On today, and on the country I call Home

Today was an interesting day, I went out this morning and then went to photograph a Russian Orthodox wedding. What an interesting event. It is hard not to appreciate the diversity of experiences I have that might otherwise pass me by in life doing something else. Which I have to say, would make me poorer for missing out on the vast range of experience I enjoy. I noted with some degree of interest, the pictures of Deity and of the Saints, and of Mary and others. They are distinct from the region, and as you can see are different to the images I have seen and grown up with. The whole layout of the church and the style of the ceremony was foreign to me, and whilst I did not understand much, if anything at all, I really enjoyed the experience. It was humid inside a weatherboard church in Blacktown / Doonside but where else would I see and experience such a thing? The priest was precise, and reminded the small but restless crowd gathered that "Be quiet, this is a house of God!"

I also wanted to make note of how it felt over the last couple of days to be Australian. I am very proud to be. I was born in New Zealand but some years ago became a naturalised, certificate bearing, Australian, and was proud I did. I have been blessed to live in this fine country and would be proud to support it's standards. I appreciate the freedoms we enjoy and wish that all those who ventured here to these shores would embrace the freedoms and liberty and recognise that they exist because Australia is largely a tolerant place. Compared to many other lands in the world we are nothing short of fortunate. Like so many things it isn't perfect. There are some things about the country, like taxes, the price of some items compared to other parts of the world that are exorbitant by comparison, occasional pockets of racism and prejudice - and they are small, but inspite of the occasional disappointment and few small minded people, I love this place.

I remember being in Palo, Leyte in the central Visayan region of the Philippines once, famous for where World War II General Douglas Macarthur declared, "I Shall return". I was there as an observer to celebrate the commemoration of Macarthur's return. I recall that with then President of the Philippines Ferdinand Marcos, the widow of General Macarthur and a host of other countries dignitaries, they honoured all the nations who supported the "rescuing" of the Philippines from the hands of the Japanese. When they played the Australian national Anthem, I had been away from home for almost 13 months and I found myself weeping, I think I was one of only a few Australians there but I was proud. Very proud, and missed the country I call home.

I often have disagreements with my mum about why I am not a proud All Blacks supporter, and why I cheer when Australia wins in a sporting contest, my retort then and now is simply, "I live under the freedoms the country affords me, I earn a living here and feel grateful and proud to support the country whenever I can". I didn't want my comments to become overtly patriotic, but I just wanted to express the gratitude I feel for being here.

Lastly, is there something wrong with me? Why are we giving this loser priest in the US any airtime at all saying that death is the best thing that ever happened to the family of Heath Ledger. He has come out and condemned Ledger for being "gay". Has someone not told this guy that Heath is an actor? and don't actors "ACT"?! Heath's sexual orientation is none of my, or his concern anyway.

I don't give a tinkers toss whether someone is gay or not, the point that matters most to me is, what kind of people are they? I am not speaking collectively here, but individually. what kind of person am I? In my limited understanding of things religious and of my understanding of God, He will one day judge us for what we have done, or what we haven't. He will possibly judge us for what we did to help lighten the burdens of another, when we in the west are largely in a position to do something. How do these so called "God Fearing" people honestly think that by intimidating, humiliating and belittling people actually benefits the cause of God?, or will serve as an inspiration to others who may be searching for spiritual enlightenment? The sad man who goes by the title of "Priest" plans on picketing the funeral service of Ledger in LA. All in the name of religion? There is an awful lot of terrible things done in the world under the guise of "religion" and I wonder what an Almighty God might think of, at particularly ugly and horrendous moments in the various epochs in the history of Mankind.

Well, enough of of that. I just recognise that one of the aspects of democracy that can be both a blessing AND a curse, is free speech. Something I am grateful for, in even having this blog. So to that end, I uphold this priests right to express his views. I also choose to use my right to ignore him.

CP