Prodigal Daughter

There’s nothing quite like listening to good music while driving to somewhere you don’t really wanna go to. It helps you to endure the duration of the trip, and then leaves you with a tune you can hum in your head.. a little buffer of rhythmic sub-consciousness beneath the grinding of the day.. especially if you find it difficult to be present, living in the now, like me.

So it’s REALLY cool when the songs themselves help you to remember the present (the now)- and the present (the gift)of everything. The love, the intelligence that is beyond textbooks and seminars, holy books and preachers, creeds and deeds.. Rachael Brady is one beautiful human being who writes such songs. I thank her. I thank the Creator for creating through her. For like her, we all have gone our own way, forgetting that we are children of the One. Prodigal children unite and forgive, untie the self-inflicted strings around our feet and believe.

As my good friend Aaron Nebaeur always says: It’ All A Miracle. Recieve it.

shackles off my feet so i can dance

I support TEAR Australia. TEAR Qld had their conference (Out Of Africa) on the weekend. I got roped in to playing and leading some songs. Here’s the set list:

Kingdom Of Friends (Dave Andrews)
Power of the gospel (Ben Harper)
Shackles (Mary Mary)
Yahweh (U2)
Amazing Grace (to the tune of HOUSE OF THE RISING SUN)
Politik (Coldplay)
Picture of Jesus (Ben Harper)
Blessed Assurance (Requested by our guest speaker from SU Zimbabwe)

A big thank you to Greg Manning (Keyboard), James McEwan (Bass) and Andrew Wilcox (guitar & Vocal) for coming along for the ride. A massive ‘RESPECT’ to crazy christians who actually believe that faith in Christ can and should make them more caring towards their local and international neighbours, the planet, and empower them to advocate for those struggling against systematic injustice everywhere. Thanks for singing along and for making even me, somewhat a recovering christian, feel at home!

Ofcourse the coolest thing about the weekend, apart from the beach, was meeting the speakers – Matthew Maury (TEAR’s new National Director) and Leonard Makoni (Scripture Union Zimbabwe) – in the games room.

I’m thinking of Kev Carmody and a bit of Nick Cave if there’s a next time..

listen to your friend francis, he’s a cool dude

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace;
where there is hatred, let me sow love;
when there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
and where there is sadness, joy.
Grant that I may not so much seek
to be consoled as to console
to be understood, as to understand,
to be loved as to love;
for it is in giving that we receive,
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
and it is in dying [to ourselves] that we are born to eternal life.

..Yes, it’s the prayer of St Francis.. I love it because it is action-packed..

Check out this dude for more Franciscan thoughts for today. Shalom.

Blackstar Rising (Taste The Revolution)

I think there are good revolutions and there are bad revolutions. Bicycles, electric cars, solar panels, acoustic guitars, IPhones and Ghandi’s vision for post-colonial India are good revolutions. Now we can add Blackstar Roastery Works and Espresso Bar to the list.

Since 6.30am Monday 15th November 2008, the foolish revolutionaries who believe that fairtrade, social enterprise and true friendship can change the world have been servin’ up freshly roasted organic double-shots down in Thomas St, West End. The atmosphere is good. Sit down on one of their funky retro chairs at the low tables, or if you’re in a bit of a rush just step over to the bench on the left. Whether it’s a quick espresso to kick-start your busy day or somewhere to chill out with friends to sip your latte and your urban worries away.. Blackstar is the place to be right now in Brisbane.

The things I love about BLackstar Roastery Works & Espresso Bar are:

- I have not tasted coffee this good apart from in Italy

- It is a quiet hide-away from the often crowded Vulture St

- The coffee beans are 100% organic, fairtrade, roasted right there at the back of the shop. (Yes you can see the funky Probat roasting machine just over the counter, and I can’t even describe the alluring smell of all those trays of roasted coffee beans).. And you can grab the beans to brew your own at home when you can’t come down.

