Greetings …

Did you hear the news that Australia managed to win the first test of the current Ashes series!  I did and I was very happy.  For my family this was important news and I knew they would be happy too.

We usually watch cricket together as a family, but not this time.  Tony was at home watching, I was away on my Study Leave in Inverloch, and Elizabeth was having an adventure in Central Australia hoping to hear the result!  While none of us were together or physically present at the match, we were all uniting in wanting to find out who won!

This week, as we remember the Uniting Church Anniversary, it strikes that there are things that unite us as well as things that have the potential to divide us, and that we have agency in that.  We can choose where to invest and put our energies – we can choose where we will make a difference.  As a 9-year-old at the time, I remember some of the conversations in the congregation that I was part, as other people were discerning whether or not they would move into Union.  My parents were happy to vote yes to Union, but decided they would stand with the decision of the congregation, so it wasn’t until I was in my early 20s that I came to find my home in the Uniting Church.

With the referendum for A Voice to Parliament now passing both houses of parliament, we also have the opportunity to make a difference here.  We must now begin to think about our agency, and whether our response reflects our values of unity, inclusion and love for one another.  Wherever you sit within this debate, may we seek to understand others and our words be seasoned with love.

Blessings – Heather (she/her).