The Lindt Café Seige in Sydney: learning to give thanks

The Lindt Café Seige in Sydney this week has put Australia in shock.

Sometimes people like to use a photo of an ape evolving into a man throughout the week to depict how much they hate working.

The 39-year-old officer who was taken to hospital with facial wounds from shotgun pellets during the siege came in for special praise after he vowed: "I'll be back at work tomorrow".

We should really give thanks if we open our eyes the next day and “be back at work tomorrow”!

We should also be grateful that Australia is a country with a culture of love and honour:

First of all, according to the initial reports, the two hostages killed actually died trying to protect others: when the hostages realised that the gunman did not intend to let them live to daybreak, they planned to break the lock to quickly run out. When they rushed out, gunman panicked and began shooting, but the store manager Tori Johnson attempted to wrestle the gun from him. The female barrister Katrina Dawson may have been hit by a bullet when she tried to protect her pregnant friend.

Australians did not rebound on Muslims after this event. In fact, a movement was started on social media #Illridewithyou expressed support for Australia's Muslim population. (There are some debates on the political motives behind this hashtag, eg. whether the story about the Muslim woman on the train was true or not, that some people believe Australians overall are already very tolerant of multiculturalism and do not need a hashtag telling them what to do. But I think it’s a waste of time to go into this sort of debate. While I believe the threat of terrorism and the existence of racism in the community are all certainly real, I also believe that the majority of Muslims are good people, and the majority of Australians are very tolerant of multiculturalism. The main point is we see that the majority of Australians responded in a positive and respectful manner overall, and this is impressive).   

People spontaneously started going to Martin Place to pay their respects with flowers. We see the unity of the people and the scene was pretty spectacular.

On Friday, a “Police Thanksgiving Day” was held to give thanks to the police for their hard work.

http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/sydney-siege-ends-more-than-16-hours-of-terror-for-captives-20141216-128j5f.html

Praise the Lord, my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name. Praise the Lord, my soul, and forget not all his benefits. Psalms 103:1-2

It is easy to forget what God has given us. It is only in the times of adversity that we remember to call on God for mercy. But really, we should also give thanks in the good times.

Psychology studies suggest that when things become increasingly familiar or routine, people start losing interest in it. We all know that when we work long hours, we grow tired of our jobs. We tend forget to give thanks and to take what we have for granted.

Don't forget, many parts of the world are in war and famine: human lives are not valued and hearts are numb. The day following the Sydney Siege, more than 100 schoolchildren were shot dead in Pakistan. In contrast, we are very lucky. Rather than envying our neighbours when they have what we do not have, we should be giving thanks for what we are already blessed with.