- Recycled fit-outs including beautiful reclaimed wooden benches, retro furnitue and lights, reducing environmental impact wherever they can

- Funky music to chill out to, and even a wall you can draw on as you wait for your friends to arrive

- They try to employ and train people who are studying, disadvantaged, long-term-unemployed, and/or are struggling with life

- They are focused on the local community, local artists and social justice

Taste the revolution, people! See you down at Blackstar – they’re brewing everyday from 6.30am-3pm.. and have even started doing LIVE MUSIC on Friday and Saturday nights, when they open all day til abour 10.30pm

Here’s the LIVE Music @ Blackstar gig guide

And here’s the Blackstar Coffee Website where you can order fresh coffee beans online!

reading between the life lines

the big issue summer edition

 I bought a magazine today. It has been a while since I bought one. It was $5 and within the first minute of reading I felt blessed. I read about a man who has had a really rough life with sexual abuse, psychological damage from fighting in Vietnam, alcohol addiction and family traumas. This magazine is helping to put the pieces of his life back together. The editor asks readers to spread the word because in these times of economical difficulties their vendors are struggling. So here’s a link to THE BIG ISSUE Australia. And here’s one for those unlucky enough to not live in Australia - The Big Issue International. The season for giving and living is NOT over.

As an aside, I got off the train after closing the magazine this morning. When I saw a man who always gives out free magazines (Mormon or JW’s, I can’t remember) who just stands there displaying 4 magazines and looking grumpy, I had an idea. I said ‘I’ll swap you’. He was confused. He thought it was a crossword book. I said ‘It’s The Big Issue. I’ll swap you’. He politely refused and I walked off smiling.

I’ve read that Jesus said your Kingdom come, your will be done ON EARTH, as it is in heaven. So I remind myself that my reflection and action of God’s love starts here, today.

A Well Founded Fear

There was a film a few weeks ago on SBS Australia. I missed it – was working. I am planning to get it though because everyone is talking about it. It exposes the plight of some of the asylum-seekers who were rejected refugee status by the Howard Government.

“Every year, thousands of people flee their homelands to escape war and persecution. The people who make it to Australia end up in detention centres while their claims for asylum are processed. This can take months, if not years and can lead to a sense of profound uncertainty. The Australian Government eventually sends back asylum seekers it doesn’t think are refugees, and who can’t prove they have “a well-founded fear” for their safety. This documentary follows the work of a small group of committed Australians who have made it their mission to find the asylum seekers Australia has rejected. For five years, Phil Glendenning has been travelling the globe in search of rejected asylum seekers. To date he and his colleagues from the small social justice agency he runs have tracked down over 250 returnees in 22 countries. And what they’ve found is truly disturbing.”

A Well Founded Fear will be available on DVD in a few weeks. Check out the people behind the project:

http://www.novemberfilms.com.au/films/a-well-founded-fear

and I think you can purchase it from this place

What do YOU think about refugees and how governments of developed countries treat them these days?

I was searching for stuff on DIY cd cases when I found this little article about indie artists. I love the writer’s raw honesty.

http://www.messandnoise.com/articles/7008

Ambitious Lovers

I often think about the way I used to (and sometimes still DO) want to be a rockstar using my good looks and my music. I am so full of myself that I forget what a gift music is. So here’s my little gift to anyone who wishes they were a rockstar.. Would love to know how people feel about this.. cheers

tHrIVe

4/11/2008

Hi everyone

I wanna say a big Thank You for your support over the past few weeks for my trip to Thailand with the Micah Network in October 2008. I just got back on Thursday night, went to a wedding on Friday and got quite sick, but am now doing better after going to work this morning. A few people have been asking how the trip went so here’s my summary..

BANGKOK:
- I arrived in Bangkok and stayed with my dad at his friend’s house. It was one of the few times in my life I get to spend with my dad so I treasured the opportunity, the wisdom and the pain/pleasure
- I got to meet a Thai woman who lives with ex-sexworkers and works with current ones to be their friends, living locally in a tourist sex street. We also got to meet an American woman who started the home a few years ago. They are called Beginnings, and they make sure the women get a good education (2 are at university, 1 at bible college and a few are in high school) so they can break the cycle of poverty and prostitution, but they also teach them arts and crafts, some of which can be purchased to support their activities. I will post an interview soon…
- Post-conference, I went to Church Of Joy on Sukhumvit 14 where I met a minister who’s working with Inmates in around Bangkok. He invited me along to a re-hab/jail just outside of Bangkok. It was a surreal. There were all these 25-35 year-old men in t-shirts, shorts and thongs sitting around making umbrellas in this opened-planned wooden house where they usually hang out. We sang some songs and heard from the preacher, who focused on Faith. So I sang Amazing Grace in English and also in Thai (so people sang along which was very cool). It was amazing that so many words came out of my mouth about the grace of god in my life and about the perfect Father we have in him. I never knew I could speak Thai for that long. Finihing with John Lennon’s ‘Imagine’ (the straight version) proved to be a good choice as everyone seemed to know it and made me a lot more credible These men were brothers in Christ who have committed their lives to following his way and love to sing. They have had amazing oppportunities to sing in big churches and fundraiser events attended by Princesses! And they are helping to open a church where half the members are ex-prisoners.

