This week’s contribution has been sent to me from Richard Arnold.

Wisdom is not about cleverness, but the integration of our wounds, says Sarah Bachelard. In her homily, which was given at the service for the opening of the Australian Parliament on 6 February 2023, Dr Bachelard invited the parliamentarians, including Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, to respond to Australia’s first nations people, and their heartbreak, borne out of a long and continuous suffering, with a wisdom that comes from the heart.

This year Australia is due to hold a referendum on whether a First Nations Voice to parliament should be enshrined in the constitution. The Voice proposal was part of the Uluru Statement of the Heart, a profound cry from the heart, produced in 2017 by a convention of 250 representatives of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

See Dr Bachelard’s homily here: 

Should you have an article you would like to contribute, please contact me, Claire Foley foleyclairep@icloud.com