The Gonski Mandate giving the lie

I can't really believe how one day the Coalition poodle can proclaim that they have "a mandate to repeal the Carbon Tax"  and then the next day say they will not honour their election promises about education reform (vis-a-vis the Gonski report…their clear proclamation (aka 'mandate') was to implement the Gonski reforms.
Today the Australian public are told .. to go and get nicked (to put it mildly!)
Not that I expected otherwise….but what a joke!
Don't tell me you have a mandate for anything!
You will do what you want and what you like!

Having a mandate

There is a maxim that if you tell an untruth long enough people will eventually believe it.
This has become a key part of political process world over…the current manifestation "We have a mandate….." lies outside the Westminster tradition.
A long-deceased friend and political commentator observed to me thirty years ago that in the Westminster system governments are elected  to govern  not limited to the  implementation of  particular policies for which they have a mandate.
You really only have to to give this a moment's thought. At election time the parties present a raft of policies.
The dilemma for the voter is that while agreeing with some they probably don't agree to all of the raft. Given the fact that voters at the ballot box are not asked which policies they approve of…rather which party and/or candidate they support.
There is a more serious reason why we need to resist the temptation to limit governments to "mandate" style policies. Circumstances change, and it is important that the government be allowed to govern and not to wait until they next go to the poll.
A fine example of this is the way PM John Howard responded to the Port Arthur massacre. He clearly had no mandate to clamp down on gun laws; as far as I know it wasn't even mentioned as part of a potential policy raft in any previous election
Yet Howard, in what is arguably his finest moment, used the opportunity. He governed!
At various times in the past, too, troops have been deployed…without any previous election mandate. Clearly it would be a nonsense to wait until a "mandate" was received via the election box

What is interesting about both of these types of decision is that it is clear that there has not been unanimous support . No clear mandate.  That was not required , what was required was leadership and government.
Indeed the argument for "the mandate" is an insecurity. Governments are not  and cannot be limited to mandates for a few policies that happen to have been discussed.

Mr Abbott does not need a mandate to repeal the Carbon Tax laws. He needs to govern.  It could be argued that all those who did not vote for the Coalition must be close to 50% …did not give a mandate for Carbon price repeal. But that doesn't alter the fact that the Government changed.
Most serious commentators would seem to suggest the real political dynamic was a perception (that the Coalition were successful in promoting) that Labor was incompetent…little to do with the policy competition.
My argument is that a government is required to govern. Not to carry out the whim of the ballot box, and that indeed what the ballot box reveals about particular policy is debatable any way.
So let's stop talking about mandates. And get on with governing

By and large

 I think these words are pretty superficial which is, I think, the dilemma…it is easy for the middle class to put a positive spin on most of life's downside.  We live in comfort after all.
But listening to a story on the radio about what street people in Washington are needing to do to prepare for the bleak norther winter.
One person who lives on the street says in response to the question "What do you need to do to do to prepare for winter?" and he answered "Find myself a place out of the wind where I can go to sleep and hope that I am not dead in the morning!"…..This is a damn sight more outrageous than "clearing out the old to make way for the new"

Charismania

I sort of came in on the end of the Charismatic movement. Though I believe it changed  the institutional church,  I suspect (and I hope) for the better.
Not the least of the reasons for this was the emergence of a theology which recognised that baptism enabled everyone for ministry. Ever-Member-Ministry may not have reached 'every member' , but has changed the balance.
Christians do not now believe that the only people who can do stuff in churches have turned-round collars.
And by "do stuff" I don't just mean financial and building administration….but also teaching, prayer, and pastoral support.
Certainly, I think the charismatic movement gave us this precious gift. Every Christian is empowered to minister…and while this needs to be done sensitively, wisely and under authority…nevertheless it is noir just the vicars, the rectors and the brothers!

What would you do if I sang out of tune?

Read today of the death of Bill Spofford who had been a Bishop in Eastern Oregon.
It cites him as "prophet, priest, poet and pastor".
It did strike me (children please note) that this how I would like to be known.
The Prophet…who said that the Bishops were selling the Church short!
The Priest…who thought that that there was nothing better than offering the Eucharistic sacrifice
The poet…who maybe wrote a couple decent poems…here for example  and maybe here (as I read this again….I think it is seriously good)  and then a religious one or two (here) 
Always think of this as my 'lovely poem'

And here is one I had forgotten …it seems…..well, not bad!

A daughter's birthday (10/2/2010)

A daughter is a cherished thing
at once young
and
bold
then shy and
sometimes sad.
One sings
one shouts
one laughs.
All cry.
And then they sing again.
A daughter is a cherished thing.

A boyfriend is a risky thing.
But a good risk
to take.
He could teach the cherished one
to be a risk taker
he is
invited in
to jokes and tears
and other things
where father cannot go.
Yet this risky man
is God’s gift to my daughter
that both may blossom,
and, so, I yield but
he is, nevertheless,
a risky thing.

A daughter is a risky thing.
She will touch the heart
you have so carefully hardened
and make it burn
with pride
with joy
with song!
If ever singing stopped
now that would be
a dangerous thing.
A daughter
(and I am blessed with three)
is worth the risk
is the risk
must take the risk
and love

and be loved.
A daughter is, indeed, a risky thing

Shabbat shalom!

Came across this today (At the name of Jesus…preferably the modern tune!)[Can't get my plug in to work…but maybe you can!!!!!]

“We don’t have a future!”

all the “experts” say.
All the mainstream churches
will soon fade away.
Solemn commentators 
hurl sarcastic jeers
that we won’t survive
another twenty years.

Find a “fresh expression”

(feels like change, yet bland)
like a café service
or a loud praise band.
Move the Sunday service
over to the hall.
Everything’s projected 
on a screen or wall.

And, if some raise questions,

say their faith is weak.
Question their commitment
to the goals we seek.
Alternate suggestions?
Always shrug them off
like a case of hiccups
or a ticklish cough.

Still we have a future!

Even now we see
Bread, and wine, and water,
Scripture, liturgy,
serving God and neighbour
(heart, and strength, and mind).
Living in God’s present,
we’ll God’s future find.

What the modern trendy clergy are wearing!

This is great...(look here)  but not many men seem to feature amongst these designer clergy dresses. At least not in public!  
Which is probably a good thing ...for at least two reasons that I can think of.
And, personally there are more reasons to be thankful for women bishops, priests and deacons than just the fact that their dress sense is better.

On death and dying

Today in our Church (Coromandel Valley and Blackwood Anglican South Australia) we conflated All Saints' Day and All Souls' Day. I invited people to list those whose names we could read out on a roll of the dead. We placed that roll on the corporal with the precious Body and Blood of our Lord. It was lovely to read the list in a reflective way.
We normally have Communion in the round and there is often a very great sense of Real Presence as we administer Communion to each other. Towards the end of the Communion the presence of my mother and father was very close and I began to 'tear up' so I was moved in the quiet after we had all received to remind people to tread carefully with their own grief and that of others.
After the service numbers of people commented on how important that had been for them.
One man who was a visitor from overseas told me about how important it had been for him in order to help with grief for two friends who had died while they had been away.  And I am reminded (for the millionth time in my priestly ministry) that for all the cleverness and inventiveness I think I bring to caring for the bereaved....God got there before me.

In addition to this a faithful priest parishioner died on All Soul's Day, and his sons who have distanced themselves from the faith in which they were nurtured are perhaps a little closer because of the Last Rites (one of them even Googled what it was all about because he didn't know).
For the fact that God is gracious, and for the privilege of ministering to the dying. Thanks be to God!


Thought the cartoon was pretty hilarious too!