From the beginning

From the beginning

From the beginning as continents drifted

God’s Spirit hovered over this land;

sculpting, renewing; rock, tree and lizard,

rainforest richness, waves crashing on sand.

Having sung country into existence,

the Spirit calls out: First Peoples, come!

This is your land now, tend and enjoy it,

step with its rhythms, dance to its thrum.

We thank you, Lord, for this ancient wisdom,

feeling the heartbeat, singing its songs;

harvesting grasses, trapping the fishes,

lighting the fires to keep country strong.

We thank you, Lord, for this ancient culture,

generously shared with recently come.

Help us remember, and to acknowledge

centuries of pain and dispossession.

We thank you, Lord, for being there, present

with those who struggle, from country removed;

living in two worlds, seeking a future,

may they find hope and know that they’re loved.

Lord we rejoice in the wonder of songlines;

Spirit connections throughout our wide land.

Welcome love’s offer to journey together,

healing the nation to meet love’s command.

© Ken Rookes. Revised 2024

Freely available for use in worship.

Tune: Bunessan. TiS 156

Reposting with some further amendments, ahead of Sunday 21st January, designated Mourning Sunday by the Assembly of the Uniting Church in Australia, being the Sunday before Australia Day, For First Nations people, Australia Day on the 26th of January, (a public holiday), marks the beginning of  the violent dispossession that marked colonisation here in Australia.

Spreading scripture through mobile phones

This video in Djambarrpuyŋu language of North East Arnhem Land is the story, from Luke 8:22-25, of Jesus calming the storm.  The video is readily transferable from mobile phone to mobile phone.  This is one way of making scriptures available to people who are already sharing videos and recordings with each other in this way.

The video was made in Galiwin’ku as part of a project of Coordinating Support for Indigenous Scriptures (CSIS) http://www.csis.org.au an initiative of the Northern Regional Council of Congress (NRCC) and the Northern Synod of the Uniting Church