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A SPIRITUAL JOURNEY
OF
UNDERSTANDING AND TOLERANCE
Gather us O God Body,
Spirit, soul and mind.
Gather us 0 God
One in union now with you
And with each other.
Our House is a place for people
to come together to share, create and be renewed
on life's journey of understanding and tolerance.
Understanding is like the layers of bark on a tree.
The further you peel off the layers of the bark,
the more you understand.
Then you get to the point where you cannot peel the layer off.
That is where you meet the sacredness of the other.
The other person.
The other culture.
The other spirituality.
It is there for you to respect.
Only then do you begin the path of tolerance,
For only then do you realize that you too are other.
PRAYER
God of all creation, We live in a world of great
beauty and diversity.
You have created each one of us as a unique person created in your
image
and likeness.
Unique but not isolated, each one of us was born into a family,
a race, a culture, a land, by your design of love.
But some of us are born into the dispossession of our heritage.
And others of us often fail to see it.
For our eyes are shortsighted our ears do not hear
our hearts are small our minds are prejudiced
We are unaware.
God of this great land:
Open our eyes to see who is oppressed and who is the oppressor.
Open our cars to hear the stories of the stolen generation'.
Open our hearts to embrace the pain of our
Indigenous brothers and sisters in love.
Open our minds to search for truth,
so that one day we will together celebrate your gift to us of
our common humanity, in harmony, justice and peace.
We ask this through Jesus Christ your Son,
who is a brother to us all.
Amen.
( Song ) Took the Children Away (Archie Roach)
Gather us O God
One in union now with you.
Bring the children home,
Gather the families together.
Restore their dignity and pride
And their rightful place in this land.
Shed your forgiveness
on those of us who are white
for what our forebears have done.
Gather us O God
one in union now with you
As brothers and sisters in Jesus
Your Son.
FIRE BLESSING
May the fire he in your thoughts,
Making them good and just.
May it protect you from all harm
May the fire he in your eyes,
May it open your eyes to see what is good in life.
May it protect you from speaking against another.
May the fire be in your ears.
We pray that you may hear with deep listening
So that you may bear the flow of water
And of all creation and the Dreaming.
May you be protected from gossip
And from those things that harm
and break down your family.
May the fire he in your arms and hands,
So that you may be of service and build up love.
May the fire protect you from all violence.
May the fire be in your whole being, In your legs
and feet,
Enabling you to walk the earth with respect and care,
So that you may journey in ways of goodness and trust
And be protected from walking away from what is true.
Let as pray together.
(This prayer. was written by the Aboriginal People
for their meeting with Pope
John Paul in Alice Springs in 1986 ;We say it together in solidarity.)
Father of all, you gave us The Dreaming.
You have always spoken to us through our beliefs.
You then made your love clear to us ill the person of Jesus.
We thank you for your care.
You own us, you are our hope!
Make us strong as we face the problem of change.
We ask you to help the people of Australia
to listen to us and respect our culture.
We can only know you and ourselves through our culture.
Make the knowledge of you grow strong in all People
so that you can find a hone in us,
and we call make a home for everyone in our land.
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