Today throughout our nation it is a public holiday and it will be celebrated very differently by many.
I for one am Grateful and very Thankful that the Lord has allowed me to be born, raised, and live here – especially for such a time as this!
In spending some time today to reflect on what is taking place around our nation and hear of noted honours being handed out to representatives of our community (for many different reasons), it has made me realise what our Country as a whole is made up of - hundreds of individuals who all ‘together’ play a major part in respecting one another!
Because of this, and knowing how Australia is made up of many different nationalities, ethnicities, etc it has made me dig a little further to discover a diagram of Australian census results taken on ‘religious affiliations’ since 1901. I am rather surprised by the trend of this diagram…
So what I would really like to know is how this graph would look now, since we have been thru 2020!
Because of my now ‘piqued’ interest I tried to dig a little more and came across the following;
1. In a recent Mccrindle study, published in 2020 called ‘The future of the Church in Australia’ (very interesting read – go HERE to download a copy) a quote says…
“Spiritual hunger in Australia - Australians are not just open to spirituality, they are spiritually hungry. Christian leaders believe change, hardship and crises can often cause a spiritual opening, as people are forced to think deeply about what matters. The COVID-19 pandemic is a significant example of spiritual opening across the world. Mike Jeffs, the founder of the Australian Christian Channel, explains how “the crisis has removed our crutches and caused us to think about death, mortality and truth.” Other Christian leaders agree that COVID has acted as a leveler, showing Australians they can’t put trust in the possessions or structures around them. During the experience of COVID-19, almost one in two Australians (47%) have thought about their mortality more, with a similar proportion (47%) thinking about the meaning of life more.”
2. On a Mccrindle blog page it says – https://mccrindle.com.au/insights/blog/the-impact-of-covid-19-on-relationships-and-spirituality/
Australian workers are giving the spiritual life a go
One in three Aussie workers are praying more (35%, much/somewhat/slightly) and having spiritual conversations (33%), with a further two in five (41%) thinking about God more and one in four reading the bible more (25%). Aussie workers are also facing the stark realities of COVID-19, with one in two Aussie workers thinking more about their own mortality (53%) and the meaning of life (55%) during their experience of COVID-19.
“While there is a perception that “Australians don’t do religion”, the reality is quite different. Not only are Australians engaging in spiritual pursuits, they are engaging even more in faith practices since COVID-19. This research backs up what I’m seeing consistently in my work: most workers are spending more time thinking about purpose and meaning, God conversations are up, as is prayer.” Dr McMillan.
So because of my ‘Australia Day’ reading, I am very encouraged and wish to celebrate us as a Nation and who we all are moving forward into 2021.
Praying –
‘…When two of you get together on anything at all on earth and make a prayer of it, my Father in heaven goes into action. And when two or three of you are together because of me, you can be sure that I’ll be there.” Matthew 18:20 MSG
“Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brothers to dwell together in unity! …For there the Lord has commanded the blessing: life forevermore.” Ps 133:1-3 AMP