Sorrypower

A friend in advertising, Matt Andrews, alerted me to an Australia Day speech by Lowitja O'Donoghue where, in relation to the 1997 Bringing Them Home Report (about aboriginal children removed from their families), she talks about the spiritual power of saying sorry:

"I myself was one of five children taken from my mother. And to this day I still do not have a birth certificate. The report was a watershed in Australian history. It ended the silence around these experiences – and told stories that were so important to the thousands of people who have been affected. Many found that this was their first tentative step on a journey of healing. It was the catalyst which drew thousands of Australians from all walks of life to formally express their sorrow, and commit to working towards a just and equitable future. And for me it has been a time of forgiveness and a renewal of my Christian faith."

There's a connection to how I've been talking about the Da Vinci Code—I've been saying how sad and sorry I feel about the way the Church is perceived. It is often the point which shifts people's attitudes towards what I am saying about Jesus.

Sometimes, it seems, an apology can be the best apologia.

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Winning words

We are thrilled at CASE to have picked up two awards from the Australasian Religious Press Association (ARPA). One was for Tom Frame's feature article on US foreign policy and the reception of the gospel (online at our home page) and one was for my Christmas editorial in the Sydney Morning Herald last year.

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