AS a veteran, I am proud to be Australian and to celebrate our national day and to know it is also celebrated liturgically by our Church, with special readings and prayers and welcomed by many of our citizens.
The day is intended to celebrate the positive outcomes of our coming together as one people, from many backgrounds, as a nation state.
On this day Australians are honoured with Order of Australia awards for improvements they make in society.
Thousands are welcomed in citizenship ceremonies.
Many people celebrate in joyful community gatherings.
But sadly some do not celebrate.
Some protest angrily due to grievances they have about the past treatment of Indigenous peoples or levels of migration.
Some do not feel accepted here as a migrant due to racial prejudices.
Others flaunt extreme beliefs wanting to change our way of life.
Ordinary Australians could rightly feel aggrieved that adversarial groups use this day to promote disunity and disturb our peace.
Australian unity
Most of us are grateful to live here and see our national flag and anthem as great symbols of our unity and approach to life.
Aussie troops overseas are hailed as the best at demonstrating values of compassion, courage and mateship. But here at home, an upsurge in issue-motivated disruptors are increasingly using confrontation and violence to push other agendas.
Shootings in Bondi, the burning of Australian flags, extremists plotting violence and a social media battleground of abusive and antisocial behaviours, all detract from life as we, and God, desire it.
Racism, sectarianism and polarisation seem to be increasing.
This is not just about Islamic extremists.
Pope Leo has been vigorously promoting peace, justice and unity in a world where conflict, injustice and tribalism are tearing peoples apart.
So what can we do locally?
How can we be the light of Christ to our society?
As one who has been a peacemaker, in many conflicts, I know part of the solution lies in living out the teachings of Jesus.
We need to be proactively promoting goodness, peace and unity in society, and demonstrating the values and virtues Jesus witnessed to.
We must also call out extremism and hypocrisy.
Jesus would certainly be wanting us to be peacemakers, through “loving our neighbours”.
It is part of his Great Commandment – that we would love God – by loving our neighbours, at home and abroad and welcome those in greatest need.
Having witnessed horrific suffering in many other places, causing people to flee their homelands, I pray that we may show the love of God, through acts of love to migrants, refugees and others feeling marginalised.
May we value and bring people together as our brothers and sisters in humanity, rather than exclude, marginalise or want to get rid of them, as some are promoting.
I have seen first-hand in Iran, Iraq, Indonesia and East Timor, how some extremism can be softened by God-inspired acts of peacemaking, highlighting our commonalities and minimising our differences.
At the end of my mission in Iran, a secret policeman came up to me and said, “Colonel Stone, when you came here we think you may be (an) American spy, but we see by your actions, you are our brother in God – thank you for bringing us peace”.
He then gave an ornate Christian cross.
Australia Day can also be a day of faith filled gratitude, for our religious foundations.
God has been operative in Australia for all of time, and more recently, intentional Judeo-Christian values have underpinned the life and laws we have today.
In 1606, this place was considered “the Great Southland of the Holy Spirit”.
Our Australian constitution’s preamble declares we were united under God’s blessing.
The Australian flag is a wonderful icon for us.
Selected from more than 3000 proposals, it’s design has five distinct Christian symbols – the crosses of St George, St Andrew and St Patrick; the Southern Cross, with four seven point stars (representing the Seven gifts of the Holy Spirit) and a smaller five point star (the five wounds of Christ) and the large seven point Federation Star – representing states and territories and also the bright Morning Star of Jesus, who unites us.
When deployed on operations in our region, especially in times of danger, I would look up at the Southern Cross at night, to remind myself of God’s overwatch of our peacemaking mission.
We can celebrate that we are a mission of God in progress, with Godly values of love, joy, peace, and compassion, welcoming people of all faiths, and those with none.
Australia Day’s scripture readings, reinforce that justice and integrity, peace and security must prevail in this land (Isaiah 32); that the seven gifts of The Holy Spirit will be operative in our lives (1 Corinthians 12); and that we should be Peacemakers. (Matthew 5).
It is our mission to make these prophesies come to life in our actions, involving practical love of our neighbours, irrespective of their race, religion, gender or status.
We cannot wait for a Royal Commission to solve this.
Each one of us must play a part now, ask for and offer forgiveness, but also courageously call out racism, bigotry and injustice when we see it.
We all already have that, as Jesus’ commission urges us go out into the world as peacemakers.
May we embrace the marginalised with positive, and encouraging voices, be pro-active in society, spread Good News and reach out to those who seem different to us and embrace them.
I now greet people born elsewhere by greeting them in their language of birth.
May we all, like Jesus, be inspired to promote peace in Australia.
May we be good news in all that we say and do.
Deacon Gary Stone served for 48 years in the Australian Defence Force as a peacemaker and as a chaplain and was involved in seven different conflicts. He is a graduate of the Royal Military College, the Australian Command and Staff College, The Australian War College, and has a Bachelor of Theology and Graduate Diploma of Ministry. He was awarded an Order of Australia Medal for his humanitarian ministry in East Timor and in healing and rehabilitating wounded, ill and injured veterans in Australia through Veterans Care Association.