World Cafe Session, MIcah Network HIV consulation

a church meeting in a cafe in Bangkok

Peter B & Ricky @ Micah Global HIV Consulation

A Plenary Session

Peter B, Musa & Ricky – cool kids from the music team :)

Rattan (India), Greg Manning (AUS), Ricky (India) & Peter B

Grazia (Bolivia) & Peter B

Ricky (India), Musa (South Africa), Patricia, some of the delegates & me

PATTAYA:
- I spent the first 1-2 days hanging out with a guy from India who used to be an injecting drug user. We shared the same room at the conference. We got along well, which was important because we were playing together every morning at the worship time. (He brought along the Sahara song book, from the ‘rehab community’ he was a part of.. and so most of the songs we sang at the conference with 200+ leaders from Evangelical churches and organisations were chosen from the context of a flawed, repentant community of believers who hope in Christ for better days, against all odds. To me, the songs themselves weren’t spectacular (yes, we’re talking classics like Shout to The Lord, I will enter his gates, Create in me a clean heart…) , but the spirit in which we sang them was beautiful.) He also did a song by himself on the last day by Keith Green, which, again, is not my cup of tea, but was done with a greateful spirit as he shared his amazing journey and the work that he is doing now to help other in his community not to have to go through what he did.
- Our worhip team was made up with a charismatic gospel singer form South Africa who pretty much took the lead role (thank god!), a very competent Aussie pianist who’s volunteering in Hong Kong, a couple from North-East Thailand who are starting up a HIV/AIDS centre, a Thai male youth pastor who used to be a dancer in Pattaya, and my long-time friend from Bangkok who is a worship leader and very accomplished vocalist from Bangkok. We practiced from 7.00-9.30pm every night and had to be ready to go by 8am every morning. During the day we participated in most of the talks, discussions and workshops run by experts and leaders in the field of HIV/AIDS, theology, treatment activism, etc.
- Daily I was being blown away by the stories of church and community leaders who are living with HIV. The stigma they face in seeking help and treatment means that it took them a long time, sometimes years, before they get the care that they need. This is unfortunately true in the evangelical churches around the world. It made me think about what it would be like if I was living with HIV.. would you guys still be my friends? The consensus was that sometimes we have made it diificult for the sick and needy among us (and in the world) to seek help because of our self-righteousness. The real victims in the world are the voiceless women and children who pay the price for arrogant men like myself who think we’ve got it all figured and who oppress others in the name of masculinity and misuse scripture in a way that Jesus would totally disapprove. Another point is that people who are ‘different’ (for whatever reason) don’t need our symphathy, as we often think,… in fact they want to be adopted fully into our community as a valued friend, a brother or sister in the human family. The courage and love I saw in Pattaya will remain with me for a long time.
- The musical input that our team provided was not just a time for people to ‘tune-out’ or ‘relax’, etc. The spirit of the songs we sang together was one of unity. There were so many opinions and points of view on issues, and many people there believed that music was one of the things robust enough to help hold such a diverse community together for 4 days. The solo songs that we did were geared towards story-telling and reflection. People appreciated our input and loved the music. We also showed a music clip/interview/reflection thing that we made with U2’s ‘Stay’ in the background, which went down really well.
- I had many amazing conversations about faith and how to live it out in an imperfect world. Some of these people were: the spanish intepretor (the entire conference was translated in to French, Spanish and Thai) from Peru who’s been studying in New York, an English lady who lives in Switzerland and represents UNAIDS, and the guys in the worship team. Overall, there was a sense that together we can hope and work for a better world where love is the new economy! And evangelical christians (More than 420 million people around the globe!) are the ones with the resources and humulity to change the world.. if we will but do it.

