{"id":21251,"date":"2023-09-21T06:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-09-21T05:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mailchi.mp\/urc\/urc-daily-devotion-21st-september-2023"},"modified":"2023-09-21T06:00:00","modified_gmt":"2023-09-21T05:00:00","slug":"urc-daily-devotion-21st-september-2023","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.trinitywimbledon.org\/index.php\/urc-daily-devotion-21st-september-2023\/","title":{"rendered":"URC Daily Devotion 21st September 2023"},"content":{"rendered":"

Jeremiah 6:16<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Thus says the Lord: Stand at the crossroads, and look,<\/span>
and ask for the ancient paths, where the good way lies; and walk in it,<\/span>
and find rest for your souls. But they said, \u2018We will not walk in it.\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n

Reflection<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/span>
photo credit: Simon Cross<\/span><\/p>\n

The canoe is a talismanic part of the identity of not just Fijians but of people from across Oceania \u2013 water not only separates the islands and their peoples, it connects them too. <\/span><\/p>\n

The development of the canoe allowed people and goods to move across the sea \u2013 some carried dozens of people, with an outrigger and a triangular sail they could move relatively easily across large bodies of water. <\/span><\/p>\n

It remains common to hear someone say of their island home \u2018it is two days away by sailboat,\u2019 before adding something like, \u2018but just two hours by plane.\u2019 <\/span><\/p>\n

Images of the sailing canoe, known in Fijian as a \u2018Drua\u2019 can be found all over the place, such is its place in cementing the identity of what it is to be an island people. <\/span><\/p>\n

Today the canoe has largely been replaced by fibreglass boats for subsistence fishermen, but still to get to some of the more inaccessible villages you may find yourself taking a dugout, or else swimming, across a river.  <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cMy village is a long way from the roads,\u201d an Itaukei (indigenous Fijian) woman explained. \u201cTo get there you have to go by horse, or by boat.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

The infrastructure that provides high speed broadband and air-conditioning to expensive hotels, office blocks and houses in parts of the Fijian archipelago seems a long way off reaching the quieter ends of the islands. <\/span><\/p>\n

The constant reference back to the canoe, though, points to something important about the Fijian way of thinking: newer and faster is not necessarily better. <\/span><\/p>\n

Efforts are underway to include indigenous knowledge in the development of Fiji, utilising age-old technologies to combat the effects of climate change, for example.<\/span><\/p>\n

Wisdom doesn\u2019t always come in looking forward \u2013 we should look back too. \u201c\u2026ask for the ancient paths, where the good way lies\u2026\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Prayer<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

When wisdom is covered in cobwebs, <\/span>
let us not be distracted by that which dazzles. <\/span>
When goodness is cloaked in quiet,<\/span>
let us not listen to the boastful babbling.<\/span>
When love is hidden in the hedgerows,<\/span>
let us not run down the road. <\/span>
Instead:<\/span>
May our minds attend <\/span>
and our hearts turn <\/span>
to the lure of God.  Amen.<\/span> <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Jeremiah 6:16 Thus says the Lord: Stand at the crossroads, and look,and ask for the ancient paths, where the good way lies; and walk in it,and find rest for your souls. But they said, \u2018We will not walk in it.\u2019 Reflection photo credit: Simon Cross The canoe is a talismanic part of the identity of … <\/p>\n

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