Murmur of walking feet
Warm, very warm
‘He’s a great vocalist, but he’s just not pulling his weight’
Two Asian girls standing in a sea of walkers
‘And she’s consulting him‘
Two nuns, one speaking, Canadian, flourish of the arm
‘It’s good karma’
Young, white, with long dark hair, and not a clue about Hinduism
Cool near the end of the tunnel
Murmur of walking feet
Tag: Sydney
Enabling churches to be more inclusive
‘Go out quickly into the streets and alleys of the town and bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind and the lame.’ Luke 14:21
Christian Blind Mission Australia has long worked with the disadvantaged across the globe but has recently fixed its gaze on an apparent injustice closer to home.
According to a CBM, disability ministry is a growing need yet only 5 per cent of Australian churches have any intentional programs to include people with disabilities.
Inspired by Jesus’ call in Luke 14, CBM Australia has developed a program of the same name that seeks to better equip churches to meet to be more inclusive of people with a disability.
Information about the launch of the program says: ‘Luke14 is a CBM initiative aimed at equipping churches to welcome and include people with a disability. It is a process that assists churches to both reach in to improve church access and understanding, and reach out to offer support and friendship to people and families living with a disability in the community.
‘Many Australians living with disabilities aren’t a part of a caring church family, let alone involved in ministry. Luke14 seeks to help make our churches places where every person is appreciated, welcomed and encouraged to serve.’
CBM’s Luke14 will be launched with special guest speaker Therese Rein, wife of former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, at St Anne’s Ryde Anglican Church Conference Centre on Thursday, November 25 at 9,30am and in Wollongong at Figtree Anglican Church on November 26 at 9.30am. Both launches are free. Check out the CBM website for details.
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Walking at the precise speed of menace
We were all just waiting for the bus, of no great stature or intent. He came prowling down the footpath, walking at the precise speed of menace and power. Black shoes and trousers, dark brown leather jacket and impenetrable sunglasses. Tanned face and pony-tail, probably taut muscles beneath his impeccable attire. He put the cigarette to his mouth with his fingers making a crooked V across his lip, and paused, as if the whole world depended on his inhaling. He stalked through the bus mortals, studiously ignoring our existence, not even props on his stage. The bus arrived and I clambered on board, watching him appreciate his reflection in the window. As the 438 pulled away, I caught a glimpse of him turn sharply and shout. Despite his glory, he’d missed the bus.
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Kill the church but go easy on the gurus…
As a wobbly sounding plane flies over head through the cloud and light rain of an early Leichhardt morning, I consider another staple of inner west life, the Inner West Courier.
It has thrown up a spiritual conundrum, a coded message of religious reality in our time. Actually, it’s just demonstrating the bleeding obvious…
On page 12 of the August 31 edition, a story celebrates the awarding of the Australian Writers Guild Kit Denton Fellowship Award to Petersham resident George Casti for his script I Want to be Slim.
Great, I think. Good to see some local talent being rewarded and $30,000 can make all the difference as a writer seeks to stave off poverty and establish their craft.
I read on to see what his script is about: ‘…award judged on courage and excellence… Catsi’s “anti-Hillsong” script won… religion is a very polarised area… satirical script is about the Rev Slim Limits and his performance in getting the masses to follow his evangelical ways.’
Mmm, so George gets $30,000 to perfect his script, poking fun, in a courageous and excellent way, at a section of society that, obviously, it is perfectly appropriate to ridicule. The Courier report is matter-of-fact, as if we shouldn’t be surprised that a local church is award-winning, satire material.Read More »
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Fake men, lots of kids and not enough housework…
The Opera House was a dangerous idea in its time and so it is fitting hat it hosts the Festival Ideas of Dangerous Idea in early October.
Having argued that there is no more Dangerous Idea than Jesus, let’s check out a few of the less dangerous ideas under consideration at the festival: Are all men fakes?; Why the religious will inherit the earth; and Australian husbands are the worst in the world and why it’s women’s fault.
