Lived Poetics as a Contemplative Stance of Christian Witness: The Case from Australia for a World in Crisis

Abstract

This paper evokes reflections on “lived poetics” as a contemplative stance of Christian witness during the recent pandemic in the context of multicultural Australia “Down Under.” Following an explanation of lived poetics, this paper articulates how deep listening, imagination, and participation are encompassed during periods of lockdown. By amplifying the author’s own and other Australian poetic voices, it seeks to demonstrate the power of lived poetics rooted in lived experience is both inspirational and transformative. It argues that this aesthetic epistemological path to make a beautiful and meaningful life is an effective contemplative stance of Christian witness in a broken world. It offers a new spiritual horizon of beauty that may save the world from decay and ashes, a new way of being and becoming fully alive.