THE HERALD Monday, May 4, 2009 9

Pooh-poohthenotionof thesehectic timesTry wasting some of thatprecious time, writesStephen Cottrell.

Stephen Cottrell is the Bishop ofReading, England. He is visiting theAnglican Diocese of Newcastle thisweek. Among his many books onspirituality and discipleship are DoNothing to Change your Life:Discovering What Happens WhenYou Stop (CHP 2007). This article issubmitted by the Churches MediaAssociation www.cmahunter.com.au

OUR world seems more frantic thanever. We all hit the ground running,but no one is sure which direction totake.

Our world seems more impatientthan ever. I had to wait nearly awhole second to connect to theinternet and now I’m consumed withfrustration.

Our world seems busier and morecrowded than ever. Someonesneezes in Mexico and we run forcover in Nova Scotia.

Our world seems moredisconnected than ever. I know thenames of all the characters on myfavourite soap opera but not my nextdoor neighbour.

Our world seems more pressured

than ever. A recent survey reportsthat on average most of us get twohours less sleep per night than wedid 30 years ago.

Most of us are also working longerhours. I’m writing this at midnight!

So here’s a little upside downadvice that might put the world theright way up. Instead of worrying somuch about how you are going tospend your time, make a little spacefor wasting some of it by doing thatrare and beautiful thing – nothing.

In support of my case I quote awise and venerable source:

‘‘What I like doing best,’’ saidChristopher Robin, ‘‘is nothing.’’

‘‘How do you do nothing?’’ askedPooh, after he had wondered for along time.

‘‘Well, it’swhen people callout atyou just asyou’re going off todo it,‘What are yougoing to do,Christopher Robin?’ andyou say ‘Ohnothing,’ andthen you go anddo it.’’

‘‘Oh I see,’’ said Pooh.‘‘It means just going along,

listening to all the things you can’thear, and not bothering.’’

This seems to me a very good wayof spending time. In fact, I think theworld would be wiser and happier ifwe spent more time listening to thethings we cannot hear and thereforecoming closer to the things wecannot see.

For ‘‘faith is the assurance ofthings hoped for, the conviction ofthings unseen’’. (Hebrews 11:1). Or asCS Lewis put it: ‘‘Heaven is much tooserious a place for work. It will be alldance and play there.’’

Often God can best be found in thesilences between the notes; in whatis written between the lines: notthrough our effort, or hard work, oreven our goodness, but in thosemoments of forgetfulness, ofsleeping and dreaming, when we arecaught unawares by the wild and

mysterious beauty of the world.So switch off the TV; put this

paper down for a minute; shut youreyes; breathe deeply; dream; donothing but listen to the things youcan’t hear. Nurture your inner slob.

You might even find you begin topray – not saying a lot of stuff to God,but enjoying the intimacy of God’spresence and the fragile beauty ofeach passing moment.

Or put it another way: don’t just dosomething, sit there!

OPINION & ANALYSIS

IN THE SAME BOAT: Australia has a humanitarian program.

Boatpeopleare localswhenthetinnie’ssunk

PhillipO’Neill

Professor Phillip O’Neill is director ofthe Urban Research Centre,University of Western Sydney.

I AM sure Australians feel proud ofthe efforts of our sailors in rescuingmore than 40 asylum seekers fromtheir blazing vessel off AshmoreReef on April 16, irrespective of howit caught alight. So too it was goodthat medical crews across Australiaattended to the boat people’sshocking injuries.

Former prime minister JohnHoward encouraged us to fear thearrival across our northern seas ofdecrepit boats crammed withdesperate, poor families.

But Mr Howard is no longer ourleader, and a traditional Australiangenerosity towards those in needhas re-emerged.

The asylum seekers will beprocessed under Australia’shumanitarian program.Humanitarian is a rich word, isn’t it?My dictionary tells me it means to behumane, human, kind, kindly, kind-hearted, sympathetic, civilised,good, merciful, benevolent.

I know we have a humanitarianprogram because last week I readabout it in a four-part reportcompiled by the Australian Bureauof Statistics called Perspectives onMigrants. The report is an excellentpiece of work. It explainsAustralia’s migration programs, thenumbers of people involved, thecategories they are in, where theycome from, and so on.

Thereportstartswithsimplefacts:ourpopulationismorethan21.5 million,withoriginsinmorethan200nations.About44 percentofuswereeitherbornoverseasorhaveatleastoneoverseas-bornparent.

Importantly,migrationisvital tokeepingAustralia’sageprofileyoungandkeepingAustralia’sskillbaseuptoworldstandards.Withoutmigrationourpopulationwouldagerapidly,andwe’drunoutofworkers.

In the 2007-2008 year, Australiaaccepted 210,000 permanentmigrants. Basically there are fourways you can get permanentresidence in Australia.

The first way is through theeconomic and skilled migrationprogram. Last year there were108,000 in this category. The biggest

source was the UK (27 per cent of allskilled migrants) followed by India(16 per cent), China (11 per cent) andSouth Africa (6 per cent).

Obviously, then, given where theycome from, most of our skilledmigrants speak excellent English,even some of the Poms. Andinterestingly, a large proportion ofskilled permanent migrants havealready held temporary workingvisas, such as a 457 visa. In effect, weroad-test our skilled migrants underAustralian conditions before wesign them on for good.

The second flowof permanentmigrants is thefamily stream. Lastyear Australia accepted49,000 in thisstream, less than half of the numbersin the skilledworker stream.

About 80 per centof family streammigrants arespouses or fiances. It’s amyth that family stream visasare forageing parents anddistant cousins,that you letone in and next thing thewhole village hasturned up.

The third stream is the inflowfrom across the ditch. NewZealand citizens are welcome tosettle in Australia, just as we are

welcome over there. Notsurprisingly, most of the traffic isin our direction. Last year we tookin 34,000 permanent settlers fromNew Zealand. Gidday bro.

The fourth stream is thehumanitarian stream that last yearnumbered just 13,000. This is a verysmall addition to a nation the size ofours isn’t it?

Theplacesoforigininthiscategorymakeinterestingreading.ThebiggestsourceisBurma(numbering1920),followedbyIraq(1680),Afghanistan(950),Sudan(820),Thailand(660–theseareBurmeserefugeeswhohavefledtocampsinThailand),Congo(470), Iran(420),SierraLeone(250),Tanzania(240–mostlyrefugeesfromBurundi),andLiberia (240).

It isn’t a long list is it? And itdoesn’t involve big numbers does it?And who could doubt that legitimaterefugees would be fleeingconditions in the nations on this list?The amazing thing is there are notmore refugees risking life and limbto make it to our shores. Usually,refugees lack the resources, or thegood health, to make such a journey.

The migration report from theAustralian Bureau of Statisticscontains many good news stories. Ittells us that last year’s permanentsettlers will generate about$500 million in economic benefitsfor our nation immediately. In fiveyears’ time this benefit will havegrown to more than $1 billionannually, and this will continueevery year for five years after that.

The report also tells us thatmigrants like being in Australia.They find work quickly. They makefriends quickly. The report quotes a2006 survey that finds more than80 per cent of recent migrants hadmade friends that they felt close toand could confide in.

Confide in a weird mob ofmongrels like us, a few with localblood, but the great pack descendedfrom migrants from those 200nations, all saying gidday?

No wonder they fit in.

Topics today

Today’s fact

In 43 AD a Roman physiciannamed Scribonius Largusperformed shock therapy usingelectric catfish.

Today’s word

Eclat (ey-klah): A brilliantdisplay or dazzling effect. Socialdistinction; conspicuoussuccess; universal approbation.

It happened today

From our files – 1966: While fallsof rain on the coast have beenrated as good to very good thesituation in the Upper Hunterhas been rated by district dairyofficer Mr L. J. Barnett as‘‘extremely bad to disastrous’’.

Today in history

1626: Dutch governor PeterMinuit buys Manhattan from alocal Indian tribe, reputedly fortrinkets worth $US24.1912: On Our Selection,considered to be the first realAustralian play, opens inSydney to rave reviews.1915: The Australian attack onGaba Tepe, Gallipoli, ends infailure.1932: Mobster Al Capone isconvicted of income-tax evasionand jailed at the federalpenitentiary in Atlanta.1979: Margaret Thatcherbecomes Britain’s first womanprime minister.1989: Tens of thousands ofChinese students march toTiananmen Square, calling forfreedom and democracy.1998: A major Swiss bank agreesto settle the claim of a 71-year-old Holocaust survivor, the firstsettlement in the dispute overJewish-owned accounts missingsince World War II.

Born today

Audrey Hepburn, pictured,Belgian-born actress (1929-1993);Steve Liebmann,TV personality(1944-); BelindaGreen,Australianmodel and MissWorld (1952-);Randy Travis,US countrysinger (1959-);Andrew Denton, Australianmedia personality (1960-).

Odd Spot

The parents of 13-year-old autisticboy Kenton Weaver are stunnedhe went unnoticed when boardinga flight from Florida to Californiaafter taking his father’s car anddriving 48 kilometres to FortLauderdale airport. He used hisfather’s credit cards to buy theticket.

Today’s text

Christ is the key that opens allthe hidden treasures of God’swisdom and knowledge.Colossians 2:3