Celebrating Something Deadly…

Dear Circle of Hope,

Here in Australia we have some of the most deadly creatures on the planet. Snakes, spiders, sharks, box jellyfish, crocodiles, blue-ringed octopuses and other highly dangerous species all cause many to be concerned about safety. In fact, we are famous for this around the world and many of my friends and colleagues from overseas often wonder how we here in this country, actually stay alive!

Last week we celebrated NAIDOC Week in Australia. This year's NAIDOC Week theme was 50 Years of Deadly. In Aboriginal communities, ‘deadly,’ as opposed to the definition above, is a term of high praise. ‘Deadly’ describes something or someone as excellent, inspiring, strong, and worthy of celebration. Deadly is more than a compliment, it is a language of resilience and pride that honours the gifts, leadership, and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. This year we celebrated 50 years of recognising the deadly nature of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in this country. During the week I had the wonderful privilege of joining our local custodians, the Arakwal people of the Bundjalung nation, along with our local community of Byron Bay, in a march through the main streets and up to a celebration overlooking the beautiful bay of Cavanbah (the original name for this land - a place of meeting). A number of things struck me about this celebration of 50 Years of Deadly. These included the abundant generosity of the First Nations people as they shared their culture and stories with humility and pride. The resilience of indigenous people who have experienced some of the most horrendous human rights injustices known to humanity. The joy and celebration exhibited from the youngest to the elders, as they joined in traditional cultural dances and crafts with a deep willingness to share this with others. Holding these experiences together with the knowledge that we have the oldest continuous living cultures on our planet in our First Nations people, there is so much to celebrate. And it is truly deadly!

The Uniting Church in Australia has walked in a historic covenant with the Uniting Aboriginal and Islander Christian Congress since 1994. The Covenant commits us to walking together with First Peoples, pursuing justice, healing, and reconciliation across the nation. As I reflect upon this along with the celebrations I witnessed last week I am filled with hope. Hope that in our country we will find a shared path into the future together that is characterised by the pursuit of justice, healing, and reconciliation across the nation.

As a community who values passionate justice, may we take time to reflect on this following the celebrations of NAIDOC Week and may we commit ourselves to walking together into the future in reconciliation, love and justice so that we can be deadly together.

Thank you for being part of our Circle of Hope.

Grace and peace,

Phil