Here in Melbourne, Good Friday has become the most sacred day of the secular year. I woke up to silent traffic sounds. No-one is going out because there is nowhere to go. The shops are all shut - and how often does that happen these days? The Zoo, the Botanical Gardens? Shut. Even Bunnings is shut. (A few traders of different religious persuasions will open, ensuring that Melbournians can get essentials such as milk, nappies, kebabs, pak chouy and great middle-European cakes and pastries.)
The second most sacred holiday is not, as you might expect, Christmas Day. It's ANZAC Day (in honor of returned servicemen) on 25 April. It would qualify as the most sacred day, except that the shops are only closed until 1pm. The pubs needed to open so old diggers could go out for a slap up lunch (liquid or otherwise). Now the shopping malls feel this applies to them too: Mammon must be worshipped, he is a jealous god. I suppose a little retail therapy helps bring us down from the ANZAC Day focus on death and noble sacrifice.
Its an interesting cultural phenomenon that Many more Australians will observe the dawn service ANZAC Day ceremonies on Monday, than will be in church at 3pm today. Unlike Christian congregations, the gate at the Shrine of Remembrance is growing annually. Which begs the question: which day is really the more sacred holy day to the average Australian?
2 comments:
Hi. Good point. Here in NZ, it was also notable here that there were more shops shut on ANZAC Day than on Good Friday or Easter Sunday. Those who chose to flout the trading rules didn't want to show disrespect on ANZAC Day.
Thanks for commenting, Mali. It is odd that this day is becoming more sacred now the original ANZACs are gone. An article in one of the weekend supplements here in Melbourne said that people thought the ANZAC Day would fade away after WW2 because it was no longer the Great War. I recall in the early 70s when the Shrine was very poorly attended and people wondered why it was a gazetted public holiday.
Post a Comment