sustain:if:able kiwi

shaking the dust aussie style

It was an unusual day weather wise on Monday here in Christchurch: hot, nor-west, the sky a hazy, leaden colour. Not at all typical clear spring weather.

And then this in the newspaper on Tuesday:

Weather forecasters were bewildered by the polluted atmosphere when contacted, but by yesterday afternoon, with some help from readers on both sides of the Tasman, The Press had solved the hazy mystery. Gale-force northerly winds blowing across inland parts of Victoria and South Australia on Friday and Saturday appear to have lifted vast amounts of dust from the dried-up Lake Eyre basin. From there, the dust blew across Victoria on Saturday and then over parts of Tasmania, where it mixed with falling rain to turn cars and outdoor furniture red on Sunday morning, before arriving in New Zealand late in the day. more here

So there you are. One of the Bible passages I use a lot in teaching is in Luke 10:1-12, a text about peace speaking, dwelling deeply and seeking the Spirit in the culture. It is also a text about letting go, about how mission includes seasons in which the people and contexts resistant to God’s shalom are placed in God’s hands. Literally “Shake the dust off your feet.”

So is this what shaking the dust Aussie style means? Dumping Lake Eyre on New Zealand? I’m about to head off to Australia next Thursday (to spend a day with South Australian Baptists, do a seminar on discerning the Emerging Church at Tabor and engage around Pictures of Biblical mission with Coromandel Uniting). Should I be taking this personally?