World Harmony Day: 21 March, 2009
Whisper words of wisdom, let it be.
When John Lennon and Paul McCartney penned the song Let it Be in 1970, the Beatles were the top selling musical band of all time. The 1970’s was a period of much world unrest and dissatisfaction with big business and governments around the world.
Apartheid was deeply entrenched in South Africa.
The Berlin Wall divided East and West Germany.
Australia had only just introduced voting rights to indigenous aboriginal people and as the original inhabitants of Australia they were discriminated against and unjustly treated. Aboriginal children were still being taken from their families.
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1948 states:
“All human beings are born free and equal, without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status.
Whisper words of wisdom, let it be.
Let’s bring harmony to our world.
Are human beings born free and equal?
In many countries, including our very own country, people are not free and not equal.
From outer space there are no borders – just continents that extend from west to east, north to south. If we were a visitor to the earth from outer space, we would have the perception that all people would be free to travel from one country to another, to work in live in the country and region of their choice.
Once upon a time this was true as humans moved in nomadic tribes to different parts of the globe. We know this is no longer the case.
Some governments make it very difficult for people from other countries to move or even visit and in some cases, make it almost impossible for their own residents to leave the country. Even in Australia, it is difficult for many people to move from certain countries to live here.
“We have seen a miracle unfold before our very eyes”, said Archbishop Desmond Tutu…. Freedom and justice must become realities for all our people and we have the privilege of helping to heal the hurts of the past.”
When Archbishop Tutu uttered these words in 1995, the South African system of apartheid was being dismantled, Nelson Mandela had been finally released from jail after 25 years of imprisonment. and he had been elected as President of South Africa in their very first multicultural election. Mandela called the new South Africa: the “Rainbow Nation.”
Whisper words of wisdom, let it be.
Let’s bring harmony to our world.
Was there bitterness and revenge in the heart of Nelson Mandela? No there was not. Mandela set about changing the hearts and minds of his people – repairing the damage and breaking down racial barriers.
Whisper words of wisdom, let it be.
Let’s bring harmony to our world.
In 2008, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said ‘sorry’ to the stolen generation of indigenous people of Australia. Quietly but deliberately our Prime Minister moved to heal some of the hurt of our own indigenous people. Was there talk of revenge or huge compensation claims by aboriginal people?
No, there were only tears.
Tears for the past injustices.
Tears of forgiveness.
Tears of joy.
Whisper words of wisdom, let it be.
Let’s bring harmony to our world.
In a country where one in five people are born overseas, nearly 4 million people or just over 22.5 percent of our population are first generation migrants. Our country has been built by the labour, ingenuity and perspiration of peoples from countries in Europe and Asia in particular. Today in Australia, nearly half of our population 5 out of 10 people are first or second generation immigrants.
With so many people from so many different countries, is it possible to have harmony?
Harmony is only possible when we open our hearts and minds to the diversity of people that surround us and embrace the very differences that divide people. Harmony does not come naturally to us humans. It is only through deliberate effort on our part and deliberate practise that harmony comes.
Deliberate practise comes from making a choice in the way we act and what we say. There is a variation on the special prayer written by St Francis that is like a creed. If we followed this creed each and every day, then harmony would surely follow each step we make on life’s journey:
Master, make me a channel of your peace;
that where there is hatred, I may bring love;
that where there is wrong, I may bring the spirit of forgiveness;
that where there is discord, I may bring harmony;
that where there is error, I may bring truth;
that where there is doubt, I may bring faith;
that where there is despair, I may bring hope;
that where there are shadows, I may bring light;
that where there is sadness, I may bring joy.
Master, grant that I may seek rather to comfort than to be comforted;
to understand, than to be understood;
to love, than to be loved.
For it is by self-forgetting that one finds.
It is by forgiving that one is forgiven.
Whisper words of wisdom, let it Be.
Let’s bring harmony to our world.
In simple words, if we put the needs of others before our own, if we were more caring and understanding of others, then the world would be a better place. Harmony would reign.
Today, on Harmony Day, we embrace one another’s heritage.
Today, on Harmony Day, we embrace one another’s cultural differences
Today, on Harmony Day, we embrace the very diversity of all people who share our country.
Today we celebrate harmony and all that it means.
Whisper words of wisdom, and Let it be.
