All posts by melindacousins

Rainbows: Today would be a good day to be at Victoria Falls

April 14, 2014Monday Travel PostsLunar Rainbow, Moon, Mosi-Oa-Tunya, rainbows, Travel, Victoria Falls, Zambia, Zimbabwemelindacousins

There is some debate over what makes the world’s largest waterfall, but Victoria Falls on the Zambia/Zimbabwe border can make a fairly good claim to the title, and it is absolutely breathtaking.

What makes it even more special is if you visit the day before, day of, or day after a full moon – which I have happened to do both times I’ve been there, by chance rather than by design, and which is also the case this week. Night visitors are permitted for these three dates each month, and the Falls by night themselves are spectacular. The big attraction, however, is the remarkable phenomenon of the lunar rainbow (more easily viewable here than some other places in the world due to the lack of nearby city lights).

What did I love about Victoria Falls?

Victoria Falls are 1.7km in length, a gaping chasm in the earth, and there is no one place on the ground from where you can stand back and see the whole thing.

But walking along the length gives an impressive view nonetheless.

Visitors to the Falls will get wet! Up close it’s a little like being in a tropical monsoon, except that the rain is coming up rather than down.

Walking between Zambia and Zimbabwe, you have the chance to look back on where you have previously been, and see how small you are in comparison to the thundering falls.

Mostly, I have loved visiting at night, seeing the rainbows from the interplay of the moon and the water.

No photo can quite do it justice, but if you have the chance to visit during the full moon, it is a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

What did I learn from Victoria Falls?

The name Mosi-Oa-Tunya means the smoke or mist that thunders, and you can see and hear why locals gave the falls this name.

Walking between two countries is always a learning experience, and the Rainbow Bridge border between Zambia and Zimbabwe is no different. I learned much from the people I met on both sides about generosity and hospitality, as well as suffering and living ordinary life in the midst of political turmoil … but those are all topics for other days and other posts.

Victoria Falls themselves remind me of the majesty and beauty of this earth … and how small I am in comparison. Being there made me think of the psalmist’s prayer: “When I consider the work of your hands … what are mere mortals that you should think about them, human beings that you should care for us? (Psalm 8:3-4)

Not only did we happen to be at the Falls during a full moon last year, but it was the “supermoon,” or largest moon of the year, which was apparently 30% brighter than normal. I enjoy learning a little bit about these kinds of astronomical phenomena, but at the end of the day, I also just enjoy being amazed and in awe at the magnificence of the universe without needing to understand it all.

Similarly, the abundance of rainbows at Victoria Falls, both day and night, makes me marvel anew at this beautiful phenomenon. Again I can understand something of the optical and meteorological explanations …

… but I also love the reminder that this is a promise from God. The rainbow is the divine archer’s bow, turned away from the earth; God in effect “laying down his weapons” against us. That the God who holds the entire universe in His hands, in light of which we are like mere dust, has promised us that we have nothing to fear from Him, is a truly remarkable wonder to ponder.

The lunar rainbow at Victoria Falls also reminds me to experience the wonder and beauty of this earth with my own senses and not just through the lens of a camera! The photo below may not look very impressive, but it is a memento of an amazing experience. Standing on a narrow, rickety footbridge, high above the ground, in the middle of the night, with nobody else around, getting soaking wet, with a rainbow forming a full 360 degree ring around us, was a “wow” moment I will not soon forget.

Public faith: links to some challenging ideas from Rethinking2014

April 9, 2014FaithGreg Lake, Mark Scott, Mike Stevens, Miroslav Volf, Public faith, Rethinking2014, Will Briggsmelindacousins

As I’ve expressed in two previous posts, I am still processing many ideas from the Rethinking Conference in Sydney 3 weeks ago. It seems I am not the only one! Here are a few links, both to reflections from those who attended the conference, and to some transcripts and summaries of ideas from those who presented at the conference.

Mike Stevens

My friend Mike blogged his three key “learns” from the conference:

Develop a thick faith
Engage in robust conversation
Pursue gospel outcomes

If you want to unpack what Mike means by that, read his whole post here.

Will Briggs

Another conference attendee, Will Briggs from Tassie, has blogged a “brain dump” of what he gleaned from the conference in three parts, starting here, which contains some excellent summaries of the whole range of speakers and topics.

Mark Scott

One of the sessions that I most enjoyed was a talk by Mark Scott, Managing Director of the ABC. I’d love to get a transcript, but at this stage all I can find is this brief article highlighting a few key ideas.

Mark spoke about the challenges of the “new media” environment and its inherent contradictions. Most significantly, he spoke about the challenges for Christianity, which no longer has a dominant voice in our society. He encouraged Christians to see themselves as outsiders, who should not expect a presence in public conversation as an entitlement, but as based around the compelling nature of the contribution we have to make. We need to be thoughtful and intelligent contributors to public debate, as demonstrated by Volf so well on QandA.

