with Reverend Deb Bird
Maleny Anglican Parish
For annual leave this year I did some astronomical tourism, with my first stop outside of Narrabri at the CSIRO Australia Telescope Compact Array.
In order to hear “the subtle whispers of the universe” all radio telescope facilities are radio quiet zones. Signs ask you to turn off all devices, and if you forget about your bluetooth headset as I did, a booming voice over the PA will soon let you know that “an active device has been detected onsite. Please turn off or switch to in flight mode.”
Considering these telescopes are easily sensitive enough to pick up a single mobile phone on Pluto, I’m a little horrified at how much racket a planet full of personal devices must make and wondered how many other voices we lose in our everyday noise.
Over the ages we have learned to better attend to the voices of the poor, oppressed and suffering. But in this time of ecological breakdown the ‘least of these’ has shifted to include those enduring climate change impacts, the ever-diminishing diversity of the more than-human species, and those who hold generational wisdom about how to live gratefully within the limits of the land.
These are the voices of the Earth, and in the Season of Creation (September 1 to October 4) we are challenged to check how well we are hearing and responding to this voice that cries to be free of all that compromises its life-sustaining integrity (Romans 8.19-38).
In our tradition it is held that there are two books of wisdom – sacred scripture and the book of creation. Jesus himself taught with stories of seeds and weeds, seasons and harvest.
Listening quietly to the universe has revolutionised what we know about our origins. Might we also transform how we live by better attending to this world God loves?