 Can
we free ourselves?
Theologian Elaine
Wainwright proposes that Australians are a people shaped
by our imagination, our stories and our symbols. The images we share
enable us to touch our concrete present reality but also the yearnings
of our spirits towards a new transformation. Wainwright discusses
the transformative potential of storytelling, explaining that the
way we of the present tell the stories of the past shapes our imagination,
our consciousness and hence our ethical sensitivity for the future.
Through this storytelling, we are creating ourselves anew. Wainwright
explored some of the diverse stories we tell and how these, together
with the symbols and images they carry can either stifle our imagination
or evoke new possibilities for the future which will enable the
full spiritual human potential of each person who calls Australia
home.
Sources for such stories of transformation have traditionally
been found among the major religions. However, Christian churches
have failed to keep stories alive. Wainwright stresses the importance
of bringing stories from Australia's past and religious past together
and retelling them in dialogue with the Australian imagination to
create something new. "We are always learning and unlearning
on this path of transformation," she said. In this lecture,
Wainwright draws on stories of origin and stories of the land and
shared some recent personal reflections that touched the interconnectedness
of land and people. The storytelling of Indigenous people is the
beginning of the journey of non-Indigenous Australians.
Origin stories
In considering Indigenous and women's storytelling, Wainwright
contends that the more inclusive our storytelling, the better we
are able to shape our future and free ourselves for transformation.
File: wainwright_1.mp3 Duration: 18:44 Size: 1.4MB
Gendered stories
Stories can also be gendered and Wainwright points out that as
Australia constructs its past, women have been conspicuously absent,
rendered invisible or presented stereotypically. She brings stories
of convict women into dialogue with stories of women in the Gospel
of Luke.
File: wainwright_2.mp3 Duration: 16:49 Size: 1.2MB
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