Anzac Day

Today I commenced reflecting on Anzac Day with a visit to Holy Rosary, Kensington. (The Australian Government’s Culture and Recreation site contains some insightful information about Anzac Day).

My favourite Father Bill was not in attendance, but another kindly priest whose name my sieve-like memory has promptly forgotten. Nevertheless, his sermon was equally as good as those of Father Bill’s. He spoke about mistakes we make in life and how the greater the suffering as a result of making those mistakes, the greater the knowledge and wisdom. I can quite confidently say that I agree with his remarks in the context of my own life (however, one would imagine that I would be the wisest of sages by the number of doozy mistakes I’ve made in life… perhaps we can just say that I am a wise old sage “in training”).

This led me to think about the errors made on the Gallipoli Peninsula on that fateful day in 1915. Australia suffered greatly on that day. Perhaps we have never quite suffered as much as we did on 25 April 1915.

And what have we learnt? Did we become wiser as a result of that error of judgement? As a result of the many deaths and casualties suffered?

I am saddened to think that we did not.

War brings suffering but it does not bring the kind of wisdom to prevent a repetition of that suffering. If we have not peace at home, how can we expect to attain global peace?

The current war in Iraq is not the last war we shall see, it is but another example of man’s intolerance for his neighbour; a lack of understanding and compassion; a deficiency in man’s ability to accept differences; a failure to recognise that we all are spiritual beings with the capacity to love and be loved. Instead man recognises only the ability to suffer and cause suffiering, to hate and cause hatred, to kill and be killed.

Some years ago I came across a “No Fear” tee-shirt with these words emblazoned across it’s front: “he who dies with the most toys, still dies”.

The focus on material wealth and possession, the sins of greed and gluttony, bring so much suffering to so many people. The haves have and the have nots, don’t have. Is not the attainment of spiritual enlightenment of more value than the acquisition of wealth?

During yesterday’s viewing of the Brazilian movie “Domésticas”, Créo, one of the main characters soliloquised about life after death. She believed that her current poverty-stricken situation was as a result of excesses in her previous life and that her circumstances in her current life would teach her a valuable lesson which she would take into the next life, when perhaps she may reincarnate into a more prosperous position. She believed that God had chosen her current path for her, that he had chosen her previous paths and would choose her future paths.

I like her philosophy on life with which I concur, to a degree (but which, of course, does not concur with the philosophy of my esteemed spiritual leader: Ioannes Paulus PP. II) Perhaps I should expect the delivery of a letter of ex-communication in the near future?

Whether one has a belief in reincarnation or not, if we all adhered to Créo’s philosophy and our focus was upon things of a more calming spiritual and cerebral nature perhaps the disempowered majority could bring about a change in global politics. Perhaps we could reclaim the wisdom of our nation’s past suffering and apply that wisdom to the good of all men.

Or perhaps I am just a naïve, romantic and idealistic fool who has grandiose hopes of saving the world with a drop of ink (which may make a million think!).
Khalil Gibran and Paulo Coelho, to name only two of the world’s best known philosophical writers, have tried to do the same. I cannot say they have done so to “no avail”, but still “The Prophet” and “The Alchemist” have failed to prevent or halt wars. Conversely, perhaps we are seeing less war as a result of their “drops of ink”.

Who knows?

In the meantime I shall continue to hold fast to the words of Max Ehrmann's Desiderata and “go placidly amid the noise and the haste, and remember what peace there may be in silence”.