Thanks again for this amazing opportunity to work and play with some very groovy people from around the globe, I have gained so much from sharing with everyone there. And to think that it all began as a casual introduction of Greg (who organised a lot of the conference) to me when we were playing some songs together earlier this year! I hope and pray that you also get to be part of something small but life-changing and life-giving in and through your circle of friends, and that you don’t hesitate to call on me for support, anytime.

Take care, have mercy and love justice
Peter

These are two letters I read this week. I think it is important to look at news story from various perspective, especially ones that don’t get airtime.. to me they tend to be more believable.

—————-

Aborigine Killed in Custody, Whitewash Attempted, Cop Acquitted & Promoted, Elder to be Sentenced, Bravery Awards to be Handed Out, Jesus Wept!

I was born and raised in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.  The city evolved out of the brutal British penal colony of Moreton Bay. It was built on aboriginal genocide and Irish and other convict slavery.  The original tribe that occupied the area had been totally liquidated before I got there!

When I was 8 years of age, aboriginal Australians were not citizens of Australia, they did not have the vote.  When I was 11, the Queensland state government declared a “State of Emergency” to facilitate the racially selected South African Rugby team to play a game of footy in Brisbane. When I was 13, it was still illegal to cohabitate with a native under the Vagrancy Act, the specific Qld Black Acts were legislation ruling the aboriginal population and restricting their freedom. When I was 17, the state government suspended civil liberties to faciltate the extraction and export of uranium from traditional aboriginal lands.

When I was 22 I went to jail for the first time as a political prisoner - 30% of the jail population in the state were aborigine. There is still not one aboriginal police officer in the state (they had one in the ’80’s but he was driven out by the imbeded culture of racism in the force!), aboriginal death in custody at the hands of cops and screws were/are not unusual. I have been in custody twice when aboriginal prisoners were killed by staff violence or set up, on another occasion I was in population for the predictable suicide of a minor from Groot on the youth wing. I find myself at 48 with not much changing back at home when it comes to the death of aboriginal prisoners in custody, bureaucatic cover ups, acquitted authority, colonial bravery awards handed out, essential oppression remaining unaddressed.

In 2005 Senior Segeant Hurley became the first police officer, to be charged with an aboriginal death in custody in the history of the state of Queensland following the killing of Mulrunji Doomadgee in Palm Island watchhouse.

After several years of fully paid leave while awaiting trial on manslaughter charges (at which he was acquitted) Snr Sgt Hurley has since received a promotion, and is now an Inspector of police working on the Gold Coast. He received a $100,000 compensation payout from the Queensland Government for property lost in the fire, and his legal bills were covered by the Queensland Police Union, and fundraising efforts by QPS members.

Last week, Palm Island local councilor Lex Wotton was found guilty by an all-white Brisbane jury of ‘rioting with destruction’. Wotton was convicted in Brisbane in relation to the events in which a police station, adjoining courthouse, a police residence and a vehicle were destroyed by fire that followed attempted white cover up of the killing of Mulrunji Doomadgee.  Doomadgee was a 36-year-old Palm Island man who had been arrested for “public nuisance” by Senior Sergeant Chris Hurley, the officer-in-charge of the Palm Island police station. Within an hour of his arrest, Mulrunji lay dead on the floor of a police cell, a victim of massive internal injuries, including a ruptured spleen, four broken ribs and a liver that had been ‘almost cleaved in two’ from a huge compressive force.

A subsequent coronial inquest found that Snr Sgt Hurley was responsible for the death. It also uncovered numerous breaches of procedures by Queensland Police in the ensuing investigation.
The community erupted on November 26 – a week to the day after the death – after they were told at a town meeting than a pathologist’s report had found Mulrunji’s death was “an accident”.
Palm Island Councilor Lex Wotton is presently imprisoned in Queensland being transferred from Brisbane to Townsville for sentencing this coming Friday.  In the same week, back in Brisbane, 22 members of the Qld Police Riot Squad will receive “bravery awards” for arresting Lex during their militarised occupation of Palm in the aftermath the uprising that followed the initial cover up of  the killing of Mulrunji Doomadgee.

Police claim local councilor Lex Wotton led the riot and he was arrested while his children were present by armed police with dogs at 4am in the morning. He has since been found guilty  for ‘rioting with destruction’. Wotton’s lawyers claim he was the one who called off the riots so police could escape unharmed. He is now being held in custody and awaits sentencing this coming Friday November 7th, in Townsville.

