ORDINARY MIRACLES

Thank you, Jesus, for ordinary miracles, thanks for seasons and birds in a line.
We keep wanting escape to another place — you say this place is just fine.

Thank you, Jesus,
for average humanity,
thanks for making the people I know.
When we're tired of our humble reality,
come and drop in, say hello.

Some say you're up in the sky, in a cloud, but you put your feet on the ground.
Help us to love what we are,
being human — colour, action, sound!

Thank you, Jesus, you startle the centuries: stepping into our bloody affairs.
Your solution to so much calamity —
up on the hill in the air.

Thank you, Jesus, that life is a mystery; any moment's adrenalin time.
Lead us into the way to prosperity — you are the treasure we find.

Britpop — represented especially by groups like Oasis and Blur — was big when I wrote this. I was trying to write songs that would communicate with the younger crowd, thinking especially of our long-running student service at St Stephen’s. I was also preoccupied, in a more conscious way than previously, with what I perceive as escapist religion. Whether it be in traditional or modern dress, it always seems to be popular. One of the central pillars of Christianity is the incarnation of God as Jesus and the implications that follow. So although we may see God in extravagant religious experiences — and people continue to do so — Jesus reveals a God who is found in ‘ordinary miracles’.

30.9.24

Back from a Break

During September, Dorothy and I travelled
to Norway and the UK.

After long flights
- Adelaide to Melbourne,
Melb to Dubai (14 hrs),
Dubai to Oslo (7 hrs) -
we did Norway in a nutshell
from Oslo to Bergen, then
the Hurtigruten Cruise
up the west coast of Norway
and back again.
Then an 8 day Trafalgar tour
and 4 days in London,
before taking the direct flight
(16 3/4 hrs)
from Heathrow to Perth.
We're a bit tired (!) but we'll still be a part
of the LWA convention and the
General Convention .

See some of you there.