The siege last week in Sydney has left us all reeling – somehow feeling personally touched by the events and the tragic loss of 3 lives. My thoughts and blessings go out to the families, friends and colleagues of the two victims who lost their lives going about their daily business. As the siege unfolded I kept thinking also about the police and emergency services who put their lives on the line every day as they go about their business.
I do a lot of work with the AFP and I think they are the most amazing people with the most incredible skills, courage and commitment to excellence. Most of us don’t see behind the scenes to their dedication to training and their daily work. I am very grateful for their professionalism, and the fact that they saved more lives on Monday as part of their ‘job”.
In reverence to the events I thought I would share a passage from Kahlil Gibran’s, The Prophet.
Time.
And an astronomer said, “Master, what of Time?” And he answered: You would measure time the measureless and the immeasurable. You would adjust your conduct and even direct the course of your spirit according to hours and seasons. Of time you would make a stream upon whose bank you would sit and watch its flowing. Yet the timeless in you is aware of life’s timelessness, And knows that yesterday is but today’s memory and tomorrow is today’s dream. And that that which sings and contemplates in you is still dwelling within the bounds of that first moment which scattered the stars into space. Who among you does not feel that this power to love is boundless? And yet who does not feel that very love, though boundless, encompassed within the centre of his being, and moving not from love thought to love thought, nor from love deeds to other love deeds? And is not time even as love is, undivided and paceless? But if in your thought you must measure time into seasons, let each season encircle all the other seasons, And let today embrace the past with remembrance and the future with longing.
I look forward to the future with optimism and eagerness. This event has already united us in ways we could not have imagined – right down to the beautiful and spontaneous “I’ll ride with you” initiative. This really shows that as Australians we are much bigger than any people wishing us harm.