With thousands of Queenslanders thrown into absolute turmoil as their homes and way of life have been overrun with water it exemplifies the severity of living in our great nation.
Whilst this disaster has unfolded in front of our eyes, we have watched helplessly from our lounge rooms as street by street the water has consumed our beloved Sunshine state!
Whilst this, and other recent disasters throw us into chaos I believe that our nation was actually born to overcome these types of things.
Australia had our genesis with people being sent against their will to a seemingly god forsaken land to try to survive - having to eke out an existence against a backdrop of natural disasters, such as fires and floods and long droughts. However this forged the Australian soul and set a resilient and steadfast spirit within us as a people.
Is by chance that within this great southland there are plants that lay dormant for years that only a flood can release the new life that has been kept locked in a seemingly dead husk.
Or is it a random freak of nature that within this great nation there are over 60 species of plants, such as wattles and banksias that need to be burnt in order to germinate?
Could it be that the Creator placed in this harsh climate these characteristics within not only many species of plants but within the spirit of the people! That in the harshest and most difficult times the outer husk of hardness and inflexibility is broken away to release the seeds for an emerging generation.
Within the midst of this horrendous and trying time in our nation we have seen such nobility and sacrifice released. This is the Australian spirit!
One of the endearing things that set Aussies apart in an increasingly global world is the level of support and camaraderie to each other that we affectionately know as ‘mateship’.
A 'mate' is more than just a friend. It's a term that implies a sense of shared experience, mutual respect and unconditional assistance!
This identity that was forged in hard times in Australian life is very much the spirit that has risen during this crisis in our nation.
It is even interesting when one looks at the reaction of other nations to similar crisis and it seems that this truly is a unique disposition that in the midst of what could spell a national disaster can ultimately turn to a national triumph as people plumb within and find a spirit of generosity and gratitude as they cast their own need aside to stand by their mates.
Paul Sheehan, in Among the Barbarians, wrote:
In the [Japanese POW] camps the Australians discarded their differences and became a tribe, a tribe which was always the most successful group. The core of this success was an ethos of mateship and egalitarianism which not only survived the ultimate dehumanizing duress of the death camps, but shone through as the dominant Australian characteristic.
I believe the Creator has made this nation for overcoming. Yes this disaster will affect us and pull us back but we need to recognize that within us is a seed that is released in these times that brings us back to life. That releases the next generation to rise again and come back for more.
I believe the Creator has made this nation for overcoming. Yes this disaster will affect us and pull us back but we need to recognize that within us is a seed that is released in these times that brings us back to life. That releases the next generation to rise again and come back for more.
The Queensland Premier well said that these floods might be breaking our hearts but they haven’t broken our will - we need to not let our natural grief blind us to the significant of the purposes of these times.
This flood, which now ranks as the worst natural peace time disaster that has ever hit our nation, and even the devastating black Saturday fires that struck Victoria, perhaps has released a new and fresh discovery of the Aussie spirit of mateship that needed to be defined for the current generation.
There has been an interesting phenomenon that has emerged over the last few years as Anzac day rolls around each successive year to see the thousands of young men and women who make a pilgrimage to the shores of Turkey to remember their heritage. The majority of the pilgrims are too young to remember the conflict that Gallipoli and indeed the other Anzac memorials represent, but, that each year, more and more of this current generation find themselves drawn to participate signifies a shifting of values and a seeking after a true and lasting heritage.
As the gathered crowd listen as tributes are delivered to those who paid the ultimate price, it is evident that as the stories of heroism and mateship are rehearsed, the younger generation are absorbing the values and the triumphs of their forebears.
Could it be that these disasters have set a spark that will in time set a generation on a fresh and ultimately far more significant path!
Australia is at a time of shift and perhaps the fires and indeed the recent floods that have ravaged our nation in these last weeks are a harbinger of that shift and a hinge through which a new generation may emerge with fresh emphasis and renewed vision. One can only hope!
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