Dear Friends,

Very often my e-mails and Bishop’s Bulletins are about things that have gone wrong or about matters of sadness. And certainly there are matters coming up which will test us. Insurance costs will continue to try parishes, and sexual abuse claims need to be budgeted for. More broadly we are now looking at the new Queensland Parliament legislating for euthanasia, and it is clear that environmental issues and climate change will be an ongoing wound. But it is also a good time to pause and give thanks.

We have just had an election, in which the current Queensland government was re-elected. There will be no riots, no court cases, no allegations of a rigged election: we have had a peaceful election which has been free and fair. The victory speeches and concession speeches were gracious and respectful. When we look at the mess that is the United States, there is much here to be grateful for, even for those who would have preferred a different outcome. Likewise in Australia in general and in North Queensland in particular, we have so far been spared the worst of the Coronavirus Pandemic. As a whole, our community has done the right thing, looked after the vulnerable, and perhaps been a bit lucky or blessed! But our relative freedom here from disease, and in what we are allowed to do, is another thing for which to be thankful.

I have spent the last weekend in the Torres Strait Islands, and celebrated All Saints’ Day with the people of Erub (Darnley Island) and then All Souls’ Day on Thursday Island. The culture of the Torres Strait Islanders has been quite resilient over the years, and is a great treasure which is often best revealed in the spirituality of the Islanders. Celebrating the patronal festivals at All Saints’ Erub and All Souls’ Thursday Island was a great joy. Next year the Torres Strait Islands – and the broader church and Australian community – celebrate the 150^th Anniversary of the Coming of the Light. On 1^st July 1871 the London Missionary Society missionaries landed on Erub and the full light of Christ was made known, transforming the Torres Strait Islands. Warfare was replaced by peace, and communities strengthened as they gathered around the Lord’s Table. Our God, known in part before, was now known in his fullness. This great event is celebrated with much joy each year by Torres Strait Islanders, and especially by Anglicans who took over the mission work from the London Missionary Society in 1915. Under Anglicanism the use of local languages and dance was restored and Torres Strait Islanders brought into leadership roles. There remains a great deal to be done and more will be said about this soon as we all move together to celebrate the 150^th Anniversary of the Coming of the Light: but now is a time to give thanks for that light and to pray for all those Torres Strait Islanders who are preparing for the celebrations in 2021.

So today pause and give thanks for the good things in life, both as individuals and as a community. We give thanks for fair and free elections and for our freedom in general; we give thanks for the strong sense of community which has enabled an effective response to coronavirus in North Queensland; and we give thanks for the light of Christ in the Torres Strait Islands and beyond. There will be time enough to face difficulties, dissension and disasters: but today we give thanks to our loving God, through his son Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

The Right Reverend Dr Keith Joseph
Bishop of North Queensland

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