inspiral blog

Last Sunday, we started From Violence to Wholeness, a 10-session process in the spirituality and practice of active nonviolence. There is a real sense of excitement among the group about engaging with these ideas, and welcoming in the life changes it challenges us to make.

Part of the opening of the program required us to take an intentional look at one another and recognise in each other many experiences of violence – verbal, emotional, or physical – in which we have been involved. And then to do the same with nonviolence: recognise the ways in which this person has had tendencies towards love. This second part asked us to be “quietly aware of the length and breadth and depth of their journey toward becoming human.” It immediately called to mind the lectionary reading for the day (which we had just read), which was Ephesians 3:14-21, and it includes the passage, “I pray that you may have the power to comprehend, with all the saints, what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.” (emphasis mine) The connection, I thought, was quite amazing. Isn’t the journey toward becoming fully human the very same as the journey to comprehend the love of Christ (which paradoxically surpasses knowledge!!)?

This coming week, the program looks more intentionally at violence, and specifically the experience and dynamics of it. The reading for this week is by Father John Dear, whose visit to Australia next year is at the forefront of my mind at the moment. The article is called “Forgetting Who We Are”, and it argues primarily that violence requires us to forget that we are all children of God, and therefore all infinitely valuable; nonviolence is thre reclamation of that basic truth. Yet again, the lectionary reading for this week connects poignantly with this idea:

Eph 4:1-7. I therefore, the prisoner in the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, making every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to the one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in all. (emphases mine)

Could the connection be any more perfect?

This is one of the things I love about the lectionary: its seeming randomness disguises its universality. That is, the Bible connects simply because it is universal in human experience. And as such, its ability to connect, to delight with that connection, is all the more intensified.

Erica gave her life story this week, a sacred and profoundly moving experience for all of us. No details here obviously but thanks heaps to Erica for testifying (in the truest sense of the word) so personally and honestly. We really ought to do this life story thing more often.

We also started to explore the possibility and ramifications of opening our dinners up to others. Not that they weren’t already welcome, but actively seeking out particularly those who are disadvantaged. Interesting, because it was just a little over a year ago that Anthony first suggested the idea, and here we are a year later finally ready to do it. Full circle – or maybe full spiral? Yeah, spiral’s better.

We went on an Urban Seed Bible Walk this week, a tour of the intersection between faith and culture, scripture and lived experience for Urban Seed. We started in the church building itself (Collins St Baptist), analysing structures not just in terms of their function and purpose, but in terms of what they evoked emotionally. Marcus used the story of John baptizing in the wilderness to raise questions about margins and central spaces, and begin some questioning around what is valued in our society and what ought to be valued.

Then we went up on the roof, reflecting on the different ‘layers’ of the city, and who is marginalized, who is welcomed, and how…talked about the temptation narrative in Mark, and some other stories.

Then we went down to Credo café, and basically asked questions of Marcus; about how it works, the history, etc.

Finally we spent some time in Baptist Place, the alley behind the building. Reflected and talked about the connection (or inseparability) between active love and nonviolence, at the intersection of drug addiction and traditional church respectability…who are our enemies here?

Afterwards a few of us went to a local café and chatted for a while about the sorts of issues it raised for us – about God, about mission/evangelism, and about our own response.

Thanks to Marcus not just for leading us through this, but for the way he led…vulnerably, patiently, thoughtfully, giving space and time.

This short description doesn’t do the experience justice, of course, and I’d say that this could have been one of the most significant formative inspiral experiences for many of us.

To think that one of our own hails from just such a magical place.

Interestingly, Marcus from Urban Seed was saying yesterday that “Jesus of Nazareth” was something akin to saying “Jesus of Nowheresville”.

Could Poowong be our Nazareth? Maybe.

…to one of our friends from the ASWC, Charles, for winning the Victorian amateur middleweight boxing title last week. Now I just have to somehow square this with nonviolence…

(right click on the picture below and then select “View Image” to read the article.)

Here’s a story from Daniel we gave some similar treatment to tonight:

Original text:Daniel 3:19-30. (The prelude: King Nebuchadnezzar has ordered that everyone must worship an idol he had made, and that if they refuse, they will be thrown into a fiery furnace. Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego refuse on the grounds that Yahweh is the only true God.)

Then Nebuchadnezzar was so filled with rage against Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego that his face was distorted. He ordered the furnace heated up seven times more than was customary, and ordered some of the strongest guards in his army to bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego and to throw them into the furnace of blazing fire. So the men were bound, still wearing their tunics, their trousers, their hats, and their other garments, and they were thrown into the furnace of blazing fire. Because the king’s command was urgent and the furnace was so overheated, the raging flames killed the men who lifted Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. But the three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, fell down, bound, into the furnace of blazing fire.
Then King Nebuchadnezzar was astonished and rose up quickly. He said to his counselors, “Was it not three men that we threw bound into the fire?” They answered the king, “True, O king.”
He replied, “But I see four men unbound, walking in the middle of the fire, and they are not hurt; and the fourth has the appearance of a god.”
Nebuchadnezzar then approached the door of the furnace of blazing fire and said, “Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, servants of the Most High God, come out! Come here!” So Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego came out from the fire.
And the satraps, the prefects, the governors, and the king’s counselors gathered together and saw that the fire had not had any power over the bodies of those men; the hair of their heads was not singed, their tunics were not harmed, and not even the smell of fire came from them.
Nebuchadnezzar said, “Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who has sent his angel and delivered his servants who trusted in him. They disobeyed the king’s command and yielded up their bodies rather than serve and worship any god except their own God.
Therefore I make a decree: Any people, nation, or language that utters blasphemy against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego shall be torn limb from limb, and their houses laid in ruins; for there is no other god who is able to deliver in this way.”
Then the king promoted Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the province of Babylon.

