Archive for June, 2011

Pharaohs on display at Avondale

Thursday, June 30, 2011

Exhibition features hundreds of Egyptian artefacts

Centrepiece: This urn found at the world’s oldest pyramid, the “step pyramid” at Sakkhara, is one of the highlights of Land of the Pharaohs. King Zoser built the pyramid almost 4000 years ago. The urn contained oil or wine for the dead king. Credit: Ann Stafford.

Hundreds of Egyptian artefacts will feature in the library on Avondale College of Higher Education’s Lake Macquarie campus next month as part of an exhibition called Land of the Pharaohs.

The centrepiece of the exhibition is a large urn found at the world’s oldest pyramid, the “step pyramid” at Sakkhara. King Zoser built the pyramid almost 4000 years ago. The urn contained oil or wine for the dead king. The exhibition also contains rare glassware—bangles, bottles and vases dating back as far as 800 BC, including tear bottles used by professional mourners. Replicas of artefacts from boy-king Tutankhamen’s tomb, including the famous golden death mask, feature, too.

The artefacts are from the collection of chaplain Dr Wayne French, who is currently touring countries such as Egypt, Greece and Israel. “I love the stories from history, and I love to illustrate them,” says Wayne.

He uses an oil container—it fits in the palm of your hand—bought in Petra, Jordan, as an example. It is similar to the ones used in the biblical story of the 10 virgins, who took their lamps and went to meet a bridegroom. The five wise virgins took oil with their lamps and, when the bridegroom arrived late, went in with him to the wedding banquet rather than out to buy oil.

“The moral of the story is about the readiness of the heart to accept the grace of God,” says Wayne. “It’s not about working for grace because the container’s so light and small. I get so much meaning about my God from archaeology.”

Wayne will also show how the Egyptians made papyrus and explain the historical significance of the Rosetta Stone, which led to the unlocking of Egyptian hieroglyphs. A replica of the stone is on display with replicas of the Cylinder of Cyrus, which details the capture of Babylon, the ancient world’s largest city.

Land of the Pharaohs launches in Avondale Library on Thursday, August 11, at 12.00 PM. The exhibition then runs from Friday, August 12, to Friday, September 2. Opening hours are 8.00 AM-9.45 PM Monday to Thursday, 8.00 AM-3.30 PM Friday and 1.00-9.00 PM Sunday. Tours are available by appointment only 9.00 AM-4.00 PM Monday-Thursday.

More than another day

Thursday, June 30, 2011

The significance of the Sabbath

Bruce MannersDr Bruce Manners
Senior minister
Avondale College Seventh-day Adventist Church

“Now began long ago,” writes Christopher Ringwald in A Day Apart. “We love the present, it is our home. In the here and now we live; we cannot break free. Yet one day [each week] we break into forever.”

He’s writing about the Sabbath.

Even those of us who are Sabbath keepers need to regularly remind ourselves of its significance. That’s because the significance of the Sabbath can be lost in the family and church traditions we build around it.

Those who aren’t Sabbath keepers—when they really get the Sabbath concept—tend to think it’s simply a great idea.

Ringwald tells the story of Becky, a woman who was almost a Jewish believer when she met her future husband, Tom, a Jew. They have raised their children in the Jewish faith, with the Sabbath a highlight.

“They get to spend that day with their family and friends. They know they have both parents for 25 hours [Orthodox Jews close Sabbath an hour after sunset on Saturday evening]. I hope they realise that it’s not TV or video games and tapes that make life valuable but people. You know, a mother of Eli’s classmate said to me, ‘We could never turn off the TV for a whole day,’ and I said, ‘Oh, you’d be surprised.’”

In simple, practical terms, particularly for building relationships, the Sabbath is so beneficial. But it’s much more than this.

Back to Ringwald: “We revere time on the Sabbath. It’s a festival in and of time, freeing us from the shackles of clock time and thrusting us into the freedom of divine time.”

And something else: “We are closer to God on the Sabbath since we do as He did. We stop, we cease, we let be.”

The Sabbath was never meant to be merely another day.

