Matthew | Saint Dolly & the art of forgiveness

Forgiveness as a way of life. (Listen here.)

A couple of weeks ago, Dolly Parton died; the world is in mourning. One little story helps illustrate why. Her singing career kicked off in 1967, when she was invited onto The Porter Wagoner Show. Back then, Porter was the star and Dolly was the sidekick, and when Dolly sang solos she was booed. So Porter asked her to sing duets with him, instead, because people wouldn’t boo while he (the star) was singing. As they sang together, Dolly gained in confidence and stage presence and began writing songs. Gradually, she became the star.

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Exodus | The god of freedom

The God of freedom calls us to shape the future through our collective choices. (Listen here.)

The people were far from home. They had been enslaved, and their baby boys were being taken and killed. They were being spoken of in brutal, animal terms. The overseers cracked their whips. The king demanded ever-increasing workloads and allowed no time for rest. The people wept and cried and prayed for mercy while wondering, could anything possibly change?

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Funeral | ‘You will be with me in the garden’

A brief homily given at a recent funeral, for one who loved gardens.

Jim loved gardens. He loved plants, and compost, and growing things. He loved his veggie patch, he loved the wild garden alongside the river, and he loved Wombat Bend. He loved Redgum Café, I suspect not only because it was part of this church, but because of the magnificent redgum which gives it its name.

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Matthew | Decolonising Joshua

A pragmatic reading for whitefellas. (Listen here.)

‘I’m from one of the oldest families,’ he said. ‘We’ve been here since the beginning.’ And with that he effectively erased 60,000 years of continuous living culture, just as his Irish ancestors had tried to erase the people from the land. He’s a lovely guy, straightforward and well-meaning, and totally oblivious to what he had just done.

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Genesis | Joseph and the amazing technicolour princess dress (sorry, what?!)

A rainbow reading, and other stories. (Listen here.)

As I wondered about which direction to take this week’s readings, I went for a walk to order my thoughts. Suddenly, a rain shower blew in. Then a vast double rainbow filled the sky, and led me all the way home. I took it as a sign to offer a rainbow reading. Here it is, for all the Josephs we know and love.

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Genesis | The hidden gifts of struggle

Through struggle, we are transformed. (Listen here.)

How often have you been there? Everything is ticking along nicely when, boom! you find yourself flat on your face. The longed-for thing is no more. The relationship falls apart. The lump you tried to ignore turns out to be cancer. Your children move away, your loved one dies, your house becomes shockingly empty. Things were going so well when it happened. It’s unlooked-for, unwanted, a burden. It’s a disruption to ‘real life’, and you struggle.

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Genesis | Daddy’s angel, mummy’s devil

Notes on sibling rivalry. (Listen here.)

A perceptive young girl said to me once, ‘I’m daddy’s angel, and mummy’s devil. But my sister’s mummy’s angel, and daddy’s devil. It’s a bit difficult, really.’ Then she shrugged dismissively, but I thought ‘difficult’ was the understatement of the year. Those sisters fought every day in every possible way as they lived out their assigned roles and competed for their parents’ affections. Things were more than a bit difficult.

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Genesis | Deep in the weeds with Jacob

On weeds, seeds, scoundrels and descendants like dandelions. (Listen here.)

What wonderful promises! God will give Jacob land to plant roots and descendants to spread across the earth like dandelions. God will ensure the earth will be blessed by him and his countless offspring. And God will bless him, protect him and stay with him until these promises are fulfilled. I should be all starry-eyed, but quite frankly this story annoys the hell out of me. Because Jacob is a complete schmuck. Whatever is God thinking, to grant such glorious gifts to a grifter like Jacob?

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Genesis | Isaac, Ishmael and the Red Menace

If God is as big as we claim, there is no scarcity in God at all.

In her recent address to the National Press Club, the Red Menace rolled out her usual poison about Islam. She reiterated a bunch of frightened and frightening tropes about Muslims. She claimed that Western civilisation and its values are under siege. She blamed migrants for shortfalls in housing and social cohesion. She insisted that Australia must be a monocultural society. And in all this, she reminded me of our ancestor Sarah.

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