Religions for Peace Tasmania will be celebrating the UN International Day of Peace with an interfaith gathering entitled: A Mosaic of Light: The Colour of Peace.
The gathering will be held at UTAS Multifaith Centre, downstairs in the TUU Building (off the carpark), Churchill Ave, Sandy Bay Campus, from 2-4pm on Sunday 21 September 2014.
International Day of Peace, Hobart
Religions for Peace Tasmania is co-sponsoring the UN International Day of Peace with an interfaith gathering entitled: A Mosaic of Light: The Colour of Peace.
The gathering will be held at UTAS Multifaith Centre, downstairs in the TUU Building (off the carpark), Churchill Ave, Sandy Bay Campus, from 2-4pm on Sunday 21 September 2014.
The Uniting Church in Australia is helping us by sponsoring Spoken Word Artist, Dr Mariam Chaalan, to come and share her Slam Poetry with us.
Mariam is a Sydney-based poet who has fallen in love with spoken word and its capacity for social change and self-expression.
A doctor by day, Mariam spends her spare time volunteering for humanitarian causes and setting up her own non-for-profit charity. She believes poetry and story-telling can be an effective tool for people to express themselves and turn hardship into positivity.
A budding artist in the Sydney spoken word scene, Mariam is a member of “Creative Doctors”, has had her poetry featured at Bankstown Poetry Slam and performs regularly within the Sydney spoken word scene. Mariam Chalaan is a breath of fresh air, her words are necessary and her stories are transcendent; she is a voice worth listening to.
Miriam Chaalan – Slam Poetry
Mariam comes from a multifaith background herself as her father is Muslim and her mother is Christian.
We would also like to invite anyone in Hobart interested to participate in the program with Mariam to join us. We are looking specially for young people interested in sharing their thoughts in spoken or sung form (especially original work) of their explorations of faith – especially following either of two themes: how their faith helps them to create peace in themselves and their world or the oneness of the human story.
If you know of anyone who fits the bill, we extend an invitation participate.
We will also have a section for the more venerable of us to have a go, as well! We have one volunteer who is 72 and still exploring faith.
However, there will be a time allowance, which interested participants are welcome to talk to Terry about.
In case of inclement weather, please book through sussfam – at – bigpond.com or 6272 6521 and provide an email address so we can advise you of a change of venue if necessary.
We are fortunate in being able to offer this program because we are being sponsored by UTAS Multifaith Chaplaincy, Uniting Church in Australia (Uniting through Faith) and Religions for Peace (Tasmania Branch).
Peace in the Outback…
Download a Flyer for this event
What: UN International Day of Peace Observance, Hobart
When: Sunday 21 September 2014, 2 – 4 pm
Where: UTAS Multifaith Centre, downstairs in the TUU Building (off the carpark), Churchill Ave, Sandy Bay Campus
Cost: Free
More information: Terry Sussmilch, phone 6272 6521
Launceston News
News from the North – Launceston Interfaith Friendship Circles monthly meeting will be held on September 15th at 1.00 – 2.30 pm. Our topic this month is on general aspects of Buddhism, presented by local resident Tibetan teacher, Venerable Lama Tsewang. Where: Ida Birchall Room, 38 Patterson St, Launceston.
United Nations World Peace Day event – Interfaith Tasmania and the Launceston Interfaith Friendship Circle presents: “Pathways to Peace” – an Interfaith Community Service in honor of World Peace Day. Join us for this beneficial and uplifting event featuring Peace readings, reflections, prayers and song, by guest speakers from a diverse range of belief traditions including the Baha’i, Sikh, Buddhist, Quaker, Christian, Interfaith communities and others.
When: September 21st, 1.30 – 3.00 pm. Where: Ida Birchall Room, 38 Patterson St, Launceston. For more information, contact Shari or see the website linked below.
Many thanks, yours in Interfaith
Shari Landeg (facilitator)Ph: 0431 909 172
Launceston Interfaith Friendship Circle
Interfaith Tasmania
http://interfaithtasmania.blogspot.com
Hobart Buddhist Meditation Centre:
During the month of September Madhu Lilley will be exploring practical neuroscience associated with Buddhist contemplative practice.
Through exploring aspects of the brain and human instinct we will begin to understand why we require effort to recondition our habitual thinking and develop positive qualities such as happiness, loving kindness, compassion, equanimity and wisdom.
Madhu will be working from the book Buddha’s Brain by Rick Hanson.
About Hobart Buddhist Meditation Centre:
- Meditation and Discussion 7.30-9 pm, every Tuesday.
- 71 Liverpool St, [down the lane towards the gym, in the door between the bamboo pots and up the stairs to the 2nd floor]
- email info@hobartbuddhistmeditationcentre.com
- website www.hobartbuddhistmeditationcentre.com
Lecture: Between War and Peace: Australia’s Past and Future
In preparation for commemorating 100 years of ANZAC, Australians must look their past in order to envision a future.
