Back in the late ‘80’s, when I lived in Sydney I caught up to have coffee with a lovely friend of mine who was dying of AIDS. Maria was a beautiful lady who sadly had acquired her illness through a tainted blood transfusion she had received as a result of a fatal car accident in which her beloved daughter was killed.
This was back in the early days before blood screening for AIDS had commenced. Maria & I chatted that day about her life & the most unimaginably horrific thing about her situation, apart from her devastating terminal illness & knowing that she was dying, was the horrendous judgement & condemnation that she faced from our society.
Once people discovered she had AIDS people wanted nothing to do with her, wouldn’t touch her & she told me that one day a cafe’ owner actually asked her to leave her premises as she didn’t want her to ‘spread her horrible disease’! . . . Honestly, I had tears in my eyes, I just sat there shaking my head in shock & disbelief . . . it’s unimaginable how cruel, judgemental & incredibly ignorant people can be . . . after being constantly ostracised by society & treated as a pariah she became a total recluse until her death at age 47.
She always enjoyed our catchups & she especially loved my famous tight, squishy hugs! One day I hugged her frail little frame & I just burst into tears. I could see & feel my lovely friend slipping away & all I wanted her to know was that she was totally loved, unconditionally. She thanked me for my love, unwavering support & expressed her appreciation for our friendship.
Thankfully, she had a loving, supportive family & only a few close friends as many had shunned her, even though she was an innocent party in the contraction of her devastating illness.
People were terrified of just being near her, let alone touching or hugging her! The power & fear that the govt & media generates when it wants to control people is absolutely disgraceful . . . Which brings me to the point of my post today. As I sat there with Maria that day, all those years ago, I just could not have imagined how she must have felt, being looked upon as a ‘disease spreader’, & being shunned by almost everyone around her. I thought how devastating it would be for so many people to be filled with so much judgement & fear around you.
Well, today, I see the same fear in many people all around me, people who are terrified of contracting some wretched virus & worried sick that they WILL GET SICK & maybe DIE!! Be careful where you place your thoughts & exactly what you place your thoughts on my friend, for what you place your thoughts on is EXACTLY what you’ll create in your life!
Thankfully I don’t have a fearful bone in my body. If I feared life I wouldn’t leave my lounge room! Everything in life is fraught with risk!! EVERYTHING! But why are so many focused on how they might die as opposed to how they might LIVE!! . . . It seems as if I’m in a minority group these days & to be honest, I don’t mind a bit, coz that’s the way it’s been my whole entire life.
I’m used to being the one ‘who’s different’ & the one who has NEVER followed the crowd. So maybe that’s why I’m not frightened, coz I don’t tune into the rubbish & perhaps that’s why I love life so much . . . I mean, if you don’t fear death then what else is there to fear?? . . . It’s so much nicer to be filled with peace & not fear . . . However, the good news is, amidst the maelstrom of fear, sadness & terror that’s currently stripping us of all our joy & happiness, I detect a subtle change in the wind.
I feel the winds of change are gently blowing in a northerly direction now & gradually, ever so gradually, are picking up pace. But we must be patient & please, please, PLEASE, can we be a little more civil, respectful, kind & loving to each other, NO MATTER the choices we make?? Is that too much to ask?? . . . This is a full scale war we are in the midst of right now, a psychological war of our senses & of our minds & if we continue to allow the fears of the powers that be to invade & control our precious lives, the old war tactic of ‘divide & conquer’ will prevail & it will be curtains for us, our beautiful kids & their future generations . . . We MUST be MUCH smarter than that & wake up to the reality of what’s unfolding around us . . . To conclude my story today, I want to finish with another beautiful story . . .
When I was a kid I used to go & stay with my lovely grand dad, Wally Thorburn, on most Friday nights down near the beach where he lived. We were so close.
I remember one night he told me the story of when he sailed out of Sydney on April 9th, 1941 , on board the liner, the mighty Queen Elizabeth, en route to Palestine with around 15,000 of his fellow comrades to fight in the Second World War. Pop told me that not long after they sailed out of Sydney Harbour, a couple of soldiers started singing Waltzing Matilda. He said there were many thousands of troops sleeping up on deck & within moments ALL the troops were singing Waltzing Matilda at the top of their voices as the mighty liner ploughed through the sea & towards their destiny. He said “David, it stirred the very essence of our souls to hear thousands of Aussie troops all singing that amazing song in unison”!! l’ve never forgotten that story . . .
So here’s a final thought I want to leave you with today . . . I want you to imagine what hope in hell our proud nation would have had in conflict if our troops had’ve fought between themselves. Imagine if they had bickered, winged, complained, judged & condemned their fellow comrades because they didn’t agree with them over something. Imagine how powerless they would have been as an army if they were divided . . . The war would have been won before it had even commenced! . . . The greatest danger we face right now is not death from a virus, it’s not whether or not you’ve had the v. a. x. , it’s how divided we are becoming & it’s the old war tactic that so many are blindly falling into the trap of . . . Remember the power of this saying, United We Stand, Divided We Fall . . . By all means hold tight to your personal beliefs, choices & philosophies for they are the correct choices you make that are perfect FOR YOU. But please respect others for their choices, for we know not their life lessons & soul contracts . . . Thankfully the Aussie Spirit is alive & well with me & countless millions of my fellow Aussies . . .
Our famed Anzac Spirit is rising amongst us & we are getting stronger & stronger every day as we fight this unbelievable tyranny . . . I want you to know that I don’t care whether you’re black, white, yellow or green, whether you’re gay, straight or confused, or if you’re v. a. x . t or not, you are ALWAYS welcome to sit at my table to clink a glass with me . . .
Will you come a waltzin’ with me??
PEACE
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