Muddy Spirituality: In pursuit of a spirituality turned Brown...

Transforming Leisure Class Questions into Prayer

The Holy Spirit has a habit of messing around with my personal agendas, let me give you an example.

I grew up being quite content to offer my leisure class prayers to God. Prayers that focussed almost exclusively on personal comfort and preferences.

Then I began ministering amongst the poor and I heard an entirely new set of prayers.

Prayers like, why did this happen to me?

The one that struck me at a heart level was from a 9 year old Asylum Seeker. When asked what she would like us to pray for, she stared at the ground and then looked up with tears welling in her big brown eyes and uttered, “Could you pray that we don’t get deported? I don’t want to die…”

How could my prayer life ever be the same again?

You see, no longer could I offer my leisure class questions to God, instead through the innocence of a child I have been led to seek God in the dark places. To ask: “Why Lord, do so many women here suffer from abuse? Why are so many children afraid to go home”?

My prayer now has moved from the level of “give me” to “use me” Lord, equip me to be a part of the response to the cries of the broken. New creation awaits for many families living in poverty and I need to learn how to pray, I can thank a 9 year old theologian for her valuable lesson.

Luke 10:21 At that very time He rejoiced greatly in the Holy Spirit, and said, "I praise You, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and intelligent and have revealed them to infants. Yes, Father, for this way was well-pleasing in Your sight.

Happy Birthday To Me - I'm 10

Today marks the 10th year, to the day, that I have not had a drink. I am pretty proud of me! 10 years sober hey? Now I know I really must have found something better than grog - and I have through God and it is Hope!

In Malaysia...

I'm in Malaysia at the moment for an unexpected death in the family, will try and keep my thoughts around everything through this kind of on-line journal.

Stranegly enough, I have 3 preaching gigs this weekend, how bizarre and uniqure an opportunity - to preach to people who are like me (in what exact sense yet, I do not know!)

It's good to be back!

Cut to Pieces by a Master...

I was sitting with my mentor the other day when he asked my 5 short questions, then he waited an hour for me to ramble on. Then he asked me them again and I fell to pieces. Anyone can ask a question, it takes a master crafstman to know how to use the tools precisely...

Still Kicking!

If you only find God in loud extravagant worship then you need more and more if it, like a drug.

God is not a drug.

God is as refreshing as stream of living water in the desert.

If ony we spent more time in the deserts!

Father's Day - Grief, Loss, Rage & Alcohol

Father’s Day - I often wonder about the value of these "celebration" days.

One of our neighbours locked himself inside all day today.

For him this is remembrance day: when he remembers his kids never call him...

Two other guys were sitting outside getting very drunk very quickly, racing to beat their hearts in it's desperate race between acute pain and numbness - numbness had a temporary victory, but they know pain will always win.

Much like Christmas, for many around here it is more like sticking a finger into an open wound than it is about celebration.

Ours is one of the most violent areas in NSW (32,000 Police Attended DV reports in 2006), and yet, I really wonder if it all that rage is really just a cover for male sadness...

Mattel Toy Recall Outrage

In all of the "middle class outrage" (Stephen Said) about having lead paint in toys bought for little Janey and Mikey has anyone stopped to spare a thought for the poor of China who had to apply the paint in the slave trade that is known as Mutlinational Toy Manufacturing Plants?

Anyone?

Boycott Barbie?

Check out this link: http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2007/08/22/2011883.htm

Sometimes...

Sometimes God gives us the right words to say in troubled times,
Sometimes there is enough food for every visitor the house,
Sometimes the kids in our units have full bellies,

I wish it could be all the time...

John Howard's Policy Abuse

Here is a letter written by my wife, Lisa Owen, that she recently wrote to our PM, if you are concerned you should do the same too:

Dear Mr Howard,

I would like to express my concerns about the proposals put before parliament in relation to the 73 communities in the Northern Territory. I do not disagree that there is cause for concern, and that there have been indications that there are amongst other things, sexual abuse of children taking place in some communities (as has been known for the past 5-6 years).

What I cannot understand is how current policy can heal sexual abuse by perpetrating another form of abuse.

These policies require the racial discrimination act to be repealed - this is not only an injustice for Indigenous Australians but for many other Australians as well. This is disgraceful as Australia prides itself on being a multicultural community.

Current proposal also requires the land act be repealed - opening opportunities for further exploitation (particularly by mining companies) of people who have already suffered so much at the hands of their colonisers.

That 50% of Centrelink payments be required to be set aside irrespective of whether a family has misused money in the past is purely racist - this is not happening to non-Indigenous Centrelink recipients.

To have a government appointed observer sounds an awful lot like returning to the days of the mission manager and places and unhealthy amount of power in the hands of one person.

I believe the issues of housing, education, health and government neglect need to be addressed. There is no point in identifying that aboriginal people are not sending their children to school, and punishing them for this when there are 1000 children of school age in a community and only 300 school places.

Please consider that there must be alternatives that are not racist, land grabbing and reminiscent of the stolen generation days.

Yours faithfully,

Lisa Owen

Wow, what a woman!

John Howard's Policy Abuse

Here is a letter written by my wife, Lisa Owen, that she recently wrote to our PM, if you are concerned you should do the same too:

Dear Mr Howard,

I would like to express my concerns about the proposals put before parliament in relation to the 73 communities in the Northern Territory. I do not disagree that there is cause for concern, and that there have been indications that there are amongst other things, sexual abuse of children taking place in some communities (as has been known for the past 5-6 years).

What I cannot understand is how current policy can heal sexual abuse by perpetrating another form of abuse.

These policies require the racial discrimination act to be repealed - this is not only an injustice for Indigenous Australians but for many other Australians as well. This is disgraceful as Australia prides itself on being a multicultural community.

Current proposal also requires the land act be repealed - opening opportunities for further exploitation (particularly by mining companies) of people who have already suffered so much at the hands of their colonisers.

That 50% of Centrelink payments be required to be set aside irrespective of whether a family has misused money in the past is purely racist - this is not happening to non-Indigenous Centrelink recipients.

To have a government appointed observer sounds an awful lot like returning to the days of the mission manager and places and unhealthy amount of power in the hands of one person.

I believe the issues of housing, education, health and government neglect need to be addressed. There is no point in identifying that aboriginal people are not sending their children to school, and punishing them for this when there are 1000 children of school age in a community and only 300 school places.

Please consider that there must be alternatives that are not racist, land grabbing and reminiscent of the stolen generation days.

Yours faithfully,

Lisa Owen

Wow, what a woman!