There was a state memorial service for Jimmy Little yesterday at the Sydney Opera House.

I never heard a bad word said about him.

Jimmy became famous in the 1960s – especially for his song “Royal Telephone”.

Not the kind of song that could become a number one in modern times?

Or is that wrong?

Many people today, as in the past, might tell you how its words are true in their experience.

The words were straightforward enough:

* * *

Telephone to glory, oh, what joy divine!
I can feel the current moving on the line,
Built by God the Father for His loved and own,
We may talk to Jesus through this royal telephone.

Central’s never “busy,” always on the line;
You may hear from heaven almost any time;
It’s a royal service, free for one and all;
When you get in trouble, give this royal line a call.

There will be no charges, telephone is free,
It was built for service, just for you and me;
There will be no waiting on this royal line,
Telephone to glory always answers just in time.

* * *

If God answers prayer, it’s probably important that we don’t try to do all the talking.

A big part of prayer is simply spending time in silence . . . .

and letting the thought of God . . . .

and the thoughts of God . . . .

take over your mind.

Today has been declared “Earth Hour Day”.

You are requested to turn off your lights from 8.30pm to 9.30pm as a symbolic act declaring your support for creating a cleaner, better, more just future.

Based, they say, on combