay.
no one leaves home unless home chases
you
fire under feet
hot blood in your belly
it’s not something you ever thought of
doing
until the blade burnt threats into
your neck
and even then you carried the anthem
under
your breath
only tearing up your passport in an airport
toilets
sobbing as each mouthful of paper
made it clear that you wouldn’t be going
back.
you have to understand,
that no one puts their children in a boat
unless the water is safer than the land
no one burns their palms
under trains
beneath carriages
no one spends days and nights in the
stomach of a truck
feeding on newspaper unless the miles
travelled
means something more than journey.
no one crawls under fences
no one wants to be beaten
pitied
no one chooses refugee camps
or strip searches where your
body is left aching
or prison,
because prison is safer
than a city of fire
and one prison guard
in the night
is better than a truckload
of men who look like your father
no one could take it
no one could stomach it
no one skin would be tough enough
the
go home blacks
refugees
dirty immigrants
asylum seekers
sucking our country dry
niggers with their hands out
they smell strange
savage
messed up their country and now they
want
to mess ours up
how do the words
the dirty looks
roll off your backs
maybe because the blow is softer
than a limb torn off
or the words are more tender
than fourteen men between
your legs
or the insults are easier
to swallow
than rubble
than bone
than your child body
in pieces.
i want to go home,
but home is the mouth of a shark
home is the barrel of the gun
and no one would leave home
unless home chased you to the shore
unless home told you
to quicken your legs
leave your clothes behind
crawl through the desert
wade through the oceans
drown
save
be hunger
beg
forget pride
your survival is more important
no one leaves home until home is a
sweaty voice in your ear
saying-
leave,
run away from me now
i don’t know what i’ve become
but i know that anywhere
is safer than here.
Were you there?
Were you there when they turned the boats away?
Were you there when they turned the boats away?
Ohhh, sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble,
Were you there when they turned the boats away?
Were you there when our nation turned its face?….
Were you there when the child was locked away?….
Were you there when the abuses came to light?…..
We will pray until love can make a way…..
Our hearts’ song is to close the camps and bring them here and we’ll keep singing, praying and turning up until love makes a way…
We are running a fortnightly bible study following our community dinner looking at the exegesis (interpretation) of the bible passages that underpin each of our community values. You can read the list of Values here so you know what’s coming up next.
These values can be relevant whatever context you live and work in just make the Word you own.
Value 1: Partnering with God
We value the opportunity of participating in the Missio Dei (mission of God). Through persistence in prayer, we seek to recognise where God is at work in Footscray, and become co-workers with Christ.
Biblical basis: Psalm 127:1, Luke 18:7, 1 Cor 3:9
Let’s read the value together. What words stand out? Any you don’t know?
What does being a partner mean? What are some different examples of partners?
business partner, relationships, sport teams, partner in crime, duet…
What sorts of things do partners do for each other?
work together, help out, trust, backup in tough times, share responsibility…
Read the bible. What words/ideas stand out?
Psalm 127:1-2
Unless you’ve commissioned the building project, LORD,
……..attempting construction would be futile.
Unless you’re in charge of security, LORD,
……..our gates and guards are a waste of effort.
We could work ourselves to the bone for nothing;
……..first on the job in the morning, last home at night,
…………….and what would we have to show for it?
……..Nothing but heartaches and ulcers.
You, LORD, long for us to slow down.
……..We can relax and trust in your loving care.
©2000 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net
Luke 18: 1-8
Jesus told this story to encourage people to be persistent in prayer and never lose heart:
Once upon a time there was a town magistrate who took no notice of God and had no respect for anyone. There was a widowed woman in the town who had very little in the way of resources or influence, but who kept contacting the magistrate and demanding that he take action to protect her rights in a dispute with a powerful opponent. For a while he just kept brushing her off, but eventually he said to himself, “I couldn’t care less what happens to this woman, and all her talk of God’s justice means nothing to me; but I’m going to give her what she wants because I’m sick to death of her nagging and I just want to get her off my back.”
And the Lord commented on his story, saying:
“Do you hear the point in what the callous magistrate is saying? If he can be pressured into acting for justice, can’t you see how much more certain it is that God will bring about justice for those who have dedicated themselves to God and cry out for help night and day. Will God brush them off and ignore their pleas. You can take it from me: God will waste no time in bringing about justice for them. And yet, will the New Human find much of that sort of persistent faith on earth when he makes his entrance?
©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net
1 Cor 3:5-9
Who do you think Paul is, anyway? Or Apollos, for that matter? Servants, both of us—servants who waited on you as you gradually learned to entrust your lives to our mutual Master. We each carried out our servant assignment. I planted the seed, Apollos watered the plants, but God made you grow. It’s not the one who plants or the one who waters who is at the center of this process but God, who makes things grow. Planting and watering are menial servant jobs at minimum wages. What makes them worth doing is the God we are serving. You happen to be God’s field in which we are working.
The Message
Reflection time
What can we learn from the bible about living the value of “Partnering with God”?
- Building bricks… Some of these things that we said partners do for each other – how are we doing them for God now? Or how could we start? Share a story…
- Postcards… Persistence in prayer… what is God telling us is worthy of attention in Footscray? What should we focus on?
- Stones… is there anything that should be left out of what we are building together here? What are the things that stop us choosing the right bricks?
God
I acknowledge my
inabilities,
my smallness,
my powerlessness
to affect any change
least of all
to myself
take me and make me
something beautiful
to You
take me and make me
something beautiful.
Amen.
Talitha Fraser
God our creator, provider, and carer,
You are the best and fairest;
We are committed to searching out and living the way that you want us to.
Help us not to worry about the future,
and to share what we have with others.
Forgive us when we destroy life
and teach us to create life instead.
Give us courage to choose to
forgive those who hurt us.
Be with us in our time of need
and help us not to give up.
Our safety and life is in you.
Amen
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