“God help us
If our world should grow dark;
And there is no way of seeing our knowing.
Grant us courage and trust
To touch and be touched
To find our way onwards
By feeling.
Amen.”
(Leunig, ‘The Prayer Tree’)
Michael Leunig, our iconic Australian comedian offers us insights beyond the obvious – Spring’s invitation to recognize our shared humanity, our Feeling nature. Recently through an accidental fire we all lost an iconic community Denmarkian building. Yet the ‘darkness’ may not only be the destruction of the obvious bricks and mortar but equally the experiences of affected people – their shared history, the memories, the loss of special artifacts as well as books, computers, records, and in the case of the new dentist surgery, sadly, permanently closure. Green Skills’ staff (one of the largest employers in town), the Denmark Environment Centre’s members, and Weed Action Group must feel devastated at such an absolute loss. More than 20 years of inspiration and community-based hard work gone so quickly by an environmental accident!
One of my close Canadian friends lost everything she owned in a fire 30 years ago. On coming to Australia to start anew, she lost all again to another firey accident. It wasn’t so much ‘the things’ gone that shook her, but loss of her real felt memories, sense of hope for a future, and the resultant personal disconnection and displacement. Insurance can never give one back those heart-felt connections of significance and meaning.
It is so easy to recognize the tangible practical issues at hand, namely quickly rebuilding. Yet so much happens in our lives and organisations behind the scenes. The human courage, hopefulness and especially those tender feelings of loss and grief are the real cornerstones and necessary inner steps for re-creating new life. To allow for deeply feeling the loss, to express this sorrow with each other, and to honour people’s humanness as well as creative resilience, gives us that inner Fire and passion to get up and try again and again.
I extend to all affected by this tragic fire my deepest sorrow at your loss. To see and know that a significant part of your life’s work and creative contributions has gone is heart-wrenching. I hope and trust that this loss may give you new ways and opportunities of recreating lost dreams. Like our current global financial crisis let us not go back to status quo and business as usual. Spring is an opportunity for new beginnings, creative opportunities and solutions and better ways of relating. We (and especially our environmental Associations) all have another chance for creating a better future – space, place, inspirations and relationships – beyond the obvious and pragmatic.