Yarn bombing

Thursday, June 30, 2011

The experience . . . with creative artists on campus

Cold metal covers build community: Bachelor of Arts (Visual Communication) student Jasmine Flamenco has been researching and experimenting with art in the unit, Studio and Research, this past semester. Yarn bombing is not a typical form of art, but walk through the Brandstater Amphitheatre to the Chan Shun Auditorium and you will see and touch Jasmine’s novel knitted creations. “Touch me,” they read, “I am a metaphor for community.” “I put my yarn bombing on the handrails to contrast the cold metal with something warm and cozy,” says Jasmine. She describes knitting as being similar to community. “It is one continuous strand; if something is cut, it all unravels.” This project has challenged Jasmine to put more of her art in public places. Now she wants to encourage others to do the same.—Sonja Larsen, public relations assistant, Avondale College of Higher Education. Credit: Peck Flamenco.

Worst off—best off

Monday, June 20, 2011

How the One from God was forsaken by God

Dr Bruce Manners
Senior minister
Avondale College Seventh-day Adventist Church

Bruce Manners“There’s always someone worse off than you.” My mother used to tell me this. From the private three-person poll I conducted, it seems everyone’s mother used to say it.

It’s a multipurpose comment. Mum used it when I felt unwell, when I felt life was unfair or when I’d had a dummy-spit moment.

I’m not sure it ever made me feel better, but it was designed to put my pain/misery/situation into some kind of big-picture context. There had to be someone somewhere who was worse off than me—so I should be content in my pain/misery/situation.

Things mums say, or is it, used to say?

As she came into church one Sabbath, I asked Linda Driscoll how she was doing. She’s an octogenarian who’s had some sickness and currently uses a walking stick to support herself. She told of a couple of issues she was facing and then said, “But there’s always someone worse off than you, you know.”

Her mother used to say it, too.

But I wonder, is there a mother somewhere who begins, “There’s always someone worse off . . .” and her voice trails to nothing because her son, her daughter is the worst off?

And what would that look like? How horrible would it be?

Fortunately, no matter how dark our situation, we have hope through the One who did become the worst off—Jesus.

He was worst off not because of His crucifixion, because others died this way. He was innocent, but other innocents have been executed. Here’s the significant difference: He was “forsaken” by God (Mark 15:34).

The One from God forsaken by God! No one else has suffered this kind of darkness. He was forsaken so we need never be.

He became the worst off so we could have the opportunity to be the best off. How good is that?

Ready to fight the good fight?

Monday, June 20, 2011

Try winning wars the Salvos way

Dr Bruce Manners
Senior minister
Avondale College Seventh-day Adventist Church

Bruce MannersAdolf Hitler once declared, “You can’t wage war with Salvation Army methods.” He’s wrong because it depends on what kind of war you’re waging.

In a dark warning to his generals on August 22, 1939—a few days before he invaded Poland—Hitler told them many things in the coming war would not be to their liking. He told them their role was to focus on their military duties and not interfere in the kind of things that might trouble them.

They soon realised what he meant as stories of SS massacres, particularly of Polish Jews, began to emerge. Hitler told his generals several times what they were about was “devil’s work.”

During the Second World War, Hitler used his SS forces to systematically kill somewhere between 11 and 14 million people, including six million Jews. He was an evil man fighting war in an evil way. He must have made the devil proud.

You certainly can’t fight that kind of war with Salvation Army methods, for the Salvos have a reputation of care for people, whatever nationality. They’re the ones people turn to when they’re in trouble and know they won’t be rejected. The Salvos are driven by a Christ-like compassion.

There are many different wars for good to be fought. There’s the war against poverty. The war against slavery. The war against child soldiers. The war against child abuse. The war against exploitation. The war against . . . .

These are wars worth fighting. Wars against evil. You can’t fight evil with evil for it can be overcome only with good. Darkness can be overcome only by light, not further darkness. It’s that simple.

What the world needs is more people willing to fight these kinds of wars with Salvation Army-type methods. Are you ready to fight the good fight?