trioX2

sunrise...

signs from the heavens

click on image for clearer view of sign...

donnaconfetti: St Mary's moves on...

donnaconfetti: St Mary's moves on...

St Mary's moves on...

Bushfire recovery dolls

Since late February I have been working alongside some folks from the Historical Abuse Network at Lotus House, making rag dolls for the victims of the Victorian bushfires. It is a project that I initiated out of a desire to respond with heart, hands and head.

Many people have rallied round the project and the resulting dolls will be dispatched in the next couple of weeks. They have been made, with love, by the people around the parish of St Mary's South Brisbane, especially for those in our namesake parish in Kinglake and those in Maryville's Our Lady of the Snow.

I understand that replacing the lost possessions cannot erase the sorrow and trauma of the experiences of people in the area. Perhaps the practical gesture of handmaking dolls will aid a healing connection between wellwishers and those who receive the dolls. As a symbol of nurturing, dolls offer comfort and imagination. These dolls have their arms raised as if dancing or praying or just reaching up for a hug...

http://www.han.merivale.org.au/
http://www.stmaryssouthbrisbane.com/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2009_Victorian_bushfires

notes on radical social work

Radical Social Work is a bit of a challenge when we live in interesting times. But hey, don't we always live in interesting times? Last night I attended Pam Trevithick's talk in Brisbane about radical social work. She is visiting Griffith University's School of Human Services and Social Work. She reckons that there is room for those with grey hair and nothing left to loose to take on the issues.

A social worker seasoned in mental health services in various settings claimed her established credibility enabled more radical solutions now she was part of the system, while others mentioned actions they'd undertaken in their early pre-credibility days that had a workable audacity.

Pam noted that the image of a gracefully floating swan for SWAN (Social Workers Action Network ,UK) did not capture the radical intentions, but perhaps the action is all happening beneath the calm surface...

As a grey haired recent graduate I think I could combine the audacity of not knowing what to fear in the existing systems with the sense of urgency that comes with knowing I don't have endless years to muck around with.

http://www.socialworkfuture.org/
http://www.griffith.edu.au/health/school-human-services-social-work

Easter Sunday

St Mary's South Brisbane was so packed out, I was up in the loft with the cameramen and tourists. I asked the man beside me where he usually sat, assuming that like me he was displaced from his nest by the swarming crowd below. He was visiting from NZ and remarked that there was no visible priest. I advised him to read the story online as the last thing I wanted to do was give a history lesson to a rubberneck or engage a temple spy in small talk about the validity of medieval frocks on priests. I wasn't feeling very inclusive today.

Princess and Angel escaped from the crowds and decorated the tree beside the hostel for homeless men, using old newsletters from the skip beside the sacrestry, already overflowing with the detritus of impending exile. These children have a clarity of purpose and poetic licence that manifests thier connection to this place in ways adults would baulk at yet recognise.

Next week is the last Mass for this community in this beautiful church. I am reflecting on morphic resonance and the accumulation of hopes and prayers that have saturated these walls. I am finding it hard to detatch from the location. This is indeed a sacred site. It is not about following Father Kennedy, rather following a relevant and inspiring model of a catholic community. I don't know if it is possible for me to go down the road to the Trades and Labour Council hall. I know, I know...It is not WHERE we gather but WHY that is important.