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Reconciliation theme for sorry Sabbath
18 February 2008
Brenton Stacey
Public relations officer, Avondale College
The apology to the stolen generations will bring healing to indigenous Australians, an Aboriginal woman told Avondale College Seventh-day Adventist Church members on Saturday (February 16).
Cathy Garlett's mother and grandmother, removed from their families at age five and seven, saw each other only twice during their lifetime. So, while the apology was a time to rejoice, it was also a time to cry. "Mum was sad for her mum and dad," Garlett told senior minister Dr Bruce Manners, "and I was sad for her." However, the recognition "is a strong step toward reconciliation."
Garlett and her mother travelled to Canberra for the apology. They watched proceedings from the Great Hall in Parliament House, a decision that heightened emotional intensity. "I was drained the next day," said Garlett.
Manners introduced his worship service interview with Garlett by referring to the film, Rabbit Proof Fence, which portrays the trauma of removing aborigine children of mixed lineage from their families to assimilate them into white culture. The scene where a government welfare officer chases two distraught sisters in his car "changed my whole perception of Australia," said Manners. "My head and my heart agreed. This is awful, and it is our problem." He described the apology as the Christian thing to do, adding, "It's never wrong to do the right thing."
Reconciliation served as the theme for Manners' sermon, which he based on The Lord's Supper as described in Matthew 26:17-30. He used the breaking of bread and the crushing of grapes as an analogy for the physical pain Jesus endured at the crucifixion before repeating the phrase, "Crushed and broken, Jesus makes us whole." Manners concluded with this challenge: "Be reconciled with God, be reconciled with each other."
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