Creator God, Jesus, Eternal Spirit,
as we pray some of your words back to you,
help us to get them right…
The Spirit of God is brooding over the waters
The salt waters
The salt water tears of our God gush down
As He looks upon our nation.
For He wove a beautiful vision
But those of us who came later
Have ripped and torn the weave
And shredded holes in His design
God gave us instruction not to covet or kill or steal
To love our neighbour as ourself
And not to take anything that belonged to our neighbour
Yet all this has been ignored.
“Justice is driven back
And right actions stand at a distance
Truth stumbles in the street
And honesty can’t enter”
Yet God in His incredible grace
Works with us
And we work with Him
To right what is wrong
We, the people of Jesus
Are the body of Jesus in this land
It is our eyes, that see the pain
It is our ears, that hear the cries
It is our voices, that speak up
It is our hands, that reach out in friendship
It is our feet that help defend sacred land
Australia, your progress has been small,
But our hopes and dreams are big
For we know God revels in the small
And we remember that through 12 people
Jesus changed the world
“From little things, big things grow”
When we love our Aboriginal neighbour as ourself
Our brothers and sisters “have hope
And injustice shuts it’s mouth”
When we love our Aboriginal neighbour as ourself
We too feel the pain and grief and the hurt of the 26th of January
And we know that this is not a day for a party
When we love our Aboriginal neighbour as ourself
No longer do we call each other stranger
Now, we call each other friend
Creator God, may we pray and live and work for the day
When our Aboriginal brothers and sisters
Are looked up to, not down to
When they will have peace at sunrise
And joy at sunset
That time can’t come quick enough
That time is now
Be it so.
If you are using please acknowledge Penny Kleemann as the author/writer.