Reflective Being, Being Reflective

25 years of multi-faith perspectives on disability and spirituality in Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand.

This book, edited by Andy Calder, Jayne Clapton and Trevor Parmenter, celebrates 25 years of the multi-faith disability and spirituality movement in Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand. Since the i

• Language: English
• Publisher: Uniting Church in Australia
• Release date: Jun 14, 2022
• ISBN: 9780645493207

Book preview

Book-Cover.jpg

Contents

Acknowledgements

Pathways for Change

Robert S. M. Harriman, Photography by Cindy Vogels

Introduction

By Jayne Clapton

Dadirri

By Miriam Rose Ungunmerr Baumann

Ko te mauri

By Leo Te Kira

Brisbane 1996

Spirituality and Disability

By Michael Horsburgh

Adelaide 1998

Encountering the Disabled God

By Nancy L. Eiesland

Melbourne 2001

Getting to the Foundation by Coming Down Under

By Bill Gaventa

Disability: An Islamic Insight

By Sheikh Isse A. Musse

A Dramatic Moment

By Bill Gaventa

Wellington 2003

Centred on the Edge

By Vicki Terrell

Through the Whirlwind

By Huhana Hickey

Sydney 2004

Bridges to Understanding

By Trevor R. Parmenter

Spiritual Wellbeing and the Disability Community

By Robert Fitzgerald

Melbourne 2016

Taking the High Road: is it possible in the current system of supports?

By Lorna Hallahan

Buddhist Access to Temples for the Disability Community

By Diana Cousens

Judaism, Disability and the Democratisation of Torah

By Melinda Jones

Reflections and Aspirations

By Karenne Hills and Louise Gosbell

Tributes to Christopher Newell

Christopher Newell

By Andy Calder

Thinking about Christopher

By Lorna Hallahan

Disability and Spirituality in Australia

By Bill Gaventa

Epilogue

By Andy Calder

Biographical Details of Contributors

UCA logo

Published by Uniting Church in Australia, Synod of Victoria and Tasmania

ISBN 978-0-6454932-0-7

Copyright 2022

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without the prior written permission of the author.

eBook generation: Monique Lisbon, Mono Unlimited: Computer & Printing Support

Acknowledgements

This book is a tribute to all people who have contributed to the conversations and activities associated with the Spirituality and Disability movement in Australia and New Zealand. It also recognises the contributions of, and exchanges with, international individuals and networks.

In particular, the book has been a collaboration with representatives of the six conferences held since 1996. We thank this group of people as follows:

• Andy Calder, Jayne Clapton, Zachariah Duke, Lorna Hallahan, Mary Henley-Collopy, Karenne Hills, Elaine Ledgerwood, Rob Nicholls, Trevor Parmenter, Vicki Terrell and Trevor Whitney

• The Editorial Team of Andy Calder, Jayne Clapton and Trevor Parmenter who drew all the threads into a cohesive whole

• Uniting Church Synod of Victoria and Tasmania for its commitment to, and support of, this production

• Sarah Hellyer for graphic design

• Robert Harriman for his stain-glass design on the front cover

• Shelle Knoll-Miller for her original cartoons

• Monique Lisbon (Mono Unlimited) for copy-editing

• Nathan Photiadis (2016 artwork): ‘Christmas baubles and sticky tape’

Posters

.

Pathways for Change

Robert S. M. Harriman, Photography by Cindy Vogels

Media: Glass, stone, metal and glue (copper foil technique)

Dimensions: 570mm x 410mm

Embedded in every culture are differently abled people who want to push for recognition and break the barriers that constrain a full, flourishing colourful life.

I wanted to symbolically represent a geography and a movement with glass.

The big patches of amber and green signify the south-east corner of Australia from Brisbane at the top, to Sydney, Melbourne and Tasmania in the south, and Adelaide in the west. New Zealand has its own unique position to the east. The agates are placed at sites of significant contribution to the ongoing conversation regarding Disability and Spirituality. The small stones are like the participants who, as they move from place to place, add colour and diversity to a plain landscape. The light blue beads symbolise international visitors flying in to enrich conversations.

I used agates because their earthy colours remind us of our earthly origins on this planet. Agatic rings also echo First People’s art and connectedness.

Agates are similar in substance to glass. The concentric rings are like ripples that resonate through the pathways of exchange in ideas, influence and learning.

It was really important to me that the four straight boundaries are interrupted by agates, thereby creating a different shape for the work. This reminds us of the power of truth-telling and deep conversations as agents of disruption, which can open up spiritual questions relating to belonging, identity and purpose.

Pathways of change image

Introduction

The relationship between Spirituality and Disability evokes deep reflection regarding our unique, diverse and authentic ways of being human. Pondering significant questions such as: Who am I?, Whose am I? and Who am I becoming? guide us through life’s complex journey. As relational beings we do not travel alone. We find ourselves contemplating relationships with others; often reflecting on, and responding to questions such as Who do others say that I am and Who do I say others are? It is the spiritual and relational reflections evoked by contemplating Spirituality and Disability that also influence our actions with others. Who do we accept or reject; respect or oppress; embrace or exclude; celebrate or critique; engage or ignore. Sharing in conversations about our beliefs, our identities, our relationships and our actions that encompass multi-faith perspectives on disability and spirituality in Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand, provide an opportunity for continuing such deep reflection.

Did I say that? was the initial question posed for contributors to this book. Spanning 25 years since the inaugural 1996 conference in Brisbane, what has emerged is a rich tapestry of participants’ reflections and exploration of the relationship between Spirituality and Disability.

Often unrecognised within faith communities and in wider society, spirituality plays a significant role in meaning-making and communal life for many people with disability. This book reflects a movement of people who wish to explore, engage with and challenge any detrimental theology, teachings or practices.

They are clear that this dimension of their lives is not to be side-lined.

The aim of this anthology is to illuminate some of the multi-faith and interdisciplinary perspectives drawn from the six conferences held in Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand. It includes perspectives of people with lived experience, families and supporters, religious persons, community service practitioners, and academics.

Discourse and engagement with leaders of faith communities and government were also part of these conferences as are continuing links with international networks such as the Institute on Theology and Disability based in the USA, and the Ecumenical Disability Advocates Network (EDAN), of the World Council of Churches (WCC).

The conferences invited people to illuminate their perspective or story in a range of ways, including: spoken, signed, gestured, danced, painted, and these are referenced throughout the book. The poster by conference cartoonist Shelle Knoll-Miller attests to the centrality of people’s stories: ‘…tell me your story’.

Bob Harriman’s evocative front-cover stain-glass image is held by hands representing conference participants. His accompanying ‘Pathways for Change’, sets the scene for ‘truth-telling and deep conversations as agents of disruption, which can open up spiritual questions relating to belonging, identity and purpose’.

Jayne Clapton’s Prologue, referencing this image, writes: ‘As a form of bricolage, this creative art-form uses different colours, images, shapes and textures of glass, joined together by various techniques. Regardless of size, new images are formed and new enduring stories are told. However, these can only be seen when illuminated’.

Story and listening is integral to the spirituality of First Peoples. The anthology begins with Miriam Rose Ungunmerr Baumann, Senior Australian of the Year 2021, who describes dadirri as perhaps the greatest gift her people, Ngangikurungkurr, can give to fellow Australians. In her language dadirri is inner, deep listening and quiet, still awareness. Rev Leo Te Kira, a Maori Anglican priest, describes his spirituality as ‘the divine spark which enthuses inside the person their dignity, their mysticism, their magnificence, their presence and their awe’.

Each of the six conferences has

a dedicated chapter, containing contributions responding to the initial question, or containing a presentation given at the particular conference. The poster at the commencement of each chapter represents the title and artwork of that conference. The people next to the poster metaphorically depict two spiritual themes: movement or contemplation.

A connecting thread through the book is the image of a particular baton, sourced from the UK. At the 2001 conference, Rev Bill Gaventa gifted the baton for our antipodean movement to be passed from one conference to the next. The baton with its six engraved rings are featured throughout the book. Click here for a full description of the baton’s story and symbolism

The same conference, shortly after the events of 9/11 in New York, witnessed a dramatic moment, involving Sheik Isse Musse, Sam Ginsberg and Bill Gaventa. Sam gave his deceased father’s prayer shawl to Bill, in order to pass it on to a boy with a disability who lost his father in the Twin Towers’ collapse. The story is included as it symbolises the movement’s desire for multi-faith collaboration (click here for the full story).

Tributes to Rev Dr Christopher Newell AM, written by Lorna Hallahan and Andy Calder, have been included. Christopher was a professor and priest, prophet and pastor, friend and soul mate who made an exceptional contribution to the Spirituality and Disability movement in Australasia and beyond.

In this book, contributors sometimes reference previous conference presentations. Written Proceedings were produced from four of the conferences and are available to anyone for further reading, research and reflection. Proceedings and e-book details can both be accessed at www.disabilityspirituality.org.au

We hope and trust as readers that this anthology provides a sense of celebrating the learnings and discourse of the past 25