Bishop John

As an uneasy fence-sitter on this one I eagerly registered for the evening opportunity to participate with about 75 other people at the community round table of the Human Rights Consultation.

What is the National Human Rights Consultation about?

It’s about seeking Australians’ views on human rights in Australia. The Committee reports to the Australian Government by 31 August 2009 on three key questions:

1. Which human rights and responsibilities should be protected and promoted?
2. Are these human rights currently sufficiently protected and promoted?
3. How could Australia better protect and promote human rights?

At the community round table in Hobart we had the Committee Chair, Frank Brennan and Committee member Mary Kostakidis.

Father Frank Brennan AO is a committed advocate for human rights, having worked tirelessly for others for over 30 years.

Mary Kostakidis is a well-known journalist and former television news presenter from Sydney.

The round table consultation was very helpful. I am glad I attended. A good suggestion from our table was the need for a clear statement of the way in which human rights are protected currently in Australia.

A major theme for me was the vital significance of the culture that forms and holds the protection and promotion of human rights. As a Christian I believe that while education is important to nurture humane conduct, it is not ultimately the solution because ignorance is not the ultimate explanation of our failure to treat each other humanely.

The key problem is that as we move away from our Judeo-Christian heritage so we will lose those basic commitments to human rights and responsibilities that stem from our understanding of life as God given and ourselves as stewards of that gift of life on this planet.

My chapter in, ‘Islam: human rights and public policy’ argues for dialogue around Australian values. Following this round table consultation I can see that a Charter of Human Rights may assist in clarifying some of those values. Also an Anglicare Tasmania submission in 2006 argues for a Charter of Rights in Tasmania.

At the Consultation I learnt that eminent Tasmanian, Rev Professor Michael Tait, has attracted comment with his submission re strengthening existing Senate mechanisms for scrutinizing legislation. I find this proposal attractive because it leaves power with the parliament and is simple and quick to implemented.

I attended the evening session of the round table having spent the day building a fence with a mate. I know a fence is not for sitting on. I still feel uncomfortable regarding a Charter. I guess I know where I am seated! My reservations are well expressed by the highly respected Professor Patrick Parkinson in his submission.

An ongoing conversation. For more information on the National Human Rights Consultation see https://www.humanrightsconsultation.gov.au

Close friends celebrated 40 years of married life on Sunday. We shared in a delightful extended lunch of reminiscing among true and trusted friends who had known the couple over decades. My wife and I were the ‘newest’ friends, having known them a mere two decades!

In the morning I had preached on the set Bible readings (the 4th Sunday of Easter, Year B, from the Lectionary). The biblical theme was not difficult to identify: The Divine Shepherd (Psalm 23), ‘I am the good shepherd’ (John 10:11-18), deeds done in the name of the Resurrected One (Acts 4:5-12) and the character of Christian love (1 John 3:16-24).

We know the identity of the Shepherd. He is the Good Shepherd, Jesus Christ. We know his presence in green pastures and in valleys of death. But to what goal is the Shepherd leading us?

The latter reading, John’s epistle, is an extended meditation on love, a prolonged outburst of praise to God, intertwining God’s self-giving love in Christ, our obedience to Christ’s call to love of God and neighbour, and to live our life ‘in Christ’.

And the connection between the Sunday sermon and the Wedding celebration? The connection is the character of Christian love. Christ’s way, the way of self-giving love is for every one of us, in all of life, in all of the 40 years of married life.

A passer-by commented upon hearing of the anniversary, “Forty years, doesn’t happen much today.” But it was happening, and in God’s grace we also by following the example of the One who laid down his life, obeying his commandments and abiding in Christ, will nurture life giving relationships of love.

And, thanks, Russell and Sue. May God bless you with many more years of life and love.

This is the theme on May 14 in Hobart when Tim Costello, CEO of World Vision Australia, will address a Church Leaders’ Breakfast.

Tim has a prophetic role in the Australian church. The topic he will be addressing is highly apposite. Financial stringency engendered by the Global Financial Crisis can so easily skew our Christian understanding of the world, and there is in my view an urgent need to take a long, hard look at the calls for protectionism, the reversal of globalization and securing our borders.

Now, more so than in ‘good’ times, we need to be asking the hard questions about how our commitment to Christ plays out in our stance towards our fellow travellers on this tottering planet.

I will be a non-break-fasting breakfaster (or is that a fasting attendee?) due to some other matters on my agenda that day. I’ll be the bloke with the unused cutlery and a glass of water!

Breakfast Info http://www.anglicantas.org.au/index.php?item=file&target=breakfast

The original fridge magnet quoted during staff devotions was,

‘It’s not my fault; I never learnt to take responsibility.’

The suggested staff (was it the Registrar?) amendment, adopted with acclamation, is,

‘It’s not my fault; I was never taught to take responsibility.’

And so to prayer!

It started as the worst nightmare, “Oh, no! The public address system isn’t working!”

I was at the podium to lead the Ceremony of Remembrance at the Cenotaph on the Domain in Hobart. Thousands of people had followed the marchers and now crowded the Cenotaph area. We had watched respectfully as wreaths were placed. I then stepped onto the podium to lead the Ceremony of Remembrance. To my horror the public address system failed to operate. Still, the combined choir from Collegiate and Hutchins Schools, with the Salvation Army Band, knew the drill and, being close enough to hear my unamplified voice, they led us in singing the opening hymn.

At this point I was ‘alert but not afraid’. The technicians would get the system sorted out during the singing of the hymn.

As the hymn concluded I spoke loudly into the microphones. The result? People in the crowd cupping their hands behind their ears signaling that I was mute. The PA system still was not working! I was now alert and afraid!

I commented, more or less to myself as the PA system was down (I later discovered the ABC broadcast all my comments as their microphone was working: be alert and very afraid!), that it was not possible to continue because we had the Governor of Tasmania’s Address and the Ode to follow. I therefore asked people to be seated for five minutes to give us time to fix the problem. There were enough people in the official party who could hear me and so they sat down. It was obvious that now we were alert and at work!

After a brief time the technician declared the microphones null and void, but he enabled us to proceed with the use of a hand held microphone.

The Ceremony lived out the true spirit of ANZAC: the crowd took the delay in their stride, the speakers joked as they passed ‘the baton’ (microphone) from one speaker to the next, we were blessed by the Governor’s excellent address, the Ode was profoundly moving, the prayers and singing fitting.

We had worked together to save the day, to take us somewhere beyond ourselves in a spirit of co-operation, of mateship: we lived the ANZAC spirit.

At a personal level, it was to get even better for me. A leading RSL official approached me following the conclusion of the Ceremony, shook my hand and looking me squarely in the eye said, “John, you did bloody well. You did bloody well. Thanks mate.”

It doesn’t get better than that!

My ANZAC Day involved a nightmare – but ended in a dream.