Oh, and at the end of the story, check out my ‘Biblical perspective’ on the ‘dangerous ideas’ covered…Read More »
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Chattering and tractoring classes worlds apart on election day
In the inner Sydney seat of Grandyler where I live we have as a choice of candidates, starting on the left: two varieties of socialists, the Greens, a rare Democrat sighting, the sitting Labor member and a Liberal candidate who is so young that the picture of youths being sent off to war as canon-fodder comes to mind.
Compare this to, say, the rural NSW seat of Riverina and you have, starting at the right: One Nation, Independent, Christian Democratic Party, Family First, Liberal Democrat, Nationals, Liberals, Labor and Greens although there may be some discussion as to the relative ‘rightness’ of some of these candidates.
In other words, we have remarkably different worlds just a few hundred kilometres apart. It’s a common divide between the city and the bush and grows wider with relative distance from major city CBDs.
While there are overlaps and exceptions, we would do well to understand and respect the differences in priority and perspective between the inner city ‘chattering classes’ and the rural ‘tractoring classes’.
One lesson is that the Greens have taken a step up from being a minor party that falls into an organisational hole when elections drawn near. They are mobilised even in electorates where they have more chance of being mistaken for a vegetable than winning.
If parties such as the CDP or Family First aspire to real political influence they must find their support base, represent it powerfully and broadly and do the hard yards of political foot soldiering.
As for making sense of it all, an election article of mine has been published in Sight Magazine or visit my Australian Christian Voter blog to find a link and vote in an election day survey – what’s your tip for election day?
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Some Friday fun at my expense: City2Surf photos
Ok, so it’s the end of the week, we are four weeks into an election campaign and two and a half months through a cold winter. On that basis you could probably use a laugh, so I’ll go out on a limb and share my City to Surf photos.
Firstly there are the photos taken by the official photographers, Marathon Photos, who through the wonders of modern technology, allow runners to view a range of photos taken during the race. Keep in mind that nearly 70,000 people finished the City to Surf so to do this is no mean feat.
When a certain member of my family first saw these, they were in such agony of hilarity that they rang me 50 times to tell me to look. Very funny. All I can I say is that they reveal the agony my legs were truly experiencing by this stage. To view the video of me finishing and a small collection of photos, click here. You’ll see some small thumbnails which you can click on for a larger view, if your game.
Secondly, I took a range of photos on my phone before and during the event and, once again, there are some mildly amusing results. I admit, I’m not good at the whole self-portrait thing… Enjoy, and go for a walk or a jog this weekend!
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City to Surf audio posts here tomorrow
After walking and jogging a couple of hundred kilometres in the past few months, Jeremy and I are ready for the City to Surf tomorrow.
We’ll hop on the 440 bus just before 8am in time to join our exclusive back of the pack starting group in the city. Due to the large crowds expected to watch our special orange group, we won’t get away from the start line until about 9am.
But our times will be carefully synchronised thanks to the start of the art shoe lace chips we’ll be wearing so our spectacular times will not be interfered with.
For you, the listening public, we will phone in breaking news blog audio posts direct from the race. So watch this space tomorrow morning (not during church though…) for a starting summary, a mid-race review, and a eulogy at the end. Did I say eulogy? I meant wrap-up.
If you are watching on television (and checking out this blog at the same time of course) you will probably spot us, notable for our orange bibs, my Jesus Saves goalkeeping t-shirt (thanks Bek) and Jeremy’s huge stature. If you see an ambulance, that also may have something to do with us…
I know various other people completing the event and have decided to let them all beat me in the spirit of self-sacrifice. On the day, the City to Surf will be the winner…
My secret preparation tip was a carbohydrate-laden Pad See Ew, purchased on the way home from the Swans v Hawks game, from official City to Surf Thai restaurant, Thai La Long. (I just made up the official bit.)
My other secret weapon was to work night shift last night and have just three hours sleep this morning as I plan to sleep through the last half of the race tomorrow so as not to notice the pain in my curly toe.
I know you don’t believe me about the curly toe but it’s the stuff of legend in my family and I have learned from my mother that she gets it too and so did my grandmother. We come from a line of curly toed people…
I have just realised my sleep deprivation may be becoming obvious in this posting so will say farewell and go upstairs to see if I can make out what Jo is singing in the shower. PH
Click here to sponsor me and raise money for Bibles in scripture classes
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Possum’s magical parade across Parramatta Rd
While driving to work at about 11.45pm yesterday, the normally frantic Parramatta Rd heading into the city was refreshingly quiet.
Which was just as well with a dignified, if slightly wobbly, possum deciding to cross the road in Camperdown.
Setting off from near Bridge St School, the possum crossed the first three lanes with one or two hesitant moments before hopping on to the median strip like some street-savvy Sydney-sider. Having slowed down to watch this part of the journey, I stopped completely as the possum continued a metre or two in front of my car.
Having seen the creature safely across I moved on, wishing I’d got my phone out to video the unusual city sight.
My last glimpse of the possum was of it sitting patiently in front of the glass sliding doors of AGL. Maybe it had a gas bill to pay…
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Brush with advertising fame
B.W.A.F # 1: The new Pizza Hut ad where four delivery boys hop out of four identical Pizza Hut Morris Minis and walk into houses – filmed on Young St, Annandale a few blocks from home. Passed them making the ad while taking someone to the airport… No free pizza unfortunately.
B.W.A.F # 2: The Kit Kat ad with a guy impersonating an amp while people try out guitars in a guitar store – filmed in Billy Hyde pretty much next to our church, Eternity. They even ‘hired’ our car park while filming for the day. No free guitars and no free Kit Kats unfortunately.
I haven’t had a brush with Old Spice yet, but I’m working on it…
Utterance has no commercial blog for profit arrangements with these companies but all offers considered….
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Audio/Photo Post: Art, death & everything on Kensington St
Kensington St Broadway is a handy shortcut if you are heading to Redfern or Cleveland St. Turns out it is more than a little interesting with food, art, education, death and development all delving into this Sydney back street.
Turn off Broadway with the shadow of the UTS tower on your back and walk steadfastly past curious artefacts and digging developers to come face to face with your mortality. Listen to my impromptu description:
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Bear Grylls soon to appear on Aussie buses
Bear Grylls has been in a lot of tough places but the side of a Sydney bus might just be the toughest of all… But that’s exactly where he’ll be shortly, featured in an advertising campaign encouraging fans to discover life’s ultimate adventure, The Alpha Course. Apart from Sydney, the campaign will also run in Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth to coincide with the visit of Alpha’s international Chairman Ken Costa.
Bear Grylls is the star of Man vs Wild, the Discovery Channel’s most popular program and also screening Monday nights on SBS.
Recently Utterance reported that Bear is a Christian and a big fan of the Alpha Course – check out his promo for it below. As well, Alpha Australia are recommending that now is a good time to encourage friends to do the Alpha Course, especially if they are fans of Bear Grylls. Check out the Alpha Australia website for details.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hz9oTbBUtR8
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Sleepy street throws up some random humour
This meddlesome mattress has been taking up car spaces around our street recently – I’m pretty sure I saw a ranger giving it a ticket this morning. But every mattress has a silver lining and today this one conspired with an unusual car number plate to throw up some random humour on an otherwise grey old day. I promise this is not a set up, I just walked out of my house and the gag was sitting there waiting for me to find it… PH
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Remember the City2Surf, we’re still on track…
The pain started in the lower back, moved painstakingly through to the hip, on the knee and then meandered around the left calf for a while. And this just from walking… Hopefully it has disappeared out my foot, a bit like being struck by lightening…
Despite all this (violins please) and the curly toe syndrome (ask my family) our City to Surf preparation is moving forward well – we are up to 8.5km fast walks, hills and the occasional jog.
By the time the event arrives on August 8 we’ll be blisteringly fast… or just blisters…
Check out some video of a recent ‘training session’ which, for the first time, featured the Green Lantern. And head to the City2Surf page of this blog and click on the links to sponsor us for a good cause or two.
