From the Chaplains

“There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” 

Galatians 3:28 

These astonishingly radical words, which the apostle Paul wrote to the Galatians (in modern day Turkey) in about 56 C.E., were ringing in my head during the last week of the school holidays.  

I spent that week with dear friends; brothers and sisters in Christ, in the remote Aboriginal community of Minyerri, about 450 km SE of Darwin.  

My church in North Turramurra has a precious and rare partnership with the church in Minyerri, and we have visited twice a year for over 10 years. Together we share our faiths, our struggles, our failings and our journeys. We read the Bible, sing, talk and pray together.  

We do not visit to tell the Minyerri church mob how to do church. We do not visit to show them the best way. We visit to encourage and walk alongside a tiny remote church, and in turn we too are blessed and encouraged.  

In most ways, life in Minyerri is as different from Sydney North Shore culture as you could possibly imagine. English is the second, third or fourth language for most people. The spoken language there is a dialect of Aboriginal Kriol. Some of the older people still speak some Alawa, the traditional language of that Country, but sadly their number is dwindling.

Cultural law is still followed in some cases. Initiation ceremonies still occur for young men. Everyone in the community (and indeed all across the Top End of Australia) is connected and related to one another via an incredibly complex and sophisticated kinship system which interconnects all people, animals, waterways and the land in a network of relationships. Everyone and everything has a place. On the weekends, families go out fishing and come back with barramundi, bream, goanna, and maybe even a turtle or kangaroo if they’re lucky.

Bush honey, tjupi (blackcurrants), yarlbun (waterlily – the stalk is crunchy like celery and the bulb can be ground to make a paste) and gulbarn (a leaf with a fresh scent that is drunk as a tea and helps with colds and flu) are gathered in season.

This place is worlds away from the huge houses, green lawns and cafes of the North Shore.

And yet. When our church mob visits the Minyerri church mob, we are all one in Christ.

We are bound together by the gospel of Jesus Christ, the good news that God loves each one of us (all human beings) so much that God sacrificed Godself to bring us back into an intimate relationship with our Creator.

Our shared faith, and the knowledge that each one of us is made in the image of God, cuts through all the cultural and language differences. The joyful experience of reading the Scriptures together, in a cross-cultural context, develops our faith and understanding of how God works in all kinds of ways that are not dependent on human language, culture, place or time.

Just as Paul tells the Galatians, the temporal and human differences of culture, language, sex, social status and ethnicity fade in comparison to the eternal union that we find in the forgiveness and the love of Christ.

While I was in Minyerri, the terrible news came through from Israel and Palestine and I was reminded once again of how the differences between human beings can become justifications for violence and hatred. And how disputes over land can be at the centre of such violence, as it has been in our own Australian history.

I am sure many of you, like me, have been watching the media and hearing with horror and sadness the stories of violence and loss, and feeling helpless in the face of such deep-seated historical conflict.

I share with you below a powerful prayer from Justin Welby, the Archbishop of Canterbury; head of the Anglican Church in England.

Rev. Bent and I are praying for those families in our school community and others known to us who are grieving for or worrying about loved ones in Israel, Palestine and bordering regions. This Friday morning in our weekly staff Holy Communion service we will again be spending time in prayer for those caught up in the conflict. 

Please, if you are a pray-er, or even if you are not usually, join me in prayer:

God of compassion and justice,

We cry out to You for all who suffer

in the Holy Land today.

For your precious children,

Israelis and Palestinians,

Traumatised and in fear for their lives;

Lord, have mercy.

For the families of the bereaved,

For those who have seen images they will never forget,

For those anxiously waiting for news,

Despairing with each passing day;

Lord, have mercy.

For young men and women,

Heading into combat,

Bearing the burden of what others have done

And what they will be asked to do;

Lord, have mercy.

For civilians in Israel, Gaza and the West Bank,

That they would be protected,

And that every life would count,

And be cherished and remembered;

Lord, have mercy.

For the wounded, and those facing a lifetime of scars,

For those desperately seeking medical treatment where there is none;

Lord, have mercy.

For medical and emergency personnel, risking their own lives

To save those of others;

Lord, have mercy.

For those who cannot see anything

But rage and violence,

That you would surprise them with mercy,

And turn their hearts towards kindness for their fellow human beings;

Lord, have mercy.

For people of peace,

Whose imagination is large enough to conceive of a different way,

That they may speak, and act, and be heard;

Lord, have mercy.

Mighty and caring God,

You promised that one day,

Swords would be beaten into ploughshares.

Meet us in our distress,

And bring peace upon this troubled land.

---

Edwina O’Brien

Assistant Chaplain