Gambling Advertisers on Our House

A friend posted a question on Facebook about our réponses to the SOH debacle...
This is my comment:

1. OPERA: As a former opera-singer... Although opera costs a lot to put on, opera is not-for-profit. It depends on philanthropy and generosity. In most countries where it happens it is heavily subsidized by Govt so it can be accessible to everyday people... why? Because great opera lifts the soul. Great art challenges thinking, tells eternal stories, plays between myth, mystery and existentialism. Opera inspires World Cups and brings down governments. Opera is frivolous and fun and offers the dramatic emotional reality of genocides and betrayals. Grand Opera is an investment in creative genius in our community.

2. PLACE: In the SOH, Sydney has a place that reflects and enhances the most beautiful harbour in the world. It is not glitzy. It is not a passing fad. It is architectural landscape of the highest order. It states that on this beautiful place - a place where we also remember hardship, confrontation and dispossession, here is a place where a city can work on its soul. Here is a ‘sacred place’ where communities encounter one another through the mutual respect built by sharing song, dance, literature, drama. It is a place of encounter and engagement... it is where you take the date you want to impress. It is where you take your overseas visitors. It is a place where I take Terry in his wheelchair, to receive soul food.

3. GAMBLING: The Opera House Lottery was not cheap. A ticket was the birthday gift you gave in our family because it was a choice of going to the movies or investing in the future of live theatre. We never bought a ticket expecting to win. We bought them to build our House.
In our extended family, we have seen destruction and death, failed marriage and abuse within the home as a result of gambling addiction. It is evil. This doesn’t mean I dont appreciate sports. It means I hate what the unbridled (pun intended) corrupting influence of what this industry has done.

4. HORSES: One of the most wonderful things Terry and I did was to go to the Sydney Olympic Equestrian events. At the 3-day event we saw horses (and riders) pushed to their limits. They certainly took risks in sport. They were the supreme athletes. Horse-racing misses and distracts from the nobility of horses fulfilling their physical potential - why - because (overall) the industry invests a mere pittance into the wellbeing of the animals. The money changes everything. It is about making profit at the expense of animals and punters. Is about reaching the economic top by trampling others. It is about greed. I dont want to place greed on Our Opera House.

4. CORRUPTION: When T and I went to see the symphony recently, we were also treated to aboriginal artwork on the sails... part of the ongoing exhibition post-vivid. Projections like this creatively use the sails for creative engagement - for us, it was a form of blessing. To remember and acknowledge whose place this is. The projection of gambling advertising reminds us only that power and greed corrupt our community, leading to great suffering.
I work for Parramatta Mission - we deal with homelessness, gambling addiction and substance abuse. We dont ask you to advertise the solutions on the Sails of Our House, but please dont create more problems for us!

Why should we be Seeking Common Ground?

A few years ago I was involved with a bunch of radical disciples who birthed a new community it’s called ‘The Commons’ in Newcastle, NSW. The founders were inspired by Acts 2:42-47.

42The believers devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching, to the community, to their shared meals, and to their prayers. 43A sense of awe came over everyone. God performed many wonders and signs through the apostles. 44All the believers were united and shared everything. 45They would sell pieces of property and possessions and distribute the proceeds to everyone who needed them. 46Every day, they met together in the temple and ate in their homes. They shared food with gladness and simplicity. 47They praised God and demonstrated God's goodness to everyone. The Lord added daily to the community those who were being saved. (NRSV)

There are plenty of people I find it difficult to share with. I get uncomfortable when I don’t know customs or food types. I don’t like to have to conform to other people’s dress codes and I struggle with differentiating behaviours towards women and men. Nevertheless, I recognise that the world is bigger than me. I admit that the world is not made in my image and I am not the Centre of the universe.

Last year I had the opportunity to visit Rome, not as a tourist, but as a member of the World Methodist Council Steering Committee. I was able to present a collection of music, poems and art to the Vatican on behalf of Methodist and Wesleyan and Uniting/United peoples around the world. We can and should make a contribution, just as we seek to learn grow others.



I am in awe of the One who was born, lived and died for the sake of people who seem like such strangers to me. Surely, they must be worth getting to know more about! God loved and loves others. They are made in God’s image. As I get to know them, I may be privileged enough to see the revelation of God’s image in their lives. They may be gracious enough to teach me of their experiences of God. Surely we want more of these stories?

Over the last two months, I have had the opportunity to get to know Fred. He helps me with the Soup Kitchen at The Uni where I am a Chaplain. Fred is Jewish and each Thursday he serves at least 30 Muslim students soup. I have had the opportunity to listen to Muslim and Christian scholars exchange understandings about Adam, Eve and Creation. I have been part of a study group with Buddhist Catholic and Pagan members. Together, we have encouraged one another to use ur gifts in service to others.

I do not claim to be the same as ‘others’. I stand firm in my commitment to share the Gospel as I know and experience it, but I am learning to listen and learn in new and fresh ways. I am delighted to discover fresh questions and rich ideas about God and what is sacred. This is the ‘risky’ part of ‘risking the way of Jesus’ to keep discovering that God is beyond the limits of my imagining.

If we are to strive towards the renewal and reconciliation of all things as the promised end, we need to accept that ‘relationships with others’ must be part of that end. We can do it sooner or later, but we are called to be in those relationships that bring all into God’s harmony… God’s Shalom. Eventually, we must be willing to look for the image of God in the faces of those we do not yet know.

Thy Kingdom come. 
Thy will be done.
On earth as it is in Heaven.
Amen

If you would like to learn more about the Uniting Church in Australia’s ‘Seeking Common Ground’ Circle of Interest, go to this link.