Reflection on Towards Reconciliation

The last couple of years I have been studying a Post Graduate Certificate in Theology. I don't find joy from studying but I do it for personal development as well as requirements of my position as an ordained minister in the Uniting Church of South Australia. My family have been very supportive to me throughout my studies in encouraging me and knowing when to stay away from me.

My last subject I chose for my Post Grad Cert was a very different subject to others I had chosen which had been along the themes of leadership. I didn't know what to expect when I went on a weekend of "Walking on Country" and then began my topic "Towards reconciliation." It has been quite a journey for me and has touched me in very unexpected ways. I thought I would share my reflection of my experience here.

The last few months have been an interesting journey for me as I have tried to intentionally engage with indigenous culture and the issues First peoples are struggling with on a daily basis. I have listened to the stories of the Adnyamathanha people, I have read copious articles, I have visited with Anangu people in Yalata (a very different experience from listening to Adnyamathanha people) and I have engaged my congregation as well as people in my family and social networks in conversations around issues of reconciliation and generally how they understand the issues of First peoples.

I have realised from the perspective of a white, first born Australian generation, grand-daughter of English and Dutch migrants looking to make a better life for their families, I have the opportunity to choose whether or not to engage in conversations about land rights, justice, and reconciliation. I choose whether or not I want to notice and subsequently make a stand for the rights of First people’s in Australia. I get to choose whether to ignore what mistakes have been made and are continuing to be made or I have to make ways forward to helping the reconciliation process. While there is that desire to want to help others, to free the oppressed and show compassion for the down trodden, there is still a faint voice that says “It’s too hard, let someone else sort it out”. My faith reminds me that Jesus says in Matthew 25:40 “…‘Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.’” How can I not seek ways to stand with my indigenous brothers and sisters after what I’ve learned these last few months?

This journey has made me understand the importance of story. It’s important that stories are told and stories are heard and in some ways experienced by the hearer. For people in the Christian faith there is the need for faith stories to be heard and for the hearer to connect with one’s own in experience in some way. Hearing and reading the stories of the Adnyamathanha people has helped me understand their connection and belonging to the land which I now realise I’d never really understood. For me, that experience has impacted me far more and given me greater understanding than had I just read facts about indigenous people and the issues they face. To be included in the stories, trusted with the stories and to feel their emotions as they told the stories gave insights and experiences I wouldn’t have otherwise had.

It is those experiences that I have taken back to my own community and the lens through which I now see and hear through when in discussions about reconciliation for indigenous people. The same lens through which helped me understand the struggles of the Anangu people in Yalata, a people displaced from their land near Maralinga when white people chose to do nuclear testing on the land. I find it interesting that just in the few months that I have been engaged in this course of study that I have had several opportunities to engage and hear stories of indigenous people when that hasn’t normally been my experience.

I will never claim to fully understand what indigenous people have experienced or to know how we can move forward to full reconciliation. However, I have come to realise that even in taking small steps towards reconciliation that is a much better approach than staying silent. As a leader in the church I have to lead in this area and not just hope that someone else will do it. I have a responsibility to stay engaged in conversations of reconciliation and justice for First peoples and help the church to stay informed and ready for action. Previously I would have thought staying quiet was better than saying the wrong thing. I realise now that staying quiet is saying the wrong thing.

As followers of Jesus we are all part of the body of Christ. As the body of Christ we have a responsibility to make sure that every part is cared for and represented. One part of the body can’t say to another part ‘I don’t need you’ and each part of the body needs the other part so that it functions the way it was designed. 1 Corinthians 12:26 says “If one member suffers, all suffer together with it; if one member is honoured, all rejoice together with it.” If the church is truly part of the body then when our indigenous brothers and sisters are suffering, then we are also suffering. It is no longer an issue about the ‘other’ but an issue that we all share and need to actively engage in.

This course has had a far bigger impact on me than I had anticipated it would and I will be forever changed because of the experience.