Our take:
Necessary background – Costello has had something of a religious conversion, and now believes God opposes the Iraq war.

Then Howard was so filled with rage against Costello for his opposition to the Iraq war that he publicly sacked him and signed him up for deployment to Iraq. He ordered more troops to be sent as well.
Costello was sent there, still in his suit and tie. Howard’s command was urgent and so many troops were sent there that there was confusion and some of Costello’s unit were killed in the crossfire.
In the middle of the battlefield, Costello stepped on a mine which exploded causing massive destruction. Howard was watching from his bulletproof armoured personnel carrier and was astonished and jumped to his feet. He said to his advisors, “Wasn’t Costello alone on that minefield?” They replied, “That is true, Prime Minister.” He replied, “But I saw two men blown up, and the second had the appearance of a god.”
Howard drove over to the edge of the minefield and called Costello to come to him. The advisors, journalists, spin doctors and governer-general gathered together and saw that the mine had no power over Costello. His suit wasn’t soiled, his tie wasn’t crooked, there was not a hair out of place.
Howard said, “I was wrong, and I am sorry. The God of Costello was right! He has protected Costello who trusted in him. He contradicted me and risked his own reputation rather than disobeying God. Therefore I make a new law: anyone who forgets that God desires peace will be thrown in jail. There is no other God who is able to save in this way.
The Howard reinstated Costello and listened to his advice.

On the weekend away, one of the sessions Anthony came up with involved rewriting a Bible story in more contemporary terms. I suggested something from the Exodus story, since it was such a defining story for the Jews, including Jesus, and so they picked a part of it and went for their lives. Below is the original text, followed by their rewrite.

The original text: Exodus 7:14-25.

Then the Lord said to Moses, “Pharaoh’s heart is hardened; he refuses to let the people go. Go to Pharaoh in the morning, as he is going out to the water; stand by at the river bank to meet him, and take in your hand the staff that was turned into a snake. Say to him, “The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, sent me to you to say, “Let my people go, so that they may worship me in the wilderness.” But until now you have not listened.
Thus says the Lord, “By this you shall know that I am the Lord.” See, with the staff that is in my hand I will strike the water that is in the Nile, and it shall be turned to blood.
The fish in the river shall die, the river itself shall stink, and the Egyptians shall be unable to drink water from the Nile.’ ”
The Lord said to Moses, “Say to Aaron, “Take your staff and stretch out your hand over the waters of Egypt–over its rivers, its canals, and its ponds, and all its pools of water–so that they may become blood; and there shall be blood throughout the whole land of Egypt, even in vessels of wood and in vessels of stone.’ ”
Moses and Aaron did just as the Lord commanded. In the sight of Pharaoh and of his officials he lifted up the staff and struck the water in the river, and all the water in the river was turned into blood, and the fish in the river died. The river stank so that the Egyptians could not drink its water, and there was blood throughout the whole land of Egypt.
But the magicians of Egypt did the same by their secret arts; so Pharaoh’s heart remained hardened, and he would not listen to them, as the Lord had said.
Pharaoh turned and went into his house, and he did not take even this to heart.
And all the Egyptians had to dig along the Nile for water to drink, for they could not drink the water of the river.
Seven days passed after the Lord had struck the Nile.

The inspiral rewrite (Charlie is one of the asylum seekers at the ASWC):

Then the Lord said to Charlie, “The Migration Act’s heart is hardened. It refuses to let the people go. Hi-jack a tram and drive it down Swanston Street. Say to the crowd “The Lord, the God of the Refugees, has sent me to say “Let my people go, so they can live.”" So until now you have not listened. Thus says the Lord, “By this you shall know I am the Lord.”
See with the tram I am driving, I will strike the power of this city, and darkness will fall over Melbourne. Nova shall die, the city will stink, and Melburnians will become depressed.
God had said to Charlie “Tell Aaron, “Go to the State Library. Tap into the computers at Loy Yang A and B – the generator systems, the transformer controllers, the transmission switches. Close them all down. There will be no more power for Melbourne – even for the toasters or hair dryers.
Charlie and Aaron did exactly as God commanded them. Aaron pressed ENTER at the State Library. He rose from his seat, and walked down Swanston Streen towards Charlie and the Tram. Around him the city was shutting down. At the Tram, Charlie and Aaron told the crowd what they had done.
But the spin doctors spun the story with their incantations. Still the Act remained heartless. Melbourne turned on its heel and went home, never giving what had been said a second thought. But all of Melbourne had to queue at the banks, the ATMs wouldn’t work.
Seven days went by after God had struck Melbourne.

For a small group of people, we sure are well travelled.

Penny leaves tomorrow for a 6 month trip to Europe, studying in Sweden for most of that time. Jane is currently in the NT. In August, Felicity takes off for Senegal for 6 months. Erica is off to South America later this year. Meryl and Lee may be off to Cambodia early next year, at which time Tara is also off to Europe. And all this after Anthony spent a month in Burma earlier this year.

Really, this was just to say bon voyage and farewell to Penny. Have a great time, and return to us refreshed, enthused, and challenged. We’ll miss you!