Mark also highlighted the danger in the new media environment that Christians will retreat and create their own echo chambers, living only in that bubble. He suggested that our best example for how to engage in a post-Christian culture is to look to the pre-Christian engagement of the early church, finding points of connection to engage with people, demonstrating who we are in how we engage, and providing a compelling alternative as we engage with issues around the whole of life.

Greg Lake

I’d encourage you to read the transcript of Greg Lake’s talk given at rethinking, which is on his blog. Greg got lots of people at the conference talking with his honest insights into both the realities and the political complexities of issues surrounding Australia’s response to asylum seekers. He worked in management at both Christmas Island and Nauru, but ultimately found himself unable to reconcile his faith with what he was being asked to do in his job. That is not to say that he now sees himself as a “whistle-blower” or even a refugee advocate, and I was impressed by the way he worked hard to maintain his integrity in the way he left the Department. But I think his perspective is a really important one to listen to when it comes to our conversations around this issue, and particularly engaging with many in our country who may not be asking the same questions I am. The Centre for Public Christianity have a 10 minute audio interview with him as well.

Miroslav Volf

Finally, if you want to know more about why I found Miroslav Volf’s talks so engaging, CPX also have a 10 minute video interview with him, which gives a great overview of his position on public faith. If you have more time, you can also listen to the session he did in Adelaide on a different topic – forgiveness and reconciliation – where he shares some of his own personal story which powerfully illustrates his theological argument. (His main talk starts at the 7 minute 55 mark, and goes for about 40 minutes, followed by some Q & A.)

Beauty and sadness … or today would be an interesting day to be in Amsterdam

April 7, 2014Monday Travel PostsAmsterdam, Netherlands, red light, Stories, trafficking, Travel, Womenmelindacousins

I’m not sure if I will ever go back to Amsterdam. On the one hand, I only spent one evening there so I know I missed out on seeing so much, and there was some incredible beauty in what I did see. On the other hand, parts of what I saw and experienced there didn’t really inspire me to return, and the abiding memory I have, the most powerful emotion I experienced that night … was sadness.

What did I love about Amsterdam?

Amsterdam is a beautiful city with its canals and bicycles and all round friendliness to those who just want to ‘wander.’

At night the charming historic buildings were beautifully lit, including the royal palace …

… the train station …

… any number of churches …

.. restaurants …

… and all kinds of other buildings.

It was winter so there was a public ice rink in the middle of the main square, yet the flower markets were still full.

What did I learn from Amsterdam?

The historian in me was interested in Anne Frank’s story, and one of my biggest travel disappointments of all time was arriving at the museum 45 minutes before closing only to be refused entry, despite my begging and pleading that this was my one and only chance to visit and that I was happy to pay full price to do a very quick tour!

I did enjoy some time wandering the streets of Amsterdam soaking up the atmosphere, although I have to admit there were a few places where that “atmosphere” left me a little light headed. But my strongest memory of that night is the sadness I felt; sadness both at what I saw, but even more at how those I was with initially responded to what we saw. I was with two fellow Aussies I had met travelling, two ordinary young guys, who knew I was a Christian and a pastor but couldn’t really get their heads around what that meant. But when we found ourselves wandering through the red light district, their first response was to apologise to me, because they assumed I was offended by it.

But I’m not sure that I was the right person for them to be apologising to for what they were feeling, and “offended” was not actually the right description for how I felt walking down those streets, seeing the women inside and the men drooling outside. I just felt overwhelmingly sad. I didn’t know the stories of the women we saw (or the men passing by), but I couldn’t help wondering who they were, how they got there, and how they were feeling. And what I realised as I talked to my two new friends was that they had simply not thought about those things. It had not crossed their minds to think about the women in the windows as people with stories, people with families and hopes and dreams and fears. And I was glad I was able to challenge them to think that way, even if just for a few moments. I haven’t seen those guys since we left Europe, but I’d like to hope that when they remember their night in Amsterdam, they remember being challenged to look beyond what they first saw in those red lit windows, and thinking about those women as real people with real stories.

Earlier this year, this powerful ad for Stop the Traffik was made in Amsterdam’s red light district, and it makes that same point.

And yes, I realise that some of the women in Amsterdam might say that they freely choose to do what they do. It’s not my place to argue with them, but I hope I am allowed the freedom to wish that we lived in a world where different choices were more attractive to them. And I certainly have the freedom to speak up for the millions of young women and girls who are forced into sexual slavery all around the world every year.

We left Amsterdam the next morning as the sun rose, and it gave me a glimpse of hope. Hope that maybe, just maybe, by being there and challenging someone to think about the deeper story of what they saw, there is the possibility of change in the future.

Thinking Out Loud …

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