Tim Winton & Juice

Tim Winton & Juice

Legendary Australian novelist Tim Winton was introduced as a ‘prophetic voice’ before his brilliantly composed, erudite and literary-rich Richard Johnson lecture, ‘Exiles at Home: what our contempt for nature is costing us’ hosted by cpx in Sydney.

Winton acknowledged First Nations Peoples such as Dr Miriam Rose Ungunmerr Baumann as our original Australian prophets, as well as the silenced Biblical prophets Jeremiah and John the Baptist, and Dietrich Bonhoeffer. 

Winton explained that prophets speak truth to power. They try to shake us awake. They know what our stupor is doing to creation. ‘Creation is sacred … We live within and are surrounded by miracles.’ ‘We are creatures of the natural world. The natural world and humans are expressions of the divine.’ He lamented that we’ve lost the gift of recognising everyday episodes of awe and wonder. ‘The natural world is a balm … I feel hope in the natural world’. He amplified this by adding, ‘People feel good when they do something right, something selfless.’ He reminded us of Jesus’ parable of the Good Samaritan who crossed tribal lines to help someone.

He urged us to not just see labels but breach hostilities to break through – and this is what his new novel ‘Juice’ is about. Turning an enemy into a comrade.

Although deeply troubled by this moment in time, Winton reminded us that ‘we still have agency’ and can make ‘practical and moral choices’. He sees hope as a discipline, something you take on but that needs recharging, through others and particularly the young. He affirmed, ‘I’m on the side of love. I’ve seen its mighty works.’

Tim Winton’s lecture is available as a Centre for Public Christianity (CPX) podcast.

A prophet’s voice indeed. Certainly worth listening to, and I am now reading and riveted by Juice, which is perfectly described by Danielle Clode as a “gripping and gruelling read”.

“We lived eight months of the year above ground. You could still do that on the coast in those latitudes when I was a boy. And in winter, for up to three months, you could still be abroad in the afternoons if you had the kit and wits for it.” (Juice)

Juice at Penguin Books

(This post originally appeared on my socials.)