Faced With Uncertainty

After a five week campaign and a phony war for months before, the Australian political landscape is now faced with more uncertainty, meaning …

1. 1. A hung parliament, which will either be a complete disaster in terms of governing the country, or a pleasant change from rigid party discipline with the hope of real parliamentary debates and negotiation.

2. The prospect of the Greens controlling the balance of power in the Senate, which could mean the most radical economic, environmental and moral revolution our country has ever experienced, or the Greens might have to compromise like every other group now their votes actually count.

3. We might be forced back to a another poll in just months, or the Independents might just realize they will never get it this good again and be determined to deliver stable government for a full term.

4. The media might respond to all this uncertainty and present more balanced, fair reporting in the interests of building up our great country, or they might smell disagreement and conflict and gorge on every whiff of blood or scent of disunity.

5. The pollies might all learn from this mess, so that integrity with promises and vision with policies may make a comeback, or we may be in for a bleak period where the sectional interests of three or four local members might override the needs of a nation.

Uncertainty is certain! But then again, is that so different from what we normally experience? Health will remain a political football, but at a personal level health is one of our most uncertain companions. For some, their near perfect health is an insecure blessing that can change with an accident or with the unexpected onset of disease, while others ride the roundabout of health struggles as a daily part of life. For many, personal finances balance between the security, or not, of our jobs and the risks of our debts. So many who look wealthy could be exposed quickly by the loss of a job or the drop of an asset price. Our national economic security, that to many is assured by the minerals boom, could face unexpected trade winds from a drop in commodity prices, a temporary slowdown in China, or a double dip recession in the US and Europe. Our most secure and precious personal relationships can be threatened by our ever-resilient selfishness, our inability to be satisfied and our untamable lusts. Even the climate, in small or large ways, can determine our destiny with the speed of a lightning strike. Having said all that, it needs to be balanced with the surprising fact that often the wheel of life turns unexpectedly in our favour.

In short, what I am suggesting is that we have much less certainty about the future of almost everything. Such uncertainty can paralyze us with fear or it can compel us to stop worrying and start living. Heeding the call to work hard, remain positive, do our best and hand the rest to God is not a cop out, but a call to concentrate on the parts of life we can control and stop worrying about the rest.

“Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” Matthew 6: 34