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I had such great intentions to blog every day about our trip to Australia but the place we are staying does not have internet in the unit. That, I have decided, is a very good thing!
Scott and I have spent the day on the Great Barrier Reef. The largest living organism on the planet (honestly, I thought there was a stand of poplars somewhere that had taken that distinction, but what do I know) it extends for thousands of miles along the coast of Queensland. We traveled with a company that does research on the effects of tourism on the reef. Not a surprise that they can do that as they must ferry thousands of people each month out to the outer ribbon reefs where we spent the day snorkeling and "ocean walking". It was magical and something we will never forget despite the not very inspiring photographs we took!
Yesterday was a work day but the day prior, we spent a delightful afternoon exploring the Cairns Botanical Gardens. Owned and maintained by the city, the gardens incorporate manicured lawns, rainforest walks, an orchid house and a fern house to name just a few of the wonderful aspects of this municipal treasure. On the grounds of the Botanical Gardens, The Tanks, five oil tanks built into the camouflage of the rainforest during the Second World War, have been recommissioned as concert and gallery venues. On a computer in one of the tanks, visitors are invited to record any stories they might have that relate to the tanks -- did they play around them as children, live there while they were being built, paint messages of adolescent infatuation on them -- whatever. History in the retelling -- a superb idea.
Tomorrow is another work day, then we are off to explore the rainforest. Soooooo love the beauty of this place! |
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Last Updated ( Thursday, 15 April 2010 )
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After church on Easter Sunday, my husband, songwriter and musician, Scott Kearns, and I head out to the airport to begin the long trip through time zones and datelines so that we can arrive in Melbourne, Australia a week before Common Dreams, the Second International Gathering of Religious Progressives, happening between Thursday, April 15th and Sunday April 18, 2010.
Organized by a number of smaller progressive groups around Australia and New Zealand, Common Dreams brings together speakers and participants from around the world. It is my honour to be the keynote speaker at this year's gathering. Scott will be providing music leadership and premiering a song he has written on the conference's theme. Other presenters include theologian Lloyd Geering; Fred Plumer, President of The Center for Progressive Christianity in the States, Val Webb, award-winning author of Like Catching Water in a Net; Human Attempts to Describe the Divine, and Glyn Cardy, Rector at St. Matthew's in the City, home of the notorious Joseph and Mary in bed billboard. Following Melbourne, I will be speaking in Adelaide, April 20; Canberra, April 21; Sydney, April 24 and 25, Brisbane, May 2 and 3, and then flying over to New Zealand. There, I will be addressing groups in Auckland, Wellington, and Christchurch. It is a wonderful privilege to share the hope I have for a church that can make a significant positive difference in the world. Beyond division, religion's most identifying trait, I so believe their can be cooperation and cohesion, two things we desperately need in the fragmented world in which we live. Join me here regularly as I blog about the trip, the people I meet, the inspiration they offer, and the challenges they face as they, too, seek to move toward a more beautiful future. |
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Last Updated ( Friday, 23 April 2010 )
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From time to time, in the heat of debate, we find ourselves uttering something that, given a moment or two of reflection, we either might not have said or we would have qualified in order to clarify our intent. Sometimes we are fortunate enough to be challenged by someone who has heard us, thereby allowing us the opportunity to correct or clarify what we meant.
Exactly that happened this morning when, following the Culture Wars segment on the John Oakley show, I was contacted by a listener who challenged a statement I made while intending to point out that there are bad realities within relationships sanctioned by the church, not just in those maligned by it. In so doing, however, I said that spousal abuse is a "heterosexual issue". It is, of course, an abhorrent reality in many relationships and not at all exclusively those that are heterosexual. Indeed, its prevalence in homosexual relationships may be neglected because of the heterocentrist assumptions about abuse that are prevalent in society and are reinforced by media representations of it.
Please take a moment to visit the site managed by AARDVARC, An Abuse Rape Domestic Violence Aid and Resource Collection. I thank my listener for sending me the link and giving me an opporrtunity to explain myself and apologize for potentially reinforcing a stereotype that needs to be diminished in order that we are able to see reality more clearly. |
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Last Updated ( Tuesday, 12 January 2010 )
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