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a healthy church...transformingLIFE

God of life, God of light, God of love

by Bishop John Harrower
March 2003

Human beings are of infinite worth because God has created us in his image. We are bearers of the divine Life. We are God-carriers in a world which threatens death and destruction.

We love life because the God of life and love has given us this capacity. In a dark world we are called to be light, to be generous with what we have, and to bring light to others.

The most human experience of all is the experience of love - giving and receiving it. God himself, the author of love, offered us the amazing gift of his Son in the Palestinian Jew, Jesus Christ. Jesus was a glowing, fully alive person who rules with love. The demands of love are fiercer than the demands of any law: a shepherd seeks the one lost sheep; a despised foreigner is the hero of the rescue of 'one of our own'; the humiliated receive restoration, not retribution; a father runs through a threatening crowd to bring home the child who wished him dead; the Prince of Peace is frightfully killed - love, even divine love, is rejected.

Yet, Love returns from the tomb.

Can divine love really make any difference to ordinary human beings? Could this be possible? Can love affect human morals?

What would this love be like? This One, Jesus, is more than God's image bearer, rather he is fully human and fully divine: the life, the light and the love that fulfils our humanity.

Will humans ever pursue life, light and love? What would Tasmania be like if this pursuit of life, love and light came to be?

A 'Future Perfect Tasmania' will have a culture that enables relationships to flourish. Healthy relationships cross differences of race, gender, age, religion and economic and social status. A healthy Tasmania will cherish its Christian heritage and the freedom to be a Christian or to belong to any other religion or none. Invitation and hospitality is a key to health and we are free to choose to enter into relationship. The stranger sits and eats 'at table' in this culture of invitation and hospitality. God's way of love makes provision for the outsider, the battler, the 'poor bugger'. Therefore we will jettison our blindness and deafness to each other. Our self-love and self-righteous indignation, will give way to the question and generous response of life, light and love.

A prayer for Tasmania

God of all Life,
Bless in abundance the lives of the people of Tasmania.
Enrich our society with relationships that deepen our common life.
Grant seasonal weather to our State,
And enable us, by your grace, to be good stewards of all creation and
to create life-enriching work for all.
God of all Life, bless Tasmania.

God of all Light,
Bless this State with leadership that is honest and caring.
Send the light of your wisdom on our work and our play.
Shine the light of your justice on all our dealings,
So that these islands may reflect your light in all the world.
God of all Light, bless Tasmania.

God of all Love,
Bless Tasmania with your love, in all we say and do.
Help us to love one another, as neighbours and friends.
Care for families whose young have left these shores.
And by your good Spirit, ignite our love for Christ.
God of all Love, bless Tasmania

In the Name of God: the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen