Sydney Morning Herald 25/7/2006
Excitement mounts! Only three more sleeps and a long wait on Saturday until EARLY on Saturday night John Howard's chickens come home to roost and he concedes. There are many ways to speak of chickens coming home to roost. Many spiritual beliefs speak of Karma. Buddhism says that you may forget your actions, but your actions don't forget you. Miss Eagle counts the Prophets of the Eighth Century BC among her best friends. The longsuffering Hosea - he of the adulterous wife - said it best in the Jewish and Christian tradition, in Miss E's view.
For they sow the wind,
and they shall reap the whirlwind.
Hosea 8:7
Karma, unforgotten actions, and escalating wind apply to all of us - whether as individuals, families, groups, or nations. Miss Eagle believes that John Howard will reap the rewards of countless meannesses, innumerable cruelties, and injustices beyond counting.
But we also have to remember that if Australia does not hold John Howard and his cronies accountable on Saturday then Australia - Australians as a nation - risks reaping the whirlwind itself.
We can hold our governments accountable. When we fail to do so, we then face the judgment that should be visited on them as well. In other words, there are spiritual lessons to be learned in how we govern ourselves, how we respond as the body politic. There are no exemptions as Matthew points out in 5:45 when he speaks of the sun rising on the evil and on the good; and sending rain on the just and unjust.
So on Saturday we have the responsibility of collective accountability for ourselves and, above all, to hold our government and those who participate within the governance of this nation - the Opposition, the minor parties, the independents - accountable individually and collectively.
We are responsible for our actions - and those actions include holding those who act for us accountable responsible for theirs.
~~~~~~~~~
Miss Eagle's plans for to-day include - if our welcome rain eases off - more leafletting for the Greens in Rowville. Then to-night I will turn up with Katie and the Krew at the Your Rights At Work La Trobe headquarters in Boronia to pick up the gear for our booths on Saturday. Miss Eagle is booth captain at Upper Ferntree Gully School on Saturday and will be there from 6am to 10am.
From 2pm to close she will be at Kent Park school handing out how-to-votes for the Greens.
From 2pm to close she will be at Kent Park school handing out how-to-votes for the Greens.
And how many election parties are on Saturday night! If my eyelids are open, I hope I can sit by the television blogging happily with a celebratory Bundy and Coke in between.
