We've changed the location to the Mernda Wetlands to bring the walk closer to where the majority of you live! Tell anyone who may not be aware that we are not starting from Brinawa Reserve!!
4:00pm-5:30pm Sunday 6th April 2025
Worship Focus: Join us on a Contemplative Nature Walk.
A contemplative walk is an invitation to slow down & spend time in the outdoors enjoying God’s amazing creation.
Set in the beautiful South Morang Wetlands, we meet at the corner of Glenwood avenue and Wilton Vale Rd, Mernda, then we will spend time engaging our senses; connecting with nature, our bodies & God.
Meet at the corner of Glenwood avenue and Wilton Vale Rd, Mernda (Map below)
BYO refreshments
Check here and on our Facebook page if the weather is inclement.
In 1960, on hearing of Adolf Eichmann's capture and plans forhis trial, Hannah Arendt contacted The New Yorker and offered to travel to Israel to cover it when it opened on 11 April 1961. Arendt was anxious to test her theories, developed in 'The Origins of Totalitarianism', and see how justice would be administered to the sort of man she had written about.
In her subsequent 1963 report, based on her observations and transcripts, and which evolved into the book "Eichmann in Jerusalem: A Report on the Banality of Evil" Arendt coined the phrase "the banality of evil" to describe the Eichmann phenomenon.
She, like others, was struck by his very ordinariness and the demeanour he exhibited of a small, slightly balding, bland bureaucrat, in contrast to the horrific crimes he stood accused of. He was, she wrote, "terribly and terrifyingly normal.” She examined the question of whether evil is radical or simply a function of thoughtlessness, a tendency of ordinary people to obey orders and conform to mass opinion without a critical evaluation of the consequences of their actions.
Her thesis is that Eichmann was actually not a fanatic or a sociopath, but instead an average and mundane person who relied on clichéd defences rather than thinking for himself.
He was motivated by professional promotion rather than ideology, and believed in success, which he considered the chief standard of "good society". Banality, in this sense, does not mean that Eichmann's actions were in any way ordinary, but that his actions were motivated by a sort of complacency which was wholly unexceptional.
This tendency of we 'ordinary' people to actively accept the status quo; to keep our head down whilst pursuing our social objectives sears our capacity to empathy.
Is apathy the opposite of empathy or is it actually collective sociopathy? One definition of a sociopath is: "... a mental health condition in which a person consistently shows no regard for right and wrong and ignores the rights and feelings of others."
Maybe collectively we could define it as:"... a social health condition in which a community consistently shows no regard for right and wrong and ignores the rights and feelings of others."
The poem is about alienation (individual from the self, individual from other individuals, individual from society, etc.). It's about trying to reconstruct some sense of a whole or complete person, culture, or tradition in a fragmentary, dehumanised, world.
Psalm 51:1-17 Joel 2:1-2, 12-17 Isaiah 58:1-12 2 Corinthians 5:20-6:10 Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21
In the Western Christian calendar, Ash Wednesday is the first day of Lent and occurs forty-six days (forty days not counting Sundays) before Easter.
It is a moveable feast, falling on a different date each year because it is dependent on the date of Easter. It can occur as early as 4 February or as late as 10 March.
Ash Wednesday gets its name from the practice of placing ashes on the foreheads of the faithful as a sign of repentance. The ashes used are gathered after the Palm Crosses from the previous year's Palm Sunday are burned. In the liturgical practice of some churches, the ashes are mixed with the Oil of the Catechumens (one of the sacred oils used to anoint those about to be baptized), though some churches use ordinary oil. This paste is used by the minister who presides at the service to make the sign of the cross, first upon his or her own forehead and then on those of congregants. The minister recites the words: "Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return", or "Repent, and believe the Gospel."
Ash Wednesday is a day of repentance and it marks the beginning of Lent. Ashes were used in ancient times, according to the Bible, to express mourning. Dusting oneself with ashes was the penitent's way of expressing sorrow for sins and faults. (Eg. Numbers 19:9, 19:17, Jonah 3:6, Matthew 11:21).
It marks the start of a forty day period analogous to the separation of Jesus in the desert to fast and pray. During this time he was tempted. Matthew 4:1-11, Mark 1:12-13, and Luke 4:1-13.
Isaiah 58:1-12 (English Standard Version) 1"Cry aloud; do not hold back; lift up your voice like a trumpet; declare to my people their transgression, to the house of Jacob their sins. 2 Yet they seek me daily and delight to know my ways, as if they were a nation that did righteousness and did not forsake the judgment of their God; they ask of me righteous judgments; they delight to draw near to God.
3 'Why have we fasted, and you see it not? Why have we humbled ourselves, and you take no knowledge of it?' Behold, in the day of your fast you seek your own pleasure, and oppress all your workers. 4 Behold, you fast only to quarrel and to fight and to hit with a wicked fist.
Fasting like yours this day will not make your voice to be heard on high. 5 Is such the fast that I choose, a day for a person to humble himself? Is it to bow down his head like a reed, and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him? Will you call this a fast, and a day acceptable to the LORD?
6 "Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the straps of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke?
7 Is it not to share your bread with the hungry and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover him, and not to hide yourself from your own flesh?
8 Then shall your light break forth like the dawn, and your healing shall spring up speedily; your righteousness shall go before you; the glory of the LORD shall be your rear guard.
9 Then you shall call, and the LORD will answer; you shall cry, and he will say, 'Here I am.' If you take away the yoke from your midst, the pointing of the finger, and speaking wickedness, 10 if you pour yourself out for the hungry and satisfy the desire of the afflicted, then shall your light rise in the darkness and your gloom be as the noonday.
11And the LORD will guide you continually and satisfy your desire in scorched places and make your bones strong; and you shall be like a watered garden, like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail. 12 And your ancient ruins shall be rebuilt; you shall raise up the foundations of many generations; you shall be called the repairer of the breach, the restorer of streets to dwell in.
Shrove Tuesday is a Christian festival celebrated in many countries across the globe. It falls on the Tuesday before the beginning of Lent – 4th of March in 2025. Lent is a period of around six weeks leading up to Easter. During Lent, many Christians give up luxuries to remember when Jesus went into the desert for 40 days to fast and pray.
The date of Shrove Tuesday changes from year to year. But one thing stays the same — it’s always 47 days before Easter Sunday. And yes, it’s always on a Tuesday!
The name comes from the old word ‘shriving’, which means to listen to someone’s sins and forgive them. In Anglo-Saxon England, Christians would go to church on Shrove Tuesday to confess their sins and clean their soul. In other words, they would be ‘shriven’. For us, we confess our sins directly to God, at any time, to the One who hears and forgives.
In the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia and Canada, Shrove Tuesday has another name -- Pancake Day! Traditionally during Lent, Christians used to give up rich, tasty foods such as butter, eggs, sugar and fat. So Shrove Tuesday was the last chance to eat them – and what better way to do so than with a delicious pancake!
Come join us the Sunday before for a pre-Shrove Tuesday Pancake meal. We will provide pancakes (GF), ice-cream and maple syrup. Bring along whatever for you is a fav topping!
Note: Activities this term are not all at the same place or time.
Let the weak say, "I am strong" Let the poor say, "I am rich" Let the blind say, "I can see" It's what the Lord has done in me
Let the weak say, "I am strong" Let the poor say, "I am rich" Let the blind say, "I can see" It's what the Lord has done in me
Hosanna, hosanna To the Lamb that was slain Hosanna, hosanna Jesus died and rose again
Hosanna, hosanna To the Lamb that was slain Hosanna, hosanna Jesus died and rose again
Into the river, into the river, I will wade There my sins are washed away From the heavens mercy streams Of the Savior's love for me, yeah, I will rise
I will rise from waters deep Into the saving arms of God I will sing salvation songs Jesus Christ has set me free
Hosanna, hosanna
To the Lamb that was slain Hosanna, hosanna Jesus died & rose again
Hosanna, hosanna To the Lamb that was slain Hosanna, hosanna Jesus died & rose again
Hosanna, hosanna To the Lamb that was slain Hosanna, hosanna Jesus died and rose again
Let the weak say, "I am strong" Let the poor say, "I am rich" Let the blind say, "I can see" It's what the Lord has done in me
Hosanna, sing hosanna to the Lord To the Lamb that was slain Unto the Lamb, forever, forever and ever.
A contemplative walk is an invitation to slow down & spend time in the outdoors enjoying God’s amazing creation. Set in the beautiful Plenty Gorge Parklands we will spend time engaging our senses; connecting with nature, our bodies and God.