Emeritus Professor Joe Camilleri will give a talk at the Friends Meeting House, Hobart, on Australia’s Past and Future. Prof. Camilleri has an easy-going conversation style and will raise challenges and questions during his talks. This is an occasion not to be missed.
As we prepare for the centenary of Gallipoli, we must embark on a national conversation on Australia’s identity and the place of war in its past and future.
This conversation needs to address several questions:
- Was Australia ‘formed as a nation’ in war and conflict?
- What of the contributions of so many Australians in developing a rich legacy of peacemaking, progressive social legislation, and a vibrant multicultural, multi-faith society?
- Why is it that our political and military leaders have consistently looked to great and powerful friends for our security, and to involvement in other people’s wars?
- What are more promising paths to peace and security?
Joseph Camilleri is Emeritus Professor of International Relations at La Trobe University. He has written and l
ectured extensively on international relations, governance and globalisation, human rights, North-South relations, international organisations, the United Nations, and the Asia-Pacific region.
Emeritus Professor Camilleri is actively engaged in international research, education and advocacy on issues of human rights, civilisation dialogue, global governance reform, peace and security. He is the recipient of St Michael’s Award for Distinguished Service to the Community, and past Australian President of the International Christian Peace Movement, Pax Christi.
What: Public Lecture: Between War and Peace: Australia’s Past and Future
When: 27 October 2014 at 7.30pm
Where: Friends Meeting House, 395 Argyle St, North Hobart
Cost: Free
The Great Ecumenical Slow-Cooker
(from Bob Faser’s Blog)
Paragraph contentThis is a talk which I gave (on Friday evening, 8th August 2014) to the young adults’ group at All Saints’ Anglican Church in South Hobart, Tasmania. This talk was the first session in a series in which representatives of other faith communities will speak to the group about their faith community and its life. Some of the faith communities whose representatives will speak are other Christian denominations (Roman Catholic, Greek Orthodox, Friends, Latter-Day Saints …). Others are representing faiths other than Christianity. The purpose of this talk was to assist the group to have some idea of the purpose of ecumenical and interfaith dialogue.
Read the talk here:
Gallipoli Online Resource
THE WAY OF PEACE: ANZAC Centenary Edition 1915 – 2015
An online resource suitable for schools, parishes, youth groups, religious congregations, peace, social justice and community groups.
This is a resource produced by the Columban Mission Institute’s Centre for Peace, Ecology and Justice to enable Christian reflection and response during the time of the Anzac Centenary and beyond.
As violence and warfare continue to plague so many parts of the world today, this resource provides stimulus for you to be creative and active in responding to the Christian call to be peacemakers in the footsteps of the non-violent Jesus.
LAUNCH DATE: October 4th 2014 ~ Feast of St Francis of Assisi
A flyer can be downloaded at www.columban.org.au which gives an overview of the eight themes.
King of Bahrain Offers to Help 200 Christian Families from Mosul
The King of Bahrain, Hamad Bin Isa Al Khalifa, has said he is willing to help 200 Christian families forced from their homes in Mosul, according to a senior Church official in the region.
Bishop Camillo Ballin, Vicar Apostolic of Northern Arabia (Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia) said in a recent interview with Vatican Radio that the monarch was not only willing to assist the families but also receive them in Bahrain.
“This shows his generosity towards Christians,” the Bahrain-based bishop said.
The monarch visited Pope Francis earlier this year, during which he presented plans for a new Marian cathedral in the country. King Hamad has said he is donating 9,000 square metres for the construction of the cathedral on his territory.
Bishop Ballin said that, for now, “this tragic situation” of persecution against Christians by Islamic State militants “hasn’t yet reached us,” adding that people in the region are opposed to the Islamist group.
“Muslim reaction is against ISIS,” he said. “All Muslims are against them, especially the moderates. Even the fundamentalists have not referred to them positively and I have not found statements supporting ISIS in Bahrain or Kuwait or elsewhere.”
He said Arab governments are treading carefully for political reasons. They are asking themselves: “What does the Islamic State want? What is its purpose? Is its purpose really about Islam, or are its origins really a political movement? Who supports it?
The bishop said ISIS wish for a return to the caliphate is “pure imagination, fantasy, because it will never be accepted by any Arab country.”
The Vicar Apostolic moved from Kuwait to Bahrain a year ago, but King Hamad has already given him a Bahraini passport. When the bishop went to collect it, the king was there to personally present it to him.
However, there has been opposition to his move to allow the construction of the new cathedral. In 2012, more than 70 clerics signed a petition against it.
Coda
This month’s Coda comes from Whitemore:
William Hingston named a 120 acres (49 ha) section “Whitemoor farm” after a farm his family had run as tenant farmers in Cornwall. Hingston’s ownership and actions on the land assisted the establishment of Whitemore as a central village of the surrounding farming area. Around 1857 Hingston donated the land for a Wesleyan chapel that became known as “Whitemoor chapel”. Over time this name was taken by the village that grew around the church. Hingston built “Whitemoor house” in c1860 using locally made bricks.
In peace,
Terry
Convenor RfP Tasmania Branch
6272 6521
Religions for Peace Tasmania
