For the second year in a row I’ll be walking through Canberra’s Parliamentary triangle with a group of pilgrims on the afternoon of Good Friday. The prophetic prayer walk begins outside the National Art Gallery at 1 pm and proceeds to the High Court, Portrait Gallery, Reconciliation Place, The National Library, Old Parliament House and finishes outside New Parliament House. At each landmark we will pause to reflect, pray and sing, focusing on justice issues in the light of the Good Friday story of Jesus, from his arrest to his death on the cross.
Reflections and prayers will be led by Susanna Pain, Sue Dunbar, Liz Anne Smith, Nikolai Blaskow, Mandy Cox, Mark Beresford, Helen Middelmann, Hannah Dungan and myself.
My two stations, shared with Hannah Dungan, are the Portrait Gallery and Old Parliament House. At the Portrait Gallery we hear the story of Peter warming himself by a campfire, and being confronted by a woman who recognises him as a follower of Jesus. I’ll be providing paper, pens and a camera to allow people to be part of a portrait photography session in which identity is made public. At Old Parliament House we’ll hear the story of Jesus agonizing over life and death decisions in the Garden of Gethsemane. We’ll reflect on national life and death decisions made in Canberra since the provisional Parliament building was opened in 1927 (and perhaps during the years before in Melbourne).