PS Utterance now has its own YouTube channel, Uttuberance.
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Flourishing grace blooms despite grey skies
While the sun shines today, the past two weeks in Sydney have seen almost constant rain, clouds and cold with the occasional blustery wind to ensure we all got wet more than once.
The plants around our courtyards, while at first welcoming the moisture, after a week or so seem to be putting their hands up and saying, ‘we’ve had enough’.
Not so one humble plant, stoically located in a pot near our front door. Just as the weather reports began to be filled with news of east coast lows and torrential rains, our welcome plant was, for the first time, putting forth flower buds.
And as the grey skies took over and the constant rain fell, it broke out in a lavish display of petulant pink, protesting against the bleakness, bowing down under its load of large flowers. Guests even stopped to take photos, umbrellas close at hand.
Now the plant’s inaugural show of joy and colour has won out, the rain has given up but the pink flowers live on, welcoming the sun back with barely a ‘I told you so’.
The words ‘bloom where you are planted’ crossed my mind more than once as I regularly dashed past the floral version of a pink flamingo. How inspiring that you would defy the grey and bloom anyway, I thought.
The Creator’s hand was evident, not just in the flowers, but in the timing and the message. Am I willing to be what God has made me to be despite the grey clouds and gloomy outlook? Am I so convinced of his goodness that I will by all means display it regardless of the outlook?
Do I realise the awful power of a loving rightness carried forward by God’s Spirit and alive within me, unquenched by circumstance? Will I allow the flourishing grace of God to choose the time and place for colour and new life? PH
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Two ways to support City to Surf fund-raising
As the rain keeps falling I’m trying to work out how I’m going to keep my training schedule up tonight… with an umbrella no doubt!
Anyway, the good news is that I’m registered for the City to Surf and have set-up not one, but two fundraising pages!
Firstly I’ve signed up with the Bible Society to help put much-needed Bibles into Scripture classes in public schools across the state. If you’d like to support this cause, visit the Towards The Goal fund-raising page .
Then City to Surf automatically give you the chance to support a charity so I chose World Vision, a great Christian aid organisation, and you can support this cause by visiting my Everyday Hero fund-raising page.
And if you’d like to get involved, why not sign up for the City to Surf and raise funds yourself. You could join our team – the Curly Toes and be added to our team fund-raising page, the Curly Toes Runners. We are starting as far back as you can – Orange I believe.
Many thanks in advance if you can help with sponsorship! PH
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Dynamic duo takes on City to Surf
Ten weeks out from the City to Surf fun run I have started my disciplined training schedule to ensure I finish the event alive…
Today, accompanied by son Jeremy, who also plans to take on the City to Surf, we walked the inner west’s very popular Bay Walk , or according to some signage, the Bay Run (but not in our case…).
This was our second training effort and was preceded on Monday by a complex scurrying around the back streets of Glebe, Camperdown, Annandale and Leichhardt to come up with a 6km track.
To prove that we are actually doing the training and not watching Lord of the Rings (in which the cast do all the walking and running) I deployed the Sports Tracker application on my E71. Imagine my delight when I discovered the GPS traces a lovely little map which can be saved as a picture file.
This may well be the most accurate map of the Bay Walk yet recorded and I would like you to note the straight line at the top right of the diagram which depicts us walking, with purpose, across the Iron Cove Bridge.
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God drives the bus to his own defence
God gave a clue to his reality during our bus trip to the ‘In defence of God’ session of the Sydney Writer’s festival today (May 23).
Running late due to bus delays, we were worried about missing the session until our bus driver got lost in the Rocks and pulled over randomly to let us out – right in front of our destination, Sydney Theatre, instead of the actual bus stop two streets away! God is providential, generous and has a sense of humour…
As we gathered with the unfaithful – the session was chaired by an atheist and featured a lapsed Episcopalian – we found we had more in common with the other speaker, the Iranian-American author and scholar, Reza Aslan.
