DESPITE the heartbreak, the Christmas spirit was not lost in the communities affected by the Black Christmas bushfires in NSW. It was actually enhanced.
The volunteer firefighters who battled to save their neighbours’ homes, the people who donated money and goods to help the victims and welcomed strangers into their homes, and the firefighters who travelled from other states to help their colleagues in NSW … they were the bearers of that typical Australian spirit of reaching out to help one’s neighbour in times of adversity.
While the Christmas of 2001 will be remembered for the loss and destruction it wreaked in many of these communities, let us not forget the examples of love and care which it brought out among people around Australia.
Jesus’ hand was surely at work in supporting the victims and guiding the firefighting ‘heroes’ of the bushfires.
