The Baha’i Meets The Aboriginal
Imagine a city girl educated in London, Switzerland and Italy squatting around the same campfire as an Aborigine. It’s an odd pairing. Camilla Chance was raised as an aristocrat in England and presented to the Queen and Prince Philip. Banjo Clarke was an Aboriginal in Australia and became a great leader. Yet what these two polar opposites, who became best friends, had in common was their deep Baha’i faith, and the shared conviction that love always wins. The frankness and detail of their relationship draws helps us to understand the depth and honesty of their connection. It is little wonder that Camilla is the first non-Aboriginal to receive a prestigious Aboriginal Award for her commitment to the Aboriginal people. It also was around the same time Australia’s Prime Minister Kevin Rudd made his apology to the Aboriginals for years of abuse and oversight.
It turns out that there are more dangerous things Down Under than snakes, crocodiles, box jellyfish and toxic caterpillars: people who do not love.
At first we might feel like we’re reading wrong side up. Australia’s seasons go in the reverse order, its constellations are upside down, the country was launched as a one big prison house surrounded by austere outback. But it is perhaps we who are upside down. Banjo Clarke’s story is anything but backwards. His poignant perspective clears the clutter and sheds light on darkness. Knowing Banjo and Camilla and reading about their 25 year long relationship as friends, one cannot walk away without a sense of enlargement, hope, enrichment—and yes, wisdom. You will find out more in the book “Wisdom Man”.
Tags: Aboriginal, aboriginal culture, authors, Baha'i, books, camilla chance, culture, NYC, nyc publicity, publicist, Sherri Rosen Publicity, spirituality, wisdom man
This entry was posted on Sunday, March 13th, 2011 at 5:55 am and is filed under Clients, Friends and Colleagues. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.