While Eric Lax, author of Faith Interrupted, lamented his fall from faith (I believe he’ll be back though), Aslan launched an attack against the new atheists. He described their behaviour as being as fundamentalist as some of the religious people they hate. He also reminded the audience that despite a century of violent secularism, the number of religious adherents had risen from half to two thirds of the global population.
Aslan was challenged by a few questioners but was able to mount a good defence for God before the brief question section was wound up. He even began his talk by referring to the blogs that had questioned why an atheist, lapsed Episcopalian and Muslim were leading this session, with no Christian authors present. I take it from this, that he has read Utterance!
In the long run, however, there was inability of all panelists to consider a God who is a personal, tangible reality in our lives with the chair Louise Adler asking for a more concrete definition of faith and God. It wasn’t forthcoming and this was because no one had been invited to speak who actually believes in God this way. It was a timely reminder that atheists and agnostics are searching for something to lovingly but powerfully challenge their unbelief.
A good place to start might be to invite New York minister and author Timothy Keller to next year’s Sydney Writer’s Festival. In the meantime, read his book, The Reason For God – Belief in the age of Scepticism. PH
Listen to a short section of Reza Aslan’s defence of God:
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| Reza Aslan.mp3 |
| Hosted by eSnips |
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Running with Jesus to provide Bibles for schools
While the battle lines have been drawn over Special Religious Education in NSW public schools, the Bible Society has uncovered a desperate need for Bibles in SRE classes across the state.
Earlier this year the Bible Society sent out a notice to public school scripture teachers in NSW and ACT, inviting requests for Bibles. Anticipating a need for about 10,000 Bibles, the society was instead inundated with requests for 70,000!
‘The few Bibles I have are old, torn and falling apart,’ says Rebecca Mawhinney who teaches scripture at a school with 1,000 students at Beverley Hills.
‘I bring my daughter’s Bible to my class and leave it with them – 23 children have to share it to have a look,’ says Rev Karen Jansson from Stockton.
In response to this need, the Bible Society has joined up with the Jesus All About Life campaign and under the ‘Big Rescue’ banner will field runners in this year’s City to Surf on August 8 to raise sponsorship dollars so they can meet the call for Bibles in schools.
Christians and interested people are urged sign up as City to Surf runners and then visit the fund-raising website Towards the Goal and register individually or as a team. Last year 1200 runners raised $30,000 for the Bible Society and this year they are hoping for 2000 runners to raise at least $60,000.
I am personally considering signing up for the City to Surf so I can help raise funds for Bibles. As it has been some time since I’ve done any running, I need to work out whether this is even humanly possible! Encouragement and promises of sponsorship might just push me over the line… PH
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Parents encouraged to switch from scripture
Trial ethic classes competing with Special Religious Education (SRE) in 10 NSW Schools appear to have caused a drop in SRE attendance of between 30 and 70 percent.
Suburban schools such as Hurstville and Baulkham Hills North are at the higher end of these figures with the explanation that parents at inner city schools had long before withdrawn their children from scripture, while in the suburbs it is a new phenomenon.
As an aside, this is another example of how the intellectualism and ideas of the inner city filter through to the rest of society, by one means or another. This is a good reason for the existence of strong, robust, authentic inner city churches that engage intelligently with their community. Not surprisingly, seven of the 1o schools in the trial are in the inner city with three of these in the electorate of Balmain whose local member is Education Minister Verity Firth.
Bishop of South Sydney, Rob Forsyth, said he was ‘not surprised’ by the result, saying it proves that the ethics classes will be far more contentious in the suburbs than in the inner-city.
‘It proves that the P&C and St James Ethics Centre were wrong when they claimed they were merely providing an alternative to SRE for non-religious parents. This course is genuine competition for SRE. We are losing parents who claim to be Christians but are somewhat ambivalent and easily swayed by the directions given by school authorities,’ Bishop Forsyth told Anglican Media.
He said his most substantive concern is that the Department of Education has been using its authority to encourage parents to ditch Christian SRE in order to recruit more students for the ethics classes.
utterance 