Let’s bring harmony to our world.
Whisper words of wisdom, let it be.
When John Lennon and Paul McCartney penned the song Let it Be in 1970, the Beatles were the top selling musical band of all time. The 1970’s was a period of much world unrest and dissatisfaction with big business and governments around the world.
Apartheid was deeply entrenched in South Africa.
The Berlin Wall divided East and West Germany.
Australia had only just introduced voting rights to indigenous aboriginal people and as the original inhabitants of Australia they were discriminated against and unjustly treated. Aboriginal children were still being taken from their families.
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1948 states:
“All human beings are born free and equal, without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status.
Whisper words of wisdom, let it be.
Let’s bring harmony to our world.
Are human beings born free and equal?
In many countries, including our very own country, people are not free and not equal.
From outer space there are no borders – just continents that extend from west to east, north to south. If we were a visitor to the earth from outer space, we would have the perception that all people would be free to travel from one country to another, to work in live in the country and region of their choice.
Once upon a time this was true as humans moved in nomadic tribes to different parts of the globe. We know this is no longer the case.
Some governments make it very difficult for people from other countries to move or even visit and in some cases, make it almost impossible for their own residents to leave the country. Even in Australia, it is difficult for many people to move from certain countries to live here.
“We have seen a miracle unfold before our very eyes”, said Archbishop Desmond Tutu…. Freedom and justice must become realities for all our people and we have the privilege of helping to heal the hurts of the past.”
When Archbishop Tutu uttered these words in 1995, the South African system of apartheid was being dismantled, Nelson Mandela had been finally released from jail after 25 years of imprisonment. and he had been elected as President of South Africa in their very first multicultural election. Mandela called the new South Africa: the “Rainbow Nation.”
Whisper words of wisdom, let it be.
Let’s bring harmony to our world.
Was there bitterness and revenge in the heart of Nelson Mandela? No there was not. Mandela set about changing the hearts and minds of his people – repairing the damage and breaking down racial barriers.
Whisper words of wisdom, let it be.
Let’s bring harmony to our world.
In 2008, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said ‘sorry’ to the stolen generation of indigenous people of Australia. Quietly but deliberately our Prime Minister moved to heal some of the hurt of our own indigenous people. Was there talk of revenge or huge compensation claims by aboriginal people?
No, there were only tears.
Tears for the past injustices.
Tears of forgiveness.
Tears of joy.
Whisper words of wisdom, let it be.
Let’s bring harmony to our world.
In a country where one in five people are born overseas, nearly 4 million people or just over 22.5 percent of our population are first generation migrants. Our country has been built by the labour, ingenuity and perspiration of peoples from countries in Europe and Asia in particular. Today in Australia, nearly half of our population 5 out of 10 people are first or second generation immigrants.
With so many people from so many different countries, is it possible to have harmony?
Harmony is only possible when we open our hearts and minds to the diversity of people that surround us and embrace the very differences that divide people. Harmony does not come naturally to us humans. It is only through deliberate effort on our part and deliberate practise that harmony comes.
Deliberate practise comes from making a choice in the way we act and what we say. There is a variation on the special prayer written by St Francis that is like a creed. If we followed this creed each and every day, then harmony would surely follow each step we make on life’s journey:
Master, make me a channel of your peace;
that where there is hatred, I may bring love;
that where there is wrong, I may bring the spirit of forgiveness;
that where there is discord, I may bring harmony;
that where there is error, I may bring truth;
that where there is doubt, I may bring faith;
that where there is despair, I may bring hope;
that where there are shadows, I may bring light;
that where there is sadness, I may bring joy.
Master, grant that I may seek rather to comfort than to be comforted;
to understand, than to be understood;
to love, than to be loved.
For it is by self-forgetting that one finds.
It is by forgiving that one is forgiven.
Whisper words of wisdom, let it Be.
Let’s bring harmony to our world.
In simple words, if we put the needs of others before our own, if we were more caring and understanding of others, then the world would be a better place. Harmony would reign.
Today, on Harmony Day, we embrace one another’s heritage.
Today, on Harmony Day, we embrace one another’s cultural differences
Today, on Harmony Day, we embrace the very diversity of all people who share our country.
Today we celebrate harmony and all that it means.
Whisper words of wisdom, and Let it be.
Let’s bring harmony to our world.
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