Sunday had us up in good time to go to Eastern Suburbs Meeting, one of three in Melbourne and the nearest to Tricia's home. It was a smallish gathering in quite a large rented hall: there were sixteen or so at Meeting for Worship. A Friend read the passage about 'walking cheerfully over the world answering that of God in everyone', and after a time I felt moved to share my feelings about trying to walk cheerfully over parts of Australia doing just that. I had felt a little overawed in the preparation for the trip, but in quiet moments remembered that I could and should act in the power of the Spirit - or, I said, put another way, trying to feel that what I was doing was in harmony with the music of creation. I'd deliberately given two quite different descriptions because what I had experienced was really beyond words, but it was an experienceI thought many others will have had too.
After Meeting, we had a shared lunch: Tricia had brought a cooked chicken and sliced it up, and this was the centrepiece of the meal along with salads and various veggie offerings. Then, with some Friends having needed to go and others arrived to join, I led a discussion on the diversity of Quaker belief. We had ten altogether for this, a nice intimate gathering, and it seemed to be of interest: in fact we could have gone on for a good deal longer, but in fact it came to a very natural end and fell to a deep silence before ending with handshakes.
Trisha then took
me out towards the hills at Dandenong. First stop was the chocolate factory outlet! She's diabetic and not supposed to have sugary things: but that didn't stop us having a lovely iced chocolate drink, long and cold. I wandered around the shop and bought some ginger truffles and a small box of assorted plain chocolates - quite pricey at over a dollar each! But we did get a free choccie with the drink too. After this indulgence it was on to the William Ricketts sanctuary at Mount Dandenong. 'William Ricketts lived on the mountain from 1934 until his death in 1993. He believed he shared a spiritual connection with Aboriginal people, and the sculptures of Pitjantjatjara and Arrernte people set into the forest surrounds are designed to interpret Aboriginality for the white community. They are also intended to convey the essential unity of humans and the natural environment.' (A quote from e-Melbourne)
Next stop was a picnic spot - I've forgotten its name, but it wasn't important - where there were lots and lots of tame birds, mostly sulphur cockatoos and Rosellas, that would come and feed out of your hand. Tricia had a packet of mixed seeds for the purpose, and I was able to get some lovely video shots of the birds feeding borh from her and from me. It was amazing how tame the birds were: apparently they sometimes land on people's heads, and we saw a lad with one on each hand, eating out of seeds he held.
So altogether a busy day! We went home and indulged in a Malaysian takeaway and some white wine, a pleasant end to a full and enjoyable day.
Monday was also busy. First task was to finish packing, as Tricia was taking me to Friends House in Melbourne (the main Meeting House, which also has accomodation) to stay for the next three nights. I'd not wanted t
o impose myself on anyone for too long, and I thought it would be good to have a few independent days. Once settled there, in a pleasant single room, we went into town to join a vigil for rights for indigenous Australians - i.e. the Aborigines, though which term is 'politically correct' seems to vary a little! There were about ten of us, sitting or standing in silence for an hour outside the old post office, and giving out leaflets to any interested passers-by. The vigil has been going for about sixteen years each Monday, and has only been missed once - even on Christmas Day, Friends have kept it, a remarkably faithful action. After the vigil we went to a local cafe for lunch, and then Tricia and I walked over to Federation Square to the Australian Art gallery, only to find it closed on Mondays. So instead we went down to the National Gallery of Victoria, just across the Yarra River, and
I went round an exhibition of the work of Ron Mueck, who does life sculptures in polymer resin. Some of these are smaller and some larger than life - one was an enormous very new-born baby, umbilical cord still attached - and all have amazing attention to detail, with synthetic hairs having been inserted into tiny holes one by one. This is his 'two women': I think they're obviously Quakers discussion the dubious Ministry in the Meeting they've just been attending!By now my knee was telling me it had had enough for the day, so we took the train back to Toorak, a short walk from Friends House, and Tricia left for home. I had a cup of tea, a piece of toast and a lie down to rest my knee. Then there was a knock on my door: my friend Liz Anderton, who I've known for over twenty years, was calling to ask if I'd like to share a scratch meal with her and her husband Jim. I was delighted: Liz and Jim were wardens here in Melbourne for a year a few years back, and have relatives out here, and it was a very happy coincidence that they were here at the same time (in fact they arrived in Melbourne on the same day!). So in due course we shared a tuna risotto and peaches and ice cream, and some catching up conversation. Again, a pleasant end to another good, if busy, day.
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