HEAL OUR
COUNTRY REIGNITING THE OLYMPIC FLAME
WHAT IS JUSTICE?
A CHRISTIAN PERSPECTIVE ON THE WORLD TODAY
IN THIS ISSUE
JULY 2021
HEAL OUR COUNTRY
How NAIDOC Week seeks to
mend divisions—and not in the ways you might expect PAGE 32
6 CURRENT
WHAT IN THE WORLD REIGNITING THE OLYMPIC FLAME How the Games will look different this year 52 "WALK WITH US" The cry of Australia's Indigenous people 4 6
WELLBEING
12 SLEEPY HEAD, HEALTHY
BRAIN? The link between sleep and dementia 22 BETTER HEALTH FOR EVERY BODY Health news that makes a difference
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60 TRY THESE FOUR NEW
FOOD TRENDS
FAITH
18 JUST ACT NATURAL
But what if we all acted that way? 38 PICTURING HEAVEN Have you ever wondered what heaven will be like? 44 FACT OR FICTION? CAN BIBLE STORIES REALLY BE BELIEVED? Why God helped the Gibeonites
/SIGNSMAG
BIG QUESTIONS
24 WHAT IS JUSTICE?
Searching for "fair" in an unfair world
SCIENCE & TECH
50 THE CUTTING EDGE Engineering, science
and technology news
FUN
62 CROSSWORD AND
SUDOKU Have you been paying attention?
HEAL OUR COUNTRY Growing up I hardly knew any Indigenous Australians. Yet the jokes and stereotypes were things we'd laugh about in the playground. People you don’t know are an easy target and what seems like harmless, schoolyard jokes can create prejudice that can last a lifetime. Thankfully, I've grown up and now make a choice not to engage in perpetuating those stereotypes. Thanks to my work, I’ve been blessed to get to know and work with more Indigenous Australians than I knew as a kid. I’ve met wonderful people, heard their stories and learned to appreciate their experience. They’ve moved from the realm of caricature and headline to flesh and blood images of God. Indigenous Australians are incredibly important. I’m inspired by their resilience and challenged by the ways society has failed them. I have committed to do better in my own life and interactions. This month in Signs, I chat with Pastor Darren Garlett to find out more about NAIDOC, its Christian roots and how anyone can get involved (p32). Former Signs editor Nathan Brown goes on a journey to learn what the Uluru statement is all about and why it’s important (p52). We look at God’s justice and how it might be different from ours (p24). All of this, including our health experts and more, can be found in these pages. I pray you enjoy this month’s magazine and when you’ve finished reading it, pass it on to a friend.
Jarrod
JARROD STACKELROTH Editor
VOL 136 NO 7 ISSN 1038-9733 EXECUTIVE PUBLISHER Brad Kemp EDITOR Jarrod Stackelroth ASSISTANT EDITOR Daniel Kuberek COPYEDITOR Tracey Bridcutt GRAPHIC DESIGN Theodora Pau'u Talia Valderrama PHONE +61 2 9847 2222 EMAIL info@signsofthetimes.org.au WEBSITE signsofthetimes.org.au ADDRESS Adventist Media PO Box 1115, Wahroonga New South Wales 2076 SUBSCRIPTIONS Kelli Geelan PHONE +61 3 5965 6300 Australia/New Zealand, $A26; South Pacific countries, $A41; Other countries $A51 Published since 1886, Signs of the Times is printed 11 times a year by the Seventh-day Adventist Church and is registered as a periodical. Seventh-day Adventist Church (SPD) Limited ABN 59 093 117 689 NOTE The inclusion of a person or their image within does not imply their endorsement of the Seventh-day Adventist Church or its beliefs. Unless otherwise stated, Bible verses are from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, Anglicised. Copyright © 1979, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc®. Used by permission of Hodder & Stoughton. All rights reserved worldwide. COVER PHOTO: Murray Hunter of Leo Wright
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REIGNITING THE
Olympic
When Covid-19 gripped the world last year, many questioned the future of the July 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games. Well, they're back in 2021, but not as you remember them . . . BY BRIANNA WATSON
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t’s 2 am. You’re sitting on the couch, rugged up, possibly holding the remnants of a midnight snack. Your eyes are glued to the screen. It’s time. The athlete, proudly wearing your nation’s flag, enters the arena and waves to the crowd. You may not know their name, their age or their story. You may even only have a vague familiarity with their sport, but despite having work or school the next day, there you are, cheering for their success, cheering for gold. Can you relate? Have you been swept up by the fervour the Olympics inevitably inspire?
the 1896 Summer Olympics
While the term “Olympic” has been used to describe various athletic events for thousands of years, the first modern Olympics was officially held in 1896–known as the Games of the First Olympiad. The International Olympic Committee (IOC), created by French aristocrat Pierre de Coubertin, organised and facilitated the games, hosted in Athens, Greece. The event was opened by King George I of Greece in front of a crowd of 60,000 spectators. Over the course of the Olympics, 241 athletes (all male) from 14 nations competed in nine different sports across 43 events. With the exception of the United States team, all of the participants were European, or living in Europe. Notably, winners were given a silver medal, with runners-up receiving a copper medal. The 1896 Summer 8
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Olympics had the largest international participation and recorded crowd to watch a sporting event to that date. Overall, the first modern Olympic Games was hailed a tremendous success and the seed of global athletic competition was sowed.
the 2020 Summer Olympics
The 2020 Olympic Games (Games of the XXXII Olympiad) is scheduled to be hosted in Tokyo,
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Approximately 11,000 athletes are expected to compete across 33 different sports in more than 330 events Japan, this month and August. Following mounting international pressure to cancel or postpone the Games due to the risk of Covid-19, Japan reached an agreement with the IOC on March 24, 2020 to postpone the Olympics. The difficult decision to postpone the Olympics is historic, with only three games being abandoned since 1896. On each of those occasions, war was the catalyst for the cancella-
truly established itself as a global pandemic, spreading to 192 countries and claiming more than three million lives as of early May 2021, organisers have banned foreign spectators from attending the games. Prior to the announcement, overseas ticket sales had totalled approximately 600,000. A reduction in spectators of this scale will undoubtedly have an effect on the atmosphere of the Games.
are the Games worth the risk?
For Japan, as for all nations, hosting the Olympic Games is a coveted privilege, won through a hotly contested bidding war years in advance of the main event. Hosting is an opportunity to have the world’s eyes on your city, to give your athletes a home field advantage and to boost the economy by creating infrastructure, logistics and tourism
jobs for the local community. While financially, the Games is worth the risk, local polling showed a majority of the Japanese public did not want the Olympics to go ahead as the country continues to struggle with fresh waves of Covid-19. For the athletes, while I cannot personally relate to their situation, I sympathise with their uncertainty. To be an Olympic athlete is to devote your entire being, body and mind, to JULY 2021 • SIGNS OF THE TIMES
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tion: in 1916, 1940 and 1944. Approximately 11,000 athletes are expected to compete across 33 different sports in more than 330 events. Sports including karate, skateboarding, sport climbing and surfing will make their Olympic debut, while baseball/softball will be returning to the Olympics, with their last appearance being at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games. With Covid-19 having well and
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Hitting the hay and getting a good night’s sleep has some obvious short-term health benefits, but how does it impact long-term brain health? BY JULIE HOEY
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NAIDOC WEEK July 4-11 NAIDOC Week is held in the first week of July (Sunday to Sunday) and incorporates the second Friday—which historically was celebrated as "National Aboriginal Day". NAIDOC stands for National Aboriginal and Islanders Day Observance Committee. Signs editor Jarrod Stackelroth chats with Pastor Darren Garlett, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Ministries director for the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Australia. JARROD STACKELROTH: WHY IS NAIDOC WEEK SIGNIFICANT?
Darren Garlett: NAIDOC is about celebrating Aboriginal culture, their achievements and history. It's designed for all of Australia to come together. They give out national awards, such as Elder of the Year. Sportspeople, academic achievements, business achievements get recognised. It brings the Indigenous community together to celebrate people who are making contributions to that community. We invite people from different backgrounds to come and be a part of the celebrations: to learn, participate in and increase awareness, even if they’re not Aboriginal. When Indigenous people see non-Aboriginal people there, it’s a welcome sight. It's not like, “Hey this is our day, what are you doing here?” We want to let the community know everyone is welcome. A lot of non-Aboriginal people say, I don't know any Aboriginal people.
Right away, [the NAIDOC event] puts them in a setting where there's a whole lot of Indigenous people and they can connect with them. JS: FOR 2021, THE THEME IS HEAL COUNTRY. WHY WAS IT CHOSEN?
DG: The themes are developed because of certain things that have happened in the community and impacted the community. One year the theme was “Because of her”, which focused on highlighting women in the Aboriginal and Islander community. The theme this year comes off the back of the destruction of the Juukan Gorge Caves by Rio Tinto and the clearing of ancient trees in Victoria to make way for a new road. JS: THE DESTRUCTION OF THESE PLACES IS DEVASTATING FOR INDIGENOUS PEOPLE. WHAT MESSAGE CAN ALL OF US TAKE FROM THE HEAL COUNTRY THEME?
DG: Everyone needs to stop
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FACT OR FICTION?
CAN BIBLE STORIES ? D E V E I L E B E B Y L L A RE
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The Bible is more than just bedtime stories, as is found in the morally ambiguous tale of the Gibeonites.
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TRY THESE FOUR NEW FOOD TRENDS HOW THE LATEST DISCOVERIES IN HEALTH FOOD RESEARCH ARE ENDING UP ON DINNER PLATES AROUND THE GLOBE.
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fter a tumultuous 2020, it’s not surprising the trending ingredients this year so far have been aimed at looking after your health and the planet. Whether you’re looking to eat more plant-based meals, support your immunity or choose more sustainable food options, here are four new food trends to try in 2021.
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1. ALGAE "Algae" refers to a family of plants including spirulina and seaweed. It’s packed with nutrients and chlorophyll and is becoming popular as a sustainable ingredient. The health benefits vary, but generally speaking algae is good for you—one tablespoon of spirulina provides four grams of protein plus calcium, iron and magnesium. 2. BANANA BLOSSOM Banana blossoms are the flowers that grow at the end of a banana cluster.
Similar to jackfruit, they can be used as a vegetarian "meat alternative" in salads, curries or stir-fries. It’s high in dietary fibre and contains a range of phytochemicals and vitamins. 3. FONIO Fonio is a type of millet with an earthy, nutty flavour which you can use as you would rice, quinoa or couscous. It is growing in popularity as a crop as it requires very little water. Fonio is gluten free and contains four times the protein, three times the fibre and nearly twice the iron of brown rice. 4. OAT MILK Oat milk is creamy with a deliciously mild flavour, meaning it can be used in almost any recipe or enjoyed straight from the glass. It’s also been touted as one of the more sustainable plant-based milks and is a great option for those with dietary restrictions or intolerances.
Article courtesy of Sanitarium Health Food Company. Visit sanitarium.com. au or sanitarium.co.nz and subscribe to Recipe of the Week for weekly recipe inspiration in your email inbox. JULY 2021 • SIGNS OF THE TIMES
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