MPG09 … viva la revolution!
Paxis is a doing word!
So on the weekend it wasMGP09, which for Russell and I only started on the Saturday morning.
We started the day off with a lovely breakfast and chat with people that were gathering. Meeting up with past praxerians was great! We rekindled connections from different parts of the praxis world. As they wondered out from their cabins and tents we gathered in our places with the anticipation of thinking, acting and reflecting.
Alt worship in the morning with Darren went over the peace motif (Alert but not Alarmed) and how we would express and decorate the missiles in our own backyard. It is from a book called:”Tales from Outer Suburbia” by Shaun Tan. All weekend we were surrounded by missiles that each of us decorated in our own ways, some were dismantled, some were painted with flowers, some even had party streamers inside waiting to surprise the curious.
Reflecting with Joan WH was really relaxing and refreshing. Sitting listening to the trees and the animals making thier bush calls was a reminder of God’s world. It was a perfect place to discuss spritual direction. We prayed, talked and explored together.
During the day we were all able to participate or hold lightning talks. This was a great time as people gathered in the dining area to spruke their gathering. It was a hard choice as each praxerian had a great presence and experience to combat the faint hearted.
After dinner, Lin HD subdued people to light candles on our tables so that we could turn out those fluro’s! We moved into a time where Lin captured us all. She spoke on a personal level and used a Statement to the Nation from the UCA to demonstrate the values of the Uniting Church we are all apart of. There were items listed that confirmed the places that we all came from, all the actions that each praxerian stood for and the reason we still belonged. It was beautiful how she paused at each statement, letting it sink in and settle.
The weekend was touched by this sense of belonging, and each of us clinging to our own reasons for acceptance into this Church. There was a new hope for people who felt frustrated. If you felt frustrated enough not be connected to anything the Statement to the Nation from the UCA tore your attention back to the radical premise of the Uniting Church’s reason. There were things written in the Statement to the Nation from the UCA that I had never read before but knew and felt were within me in this Church.
What I got out of the weekend was a new found hope for being a part of this great Church. Although I may not be around compelling movements on an everyday basis, I know what the Uniting Church stood for and on what platform it was created. The platform of belief and understanding from the great people who wrote the Statement to the Nation from the UCA. I thought for a moment, where are those people now? I slowly realised that I spent the weekend with them! We are a part of a special God and a special movement. Let’s celebrate, let’s disturb the peace, let’s challenge the sticklers, let’s be who the Uniting Church set out to be, let’s be the revolution we want to see.
Viva la revolution!
_Some have food,
Some have none,
God bless the revolution!__ _
