craigsrant.com

Ok. This is not a rant.  It is a reflection, but “craig’s reflection” doesn’t sound as catchy and doesn’t fit as well on the t-shirt (please call Manuel on the toll free number 1800-765-987 for inquiries…).  Today, after a few trips interstate (on planes, people, planes! and the nervousness was at a minimum) I again took leave of my fam and made my way into Rod Laver Arena (where else to have a pseudo religious day of mourning?) and took up my seat as one of the 2 Church of Christ reps.

By nature, I am a talker.  Preaching was always my fave thing about local church ministry and I guess you would call it my “pastor’s love language”.  So I have nothing against talking.  I have mixed feelings about the mix of State and Church that has to come about for a Day of Mourning.  I am, however, a big fan in three things when it comes to important events: symbols and silence and shared songs.

The most powerful aspects today were the silences and the symbols and the shared songs.  Did you see the SES reps walking down the aisle Hand in hand? Brave, but fragile.  Fearless, but needing each other.  That was powerful. The school kids coming forward in uniform ushered by a parent(?) or teacher.  CFA, police, army, salvos…all coming forward and laying flowers at the wreath all spoke messages of pain, solidarity, endurance and selflessness.  It was sad and inspiring all at the same time.  These heroes needed to be acknowledged, as did the other heroes who just lived their lives and fought the best they knew how to the end.

The symbolic silences were few and far between.  There should have been more montages of survivors, of devastation, of ordinary heroes thrown into extraordinary circumstances, of hope.  I remember being in St Andrew’s in Sydney after Port Arthur, and 30 odd kids walked the aisle and laid roses at the steps of the altar.  Silence and symbol putting the unreality of the death toll sensitively into our hearts.

The shared experiences/songs were amazing - from the anthem to the heart strings that were pulled at the first strains of Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah” and the awesomeness of “I am Australian” and “Touch” right at the end (one lady called out at the end of “I am Australian”: sing it again! I wanted to yell out Aussie! Aussie! Aussie! ).  In those moments the many words that were presented to us were forgiven by the words we could sing and express our sense of hope and our sense of loss. 

It might be insensitive of me, but we came to share.  Not to hear almost a dozen messages…and the most apt of those were the G-G’s, Rudd and Turnbulls.  And the Mayor of Murrundindi.  That’s who we needed to hear from.  And maybe one religious leader…

It is hard to have the courage to be quiet at times like these.  But, in my opinion, words (as almost everyone reminded us) were inadequate.  Words we all knew and evoked in us a communal response were needed.  We need symbols, images, silence, shared songs/experiences.  When those were prominent, it was a powerful “service”.

I’d be interested in what you all thought…

Tags: Fires, mourning, words

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