Jesus wept!

Ciaron O’Reilly

Dublin, Ireland

——————–

I would just like to add briefly to Ciaron’s report.

I have great respect for some police. I am sure our local Dayboro cop Ken would no more bash someone in custody that he would his own mother.

That said, there can be little doubt from any objective reading of the events on Palm Island, that Sgt Hurley bashed Mulrungi Doomadgee to death.

So how did we end up where we are, with Hurley rewarded and Wotton jailed?

I think a lot has to do frightened racist white population which is prepared to accept a criminal justice system in which people like Wotton and Doomadgee are seen as  unfortunate collateral damage.

For those unfamiliar with the criminal justice system here is an indisputable fact:

In court, the police are habitual liars.

I do not to say this with any malice or bitterness. It is merely an objective fact observed from over thirty years of going to court. Everyone involved in the criminal justice system knows it. The police, the “crims”, the defence lawyers, the prosecution lawyers, the judges and magistrates all know the police generally have no respect for the truth in court.

In September 2005 my face was a bloody mess after Constable Bruce Jennings ground it into the concrete, in a vicious act of senseless and totally unprovoked violence. Naturally I had to be charged with something, andI was charged with obstructing police.

Police and two security guards all lied outrageously in court. I had nine witness including a number of lawyers who contradicted their evidence. Nothing could have been more obvious to anyone in the court room that they were “lying through their teeth”,  to use the phrase used by Wotton’s lawyer used referring to the police in his case.

I was found not guilty.  But “liberal” magistrate Kerri McGuiness failed to make any comment regarding police behavior in her summing up. She failed to condemn the police assault, or comment on my evidence that they had lied even copying one another’s witness statements, right down to the same spelling mistakes.

I would suggest that like the vast majority of Queenslanders, she accepts police violence, police lies, and police victims, as unfortunate collateral damage. I am sure she feels strongly (even if it is not acknowledged intellectually) that she needs police to protect her power and privilege and all that her $150,000 a year salary will buy.

As Ciaorn points out, this week police will receive bravery awards while Lex Wotton gets sentenced. In Lex Wotton’s case,the picture was painted of 19 police hiding in terror of rioting aboriginal people on Palm Island. I do not know all the details or if this is part of the “lying through their teeth” referred to. Most likely it was, as most of the police involved have applied or compensation payment as well. None of  them were hurt, but this picture will do much to maintain or increase the racist fear necessary to keep such a ‘filthy rotten” criminal justice system going, and to ensure that many otherwise sympathetic whites will continue to accept he “collateral damage” such as deaths in custody as the price (someone else has to pay) for their safety.

Jim Dowling

“Eat bread and salt and speak the truth.” – a great Russian saying

There are only two feelings, love and fear
There are only two languages, love and fear
There are only two activities, love and fear
There are only two motives, two procedures, two frameworks, two results

Love and fear
Love and fear.

Michael Leunig

“Fear not!” – Jesus Christ

A fragile justice

November 08, 2008

Article from: The Australian

The Palm Island cases raise serious questions

WHEN Lex Wotton was jailed yesterday for his role in the Palm Island riots, the real victim was the Queensland justice system. The conduct of the Wotton trial is not in question, but it crystallises concern about whether everyone in that state is truly equal before the law.

The Wotton case will forever be linked to the event that triggered the riot: the violent death in police custody of Palm Island man Mulrunji Doomadgee. The question needs to be asked: why is it that the justice system can move efficiently to punish Wotton, but cannot find anybody who was responsible for Doomadgee’s death?

The destruction of property during a riot is an extremely serious offence. It challenges the basis of civil society, and because of that, nobody should be surprised that Wotton has been given a tough sentence of six years. But what about Doomadgee? A man’s death is infinitely more serious than an offence against property. Yet the initial police investigation of Doomadgee’s death was so casual as to amount to a disgrace. And the final result? The criminal justice system of Queensland holds nobody responsible.

In the long run, the different outcomes of these linked cases will do nothing to engender respect for the police and the justice system. And without respect, law and order in any community will remain fragile.

Both these cases raise the same issue of principle: the law is above everybody and must be administered in a way that gives the appearance — as well as the reality — of impartiality. In Queensland, that principle is under serious strain.