“He went again to Cana in Galilee, where he had changed the water into wine. Now there was a court official there whose son was ill at Capernaum and hearing that Jesus had arrived in Galilee from Judaea, he went and asked him to come and cure his son as he was at the point of death. Jesus said, ‘So you will not believe unless you see signs and portents!’ ’Sir,’ answered the official ‘come down before my child dies.’ “Go home,’ said Jesus ‘your son will live.’ The man believed what Jesus had said and started on his way; and while he was still on the journey back his servants met him with the news that his boy was alive. He asked them when the boy had begun to recover. ‘The fever left him yesterday’ they said ‘at the seventh hour.’ The father realized that this was at exactly the time when Jesus had said, ‘Your son will live’; and he and all his household believed.
This was the second sign given by Jesus, on his return from Judaea to Galilee.”
Extract from an address at Glebe, Sydney, by Susan Bradley, former Kimberley pastoralist.
“I want to tell you a very simple story as told to me by a Ngarinyin tribal elder, a man whose life, power and whose wisdom has had an everlasting impact on me and I believe others who have had the privilege of knowing him and of listening to his stories as he took us into his country and shared his spirit and his knowledge – Ngarinyin country, Worrora and Warnbmbul.
As we sat around the campfire the old man told us this: Before the whitefellas came, it was the tradition of Aboriginals that when strangers came into their particular country to hunt or to gather or to just pass through on their way to other places, that the host Aboriginals would go out to welcome them. When they met there would be the formalities of greeting.
Part of the ceremony of welcome would be the men sitting around and talking men’s business whilst the host women would take the visiting women and children to a women’s site to talk women’s business. When this was completed, the two groups would join again and the men would hunt for kangaroo, goannas or bush turkey – and the women would prepare an area for eating and would gather firewood and berries, fruit, nuts, and lily roots for a meal.
Then the ceremonies – the corroborees or jumbas would commence – and the dancing, the singing around the fire could go on, not only all night, but sometimes for many nights in a row. Each jumba with a message – each with its own story – men, women and children taking part. During the day the visiting tribe would be taken and shown the sites of significance and be told the stories of the spirit of the land they would be passing.
In this way, the hosts believed that by the end of the formalities, when, the strangers were ready to move on – they would not be considered strangers but friends who now had the spirit of the country in their hearts. They carried the Wunggud with them, - just like the people who lived there. They believed that once the spirit of the land was in their hearts, then those people would never damage the land, - they would love it and care for it like those whose home country it was.
The old man said sadly, - “Whitefellas have never given blackfellas the opportunity of letting them welcome them to their country to share their stories or to impart their knowledge of the spirit of the land. So whitefellas have never been able to understand properly the country. They haven’t the spirit of the land, the Wunggud, in their hearts. This is very sad, he said, for both whitefellas and blackfellas. Whitefellas are always in too much of a hurry. There is never time. We want two-way learning, two-way sharing. We want to give you our gift to gudia (whitefella). That gift, the story of the land will give you new meaning - your belonging. But time is running out.”
Sadly for us, and for Australia, his time ran out at the end of last year and he was buried tribally in his spirit country.
(This story has been used with permission of Kuri-Ngai Partners)
Reflection:
What invitations are there for us this story?
How can we answer these invitations?
As we listen to our hearts perhaps we could write a personal prayer
based on the story or some prayers of intercession?
What personal calls do I discern in these stories?
Listen to our Hearts
Integration
Let these two worlds combine,
Yours and mine.
The door between us is not locked,
Just ajar.
There is no need for the mocking
or the mocked to stand afar
with wounded pride
Or angry mind,
Or to build a wall to crouch and hide,
To cry or sneer behind.
This is ours together
This nation –
No need for separation.
It is time to learn.
Let us forget the hurt,
Join hands and reach
With hearts that yearn.
Your world and mine
is small.
The past is done.
Let us stand together,
Wide and tall
And God will smile upon us
Each and all
And everyone.
Jack Davies (Spirit Song)
Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation Committee
Province of Australia - New Zealand
Lenten Reflection: Week One
Lenten Reflection: Week Two
Lenten Reflection: Week Three
Lenten Reflection: Week Four
Lenten Reflection: Week Five
