We carry the work with us, even when we leave. Leaves of work. Leave from work. Leave work behind, it’s Friday. #work #mahi
Tag Archive: work
Today was the day to cut the lawn, weed, clean the esky and camp chairs, plan shade… the role of hosting isn’t that restful and yet, to potter at home is a kind of rest, to talk through our plans is a kind of rest, to have an easy meal with a cold drink binge watching The Witcher is another kind of rest. And it feels good. #rest #okioki #adventwords2019
This morning I knelt at the vegie patch, claiming peas, broadbeans, and basil before the heat of the day. To make a wreath, I sat in the grass by the green waste pile stripping dry branches of leaves, I bent over to select succulents from the council planting on the nature strip across the road. Where do you lend your hands and work and voice? What will you make of that? A beautiful offering. #worship #koropiko #adventwords2019
A take home message of any indigenous event such as ‘Land and Place: Indigenous Perspectives in the Era of Displacement‘ these days is that non-indigenous people need to do their own homework and help to educate their mob but it can be hard for individuals or churches to know where to start. This is a synthesis of some suggestions that arose from the NAIITS launch sessions and yarning circles and some other resources that I’ve found useful along the way that resonated with what I was hearing…
- Do undergrad or postgrad study in indigenous theology with indigenous teachers through Whitley at the University of Divinity!
- Visit collections and exhibitions in national galleries and museums – like a First Peoples tour of the Bunjilaka Cultural Centre at the Melbourne Museum, a guided walking tour of Melbourne CBD through the Koori Heritage Trust, or visit Narana.
- Folks go on pilgrimages such as the walking the Camino de Santiago, or Via Dolorosa in Jerusalem… what if we connected with the Creator Spirit right here in this place? Visit Uluru, an intentional community like Campfire in the Heart, or just go camping in an area of native bush near you and experience the land around you… if you’re not sure where to go (ask permission and) join the mob sitting in at the Djab Wurrung Embassy protecting 800-year old birthing trees from a motorway extension that’ll save drivers merely 3 minutes.
- Connect with the mob at Indigenous Hospitality House (IHH). The Indigenous Hospitality House is a Settler (non-Indigenous) household on Wurundjeri country in Melbourne, Australia. The residents open their home to provide short-term accommodation for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people who need to come to Melbourne for hospital business. They also make space for others to rethink their Settler identity and discipleship journey in light of Australia’s colonial history – they run bible study series, host regular Learning Circles, and have published a book called Tales from the Table on their reflections and learnings from 15 years of hosting guests.
- Explore and practice different rhythms of ritual and liturgy such as those of the Wilderness Way Community – put phones down to leave chronos time behind, take off shoes to connect with the earth, everyone is outside so you are hearing the Bible stories orally and acting them out. There are no mikes or screens or songsheets – a lot of the songs therefore are call and response or echo format…
Everything I need is right in front of me (x2)
Can we be manna, manna?
Can we be manna for each other? (x2)
See more suggestions for meditating in your watershed here. - Integrate daily, monthly, annual rhythms – in what you read, watch, who you follow on Facebook or on Instagram, what you do and where you go. Commit to knowing more than you did yesterday or last year. Learn significant dates for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Australians and find ways to acknowledge and observe them as an individual, a family, a community, a church… as a nation. You will find art and activism, celebrations and song.
Just like Aunty Rev Patricia Courtenay said: ‘Know the past, change the future’
All that isn’t
All that is
All out of my hands
but I hold it
just the same
All that is mess
All that is mystery
All that is ‘out there’
and within me
just the same
Talitha Fraser
God, what does Your Great Economy have to say to this who knows its worth? Let me trust to Your providing for what is pleasing to You. Drop what should be dropped, yield what should be yielded, share what should be shared, confess what should be confessed. Let some fall, let some break, let some call, let some run late. If it is not of You – let it lie, let it die, that I might know life anew in You.
You have to start
knowing you might not finish
You have to start
knowing you might not get very far
You have to start
knowing it might not make any difference
You have to start
You have to start
Talitha Fraser
Grab some paper & pens (a long roll and colours might inspire some creative enthusiasm)
draw a horizontal axis through the middle of your sheet – this is for time (your age, the year, whichever you prefer…)
draw a vertical axis on the left hand side of your sheet – this is for showing paid work (above the line) and unpaid work (below the line) and should provide an exercise to map how much you’ve had going on at once…
Reflection Questions:
1. At different stages, what have been the priorities that have directed/influenced your work choices and balance between paid work, unpaid work & rest?
2. When you look at your journey, where have you found fulfillment?
In which role or balance of roles?
3. Does the work you do influence the way you feel about yourself?
itellyouarise 