[visual dna]
Quite liked this. (thanks Little]

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Unforgettable Speeches..

I was glancing at the SMH page today, and noticed that Paul Keating's 1992 address on Aboriginal injustice is Australia's most unforgettable speech, behind "I have a Dream" (MLK) and the "Sermon on the Mount" (Jesus Christ).

This speech (also given by Paul Keating) at the funeral service of the Unknown Australian Soldier, 11 November 1993 is one of my favourites.

Update, The Age in an article on the survey laments that the art of oratory has transmuted into the routine of speechmaking.

Easter Op-eds

A few select quotes from the Good Friday opinion pages. They made quite intriguing reading today. I think the first piece challenges us to think about how we can make our churches more 'culturally-relevant' without changing the message. The second article by Melbourne Critic Peter Craven spoke about how Christian literacy is disappearing and that our culture lost something as a result. I was taken by the issue of 'truth' which was raised in the final two pieces.

I'm always blown away by the 'conclusion' to Mark's gospel, which I really identify with, as I could see myself responding in a similar manner on Good Friday, so I finished with two verses from Mark and Acts, which summarised to me the amazing transformation in the disciples; from fear and confusion to faith and certainty.

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As a report in The Age today shows, an increasing number of younger Australian Christians are seeking solace and spiritual comfort in smaller groups, away from a church that they regard as daunting and too institutional. They have a friend in Jesus, but, for them, Jesus has left the main building and is more easily sought in cafes, clubs, homes or galleries more hospitable to private contemplation and prayer.
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Even worse, we live in a culture of forgetting and any loss of knowledge of the icons of Christianity can seem like the loss of the most precious tokens in the world. Intellectuals don't come more secular and liberal — and Jewish — than the late Susan Sontag, but towards the end of her life she deplored the fact that most American art history students were not religiously literate enough to know the Stations of the Cross .... And this is more than a loss of symbol recognition. It's also a loss of a climate of feeling.
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If we knew for sure what happened, there'd be no need for faith: doubt is both the engine and the essence of faith.
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This order of truth is as relevant today as it was 2000 years ago. It offers release from the bondage of despair, a basis for hope that what we know of our lives and deaths is not all there is to either, and trust in the intrinsic value of every human being and of the ultimate purpose God has for all humanity
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And they went out and fled from the tomb, for trembling and astonishment had seized them, and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.
Mark 16:8

Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified. (Apostle Peter)
Acts 2:36

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"Worship" Music..

I was quite interested as Lara counted down her churches favourite songs. So I thought I'd take the time to list my favourites. Making the list was harder than I thought~! And it does change quite a bit. But as you'll see from my list, I quite like the hymns we sing at church. (Don't get me wrong I do like the other songs that we do sing, but we have been blessed with some great hymns).

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5. Be Thou My Vision
4. May the Mind of Christ
3. How Deep the Father's Love for Us
2. And Can it Be

1. It is Well with My Soul

I think that it is the story behind this song that is so amazing. I really love the third verse:

My sin, oh the bliss
of this glorious thought!
My sin, not in part but the whole,
Is nailed to His cross,
and I bear it no more,
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul

There are also a few good contemporary versions of this song (by Jars of Clay, Jennifer Knapp and Rebecca St. James)