Postcard from Rod Laver Arena

Verity and I were in Melbourne when it was decided that a memorial service would be held in the Rod Laver Arena to honour the people affected by the bushfires in Victoria. We decided, since we were in town we may as well go down to the general area and see if we might be able to get in and be part of the service. The media had hyped it up so much expecting more than 100,000 people to turn out that we thought we'd be lucky to grab a spot near a screen outside the Arena. When we showed up about an hour and a half before the service people we're literally chasing us trying to give us tickets. It seems not as many turned out as were expected but that's understandable as many people from affected communities preferred to stay where they were and watch it on the big screens. Verity and I ended up sitting directly to the left of the stage inside the Arena about 10 rows up - close to the action. It was the closest I've ever been to royalty or the Prime Minister.

Now I'm not a royalist, I'm not even very patriotic but it was amazing to be in that Arena surrounded by the atmosphere that had been created. For instance, I've never been to see a live orchestra before. They were amazing! And the Australian anthem was spectacular! (now that's saying something coming from me) So there we sat with our yellow ribbon, little bell and the order of service. Symbols of our liturgy and memorial in this 'non-religious' service of remembrance where Aussies from everywhere (even a representative of the Queen) gathered to make meaning of their grief and helplessness.

I'm sure that by now most people have seen the service and if not you can find it on YouTube. So rather than give a commentary I just wanted to reflect on a couple of things I found meaningful in the service.

The welcome to country by Aunty Joy Murphy was more meaningful than maybe what many may have appreciated. A good reminder for us is that us Europeans who have taken this land and think we know how to manage it still have a lot to learn from our indigenous leaders about appropriate stewardship of the land. When she mentioned that for generations her people had managed the land with ceremonious burning every 7 years, I was heart broken to think of the wisdom we have neglected. The people of Israel had similar customs like resting the land where they rotated their crops, every 7 years, or forgiving debts every 7 years to ensure people weren't plunged into a cycle of poverty. This wisdom we have neglected is our demise. However she followed through by acknowledging that there was nothing good or ceremonious about what happened with these fires. 'The land was tortured', she said and we now bare the scars of the consequence. But hopefully we can also learn. We wish a tragic fire like this had never happened but all the ingredients were there, the heat, the fuel, the wind. Not much could have prevented such tragedy but will we now tune in to the words of the wise, those who have lived on and cared for this land for so many thousands of years. What can they teach us? Will we listen?

I was interested to see how the government would manage a non-religious service in such a spiritual environment. At times of grief the majority do look to spiritual guidance from various faith traditions. I found it interesting to note that out of 4 speakers representing religious reflections, 3 of them were Christian. I wonder if the organizers consulted inter-faith networks for a greater representation or is our government sending the message that we are dominantly a Christian country? We had no words of comfort from Muslims, Jews, Hindus or Buddhists. The sounding of the rams horn was powerful, a Jewish symbol of calling people to mourning and prayer.

As much as I resisted at the end (whether that's because I'm an Aussie male who feels the need to suppress feelings in public, or because I'm just a cynic when it comes to emotionally charged public gatherings) it was difficult to hold back tears. When Bruce Woodley and his daughter Clare began singing 'I am Australian' and the 2 Kinglake survivors Merelyn and David Carter came out to sing the new verses, you could just feel the emotional intensity rise up in the Arena and the people around you. People spontaneously jumped to their feet to stand in solidarity, and burst out in song as if this was the national anthem before they were invited to sing, it really was amazing. Then finishing with the song 'Touch', sung by Michael Paynter, everyone stood again, this time strangers were grabbing one anothers hands and putting their arms around each other. Vertiy grabbed my left hand while myself and the guy on my right resisted (it's a male thing) but you could tell we were edging subtly closer together so we were touching just so we weren't left out.

Verity outside Rod Laver in smokey Melbourne

It was an amazing day and atmosphere to be a part of. Verity and I headed straight for the train afterwards back up to the Dandenongs. We were meeting friends for lunch in Upwey. As we sat around the table on the deck eating and sharing about how Victoria make meaning of such tragedy we also lamented about the conditions that surrounded us in this dense Dandenong bush. Little did we know that the next day them and their neighbours would be evacuating from a fire in their very suburb. The past couple of days have continued to be a harsh reminder that even though the ceremony is over and the media has moved on to other stories, we mustn't be complacent about the danger that surrounds us. Maybe we can led some time to tuning in to the wisdom of those who have known our land for so long and give them the credit they deserve. Please teach us, our indigenous friends.

Shalom Mark