|
DG Bernie's Weekly
Message
CORE OF MY HEART, MY
COUNTRY!
Dorothea McKellar's
famous poem about Australia features that quote and I am pleased to
recognise her work this week as we will celebrate Australia
Day on the 26th January.
The poem, My Country,
contains six verses but the most popular is:
I love a sunburnt
country, a land of sweeping plains,
Of ragged mountain ranges, of
droughts and flooding rains.
I love her far horizons, I love her
jewel-sea,
Her beauty and her terror - the wide brown land for
me!
So it is with
recognition of our history and the many events that have helped
forge our nation that we stand in awe of what has been and what is
still to come.
The ballads of Henry
Lawson and Banjo Patterson have provided testimony to the Australian
character that many say was born at Gallipoli in 1915 and enhanced
during the wars in which Australians were engaged. The "she’ll be
right!" attitude has carried us through over the years but it is the
"how about!" quote that has us getting things done.
Rotary has been at the
forefront of many of these endeavours and has always been a "can do"
organisation and the Australian characteristics have enhanced our
ability to do good in the world. Today we are recognised as a giving
country rather than a receiver of assistance and this is something
we can be proud of considering our short history and small
population when compared with the rest of the world. We have
excelled in many sporting areas and we are envied for our many
successes.
However, there is much
still to be done and we must continue to achieve to secure our
future. Most will agree that we live in the best country on earth
and our quality of life is such that we want for very little.
However, there are people and communities that still need help and
we must find where that need is and then work to fulfil
it.
We live in a harsh
land and after many months of drought and week after week of
bushfires, we have rain again. Whether the drought has broken, time
will tell, however, let us give encouragement and a helping hand to
all those affected over the past months.
Core
of my heart, my country! Her pitiless blue sky,
When, sick at
heart, around us we see the cattle die -
But then the grey clouds
gather, and we can bless again
The drumming of an army, the
steady soaking rain.
Lead The Way
and Advance Australia.
Bernie
Walshe
District
Governor | 