always was, always will be

Author: Kathy Horan

Many years ago now, our very own Fr Denis Edwards wrote a book entitled Called to be Church in Australia, describing an approach that could bring about a renewal of life and faith in our local churches. In this book, he suggested that as an Australian Church we need to learn from and approach Aboriginal experience of the land as ‘apprentices in faith’
In doing this, he acknowledges that for the Indigenous Peoples of our land, the Spirit has been present, creative and hovering over all of creation in our land for many thousands of years, and that the Aboriginal peoples have always cherished and reflected on their relationship with the land and this creative spirit through their Dreaming stories and their relationships with one another.
Miriam-Rose Ungunmerr is an Aboriginal Elder and wisdom figure who lives in the top end of the Northern Territory. She speaks about what she sees as a gift that she would like to share with all Australians. This gift is called ‘Dadirri’ and it means a deep listening: to creation, to one another, to the Dreaming or sacred family stories, to the needs of others, to the traumas and difficulties experienced over many years by Aboriginal Peoples, to the cries for justice and for finding a voice.

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