Sam and I went up to Healesville today to see the new exhibition, ‘Resurrection’, which has been put curated by Three Stories Gallery. It’s an exhibition of art work made from the ruins of the fires… mike emmett [who is part of our basement spaces, and so much more!] has a couple of pieces there – an amazing burnt stump of a tree that sits at the entrance to the gallery, and then a piece of writing, written in the hours after the fire front went through. There’s some other lovely stuff, both found objects that were turned [unexpectedly!] into works of art from the fire, and other photos, paintings, pottery in response to the fire. The artists are all people who bore the brunt of the fires.

The Age featured the exhibition on its front page today [well, underneath the pseudo grand prix cover!], there was a long report on channel seven news tonight [including a focus on one of Mike's pieces], and the ABC are doing a piece on Sunday Arts next week… Well done to Ali, the curator, and to mike and the other artists. It’s open until May 30, and there’s talk of it moving around to other communities.

Mike has two galleries of photos from their property at Chum Creek.

[click on the photo to enlarge - you can make out their house among the trees to the right of the cars. advice is to put cars in an area that's already burnt out so that if another fire comes through they won't be burnt, and it's possible to drive out

Lifted from the comments, from Mike: I might add a small descriptor the photo of the paddock. The line of powerpoles there is the road. That is where the south-west front bore down on us. To the right of the picture, the hill rolls down into the gully on chum creek. That is where the front came from when the wind turned south east.]

He and Claire have a remarkable story to tell… and they’re still living it. While the threat isn’t as immanent as it was a couple of days ago, that can change in a moment. In almost every email from Mike, he talks about having to stay vigilant for spot fires and ember attacks. It’s been five days and nights of this so far.

People say that one of the ways they stay resilient at moments like this is by knowing that they aren’t doing it alone – that people ‘outside’ of the situation know that it’s still bloody hard, even if we can never know how hard, and that they aren’t being forgotten. We often say ‘light a candle’, but this isn’t the time for candles… instead maybe you could just take an empty moment to pray for Mike and Claire, for all those like them who are still waiting and watching; and for those who have nothing left to wait for.

The fires started in that area 4 days ago. It’s hard to comprehend what the levels of exhaustion must be. I suspect it’s been four days with little, or no, sleep for people in that area.

Update: just as I posted this I got an email from Mike with this photo [but no message!]. I think, from looking at it, that it’s the paddock out the back of their place.

Update number 2 from Mike, lifted from the comments below: Still ok. That’s our house’s south side through the trees. God it’s hard to blog on a phone.

Update number 3 from Mike, lifted from the comments below: Elvis is in the building. At last.

Hooray!

Mike might post pictures this week… because i’m going on holidays… as of now…

Says Mordecai to Esther, “Perhaps you were made queen for such a time like this”

There’s no mention of God in the story of Esther. We know she had loyalty to her people… we know she had loyalty to the things we associate with God – freedom, liberation and wholeness – but in this story her loyalty to God goes unmentioned. Maybe it was because her faith was so deeply embedded in her life that there was no need to mention it…

Do you long for faith like that?

Remember a time when you have known your faith, really known it, felt embedded in it… when it’s been so much a part of you that there was no part of you separate to it… you didn’t talk about it because there were no words that could do justice to it… you just lived it.

The God you knew then is still here…

Remember a time when you trusted your instincts and hunches… when you could step courageously because you knew yourself, and you knew your faith so well that questioning your response was unimaginable.

Pray to the God you knew then…

Picture the people and places in the world right now that need to know freedom and liberation. Let the memory of your faith give you all the courage you need to respond.

You too were born for such a time like this.

the third alternative worship gathering in the house of love!

Ever had one of those moments that gives you perspective? I had one last week.

My own story was one
I thought I knew,
then,
in a moment,
It looked different.
A new perspective.

It was staring at me all that time, and I’d missed it.

AUGUST 13th
3.00pm flexi-start
57 Hodges Road
Healesville
No rsvp just bring something to share.
Chances are we’ll drift into an early dinner.
Local wines will be provided.

the plan:
1. Eat good simple food, drink good wine and good coffee
2. Talk with interesting people
3. Do interesting things
4. Or not.

This time we are again shaping things a bit more intentionally. It’s up to you to measure your response.

No singing.
No walking down aisles.
No preaching heads.
No specific start or end times.