Value What You Have and Don’t Give it Away: A Drash for Friday, 28 March 2014

One year during the northern hemisphere spring I was in Qatar.  I spent four months there, supporting the Allied Expeditionary Forces engaged in Operation Enduring Freedom, and Operation Iraqi Freedom.  On our chaplain staff, we had an Australian RAAF chaplain, an Anglican priest named Steve Holmes from the Melbourne hinterland.  When the 24^th of April came around, Steve invited us, his American colleagues, to a sunrise ceremony at the base flagpole the next morning.  It was ANZAC Day.

          I knew something about the origins of ANZAC Day.  While Gallipoli was not an American experience, I had read about the heroism of the ANZAC troops there.  I also saw the highly-acclaimed 1981 film, Gallipoli, directed by Peter Weir and starring our ‘friend’ Mel Gibson. 

As you may know, there was a Palestinian Jewish presence in Gallipoli as well.  The Zion Mule Corps had been formed out of the desire of the Jews of the Yishuv, the community in Palestine, to contribute to the war effort on the Allied side.  The British, not wanting to give Palestinian Jews training in soldiering skills, recruited them into the Mule Corps, which provided battlefield logistics in Gallipoli and other battles of the Great War.  That unit and its exploits have been written about extensively.

          I know it may sound funny to hear me speaking about the origins of ANZAC Day right now.  After all, it is just the end of March, and ANZAC Day is exactly four weeks away.  But since we are coming up on Rosh Chodesh Nissan and the First of April, it is probably not too early to mention it.

          An e-mail has been making the rounds lately, and maybe you’ve seen it.  Several of you have brought it to my attention.  It’s an essay entitled Value What You Have and Don’t Give it Away, and it’s ascribed to an American academic named David Mason who has recently spent some time in Australia.  The essay’s premise is that certain things are superior in Australia, to the USA.

          A couple of you had forwarded it to me; not being especially impressed by the writer’s views I didn’t give it further thought.  But this week, one of our members sent it to me and actually asked what I thought of it, challenging me to re-read it carefully and formulate my reactions into coherent comments.

          I still disagree with most of the essay, where Mason asserts that Australia compares favourably with America in various ways.  But I agree with the author’s overall sentiments.  The author asserts: “There’s a lot to admire about Australia.” He goes on to report that, when he enthuses about this country to his Australian friends, they often respond by telling him: “We need outsiders like you to remind us what we have.”  How true that is!  In America, we like to say that we need immigrants to remind the native born of how positively our country and its way of life compares to other places in the world.  Same general idea.  If you have been drinking from a fountain of blessing all your life, it is important to be reminded of the hardships of life elsewhere.  Both Americans and Australians need to remember how much they have been blessed.

After listing his reasons why he thinks Australia outshines the USA, Mason asserts:  “No need to wave flags like Americans and add to the world’s windiness.” Now I agree that Americans are more likely to wave – or display – their national flag than Australians.  But frankly, I think both countries would benefit with an increase of flag-waving.  For some reason, the sight of the native born waving the flag makes some onlookers cry ‘racism.’  But this doesn’t make much sense to me.  After all, your Department of Immigration and Citizenship website prominently displays photographs of immigrants of all colours proudly waving the flag.  Flag-waving is nothing more than expressing pride in your country and what it stands for.  And whilst our countries’ constitutions are vastly different, the values that are understood to underpin citizenship in both countries are quite similar. 

According to the website of your Department of Immigration and Citizenship, Australian values are as follows:  freedom and dignity of the individual; freedom of religion; commitment to the rule of law; Parliamentary democracy; equality of opportunity to all regardless of gender, race, religion or ethnic background; mutual respect, tolerance, fair play and compassion for those in need; pursuit of the public good.

This American finds nothing to disagree with in this values statement – except perhaps parliamentary democracy since I’m committed to my representative republic, but that’s a minor point.  So when you wave the flag you are showing your affirmation for the values that underpin your nation.  And that’s a good thing.  More Australians, and more Americans, should wave their respective flags and stand up for the values that underpin our great countries.

By now you’ve surely intuited that my disagreements with David Mason, as expressed in his essay circulating by e-mail, are quite deep.  Whilst it’s true that they are, I agree 100 percent with his bottom line.  He counsels his Australian friends: “Value what you have, pray for it, work hard for it, and don’t give it away.”  Amen to that!  Never forget what your country represents. 

So back in 2006, I stood at the flagpole in the predawn chill of a spring morning in Qatar, and observed the service for ANZAC Day with the Australian contingent on the base and many of my American colleagues as well.  It was simple and moving.  Afterwards, we all walked to the mess hall and enjoyed one another’s fellowship over breakfast.

Four weeks from now, let’s get up early in the morning to march with the local returned servicemen, stand in reverence at the flagpole, be moved by the simple service, and then join them for breakfast at the local RSL.  Come on, you can give up an hour or so of sleep, and you can always make it up later in the day!  In an age where patriotic gestures have become passé, let’s make a patriotic gesture.  How about it?  Shabbat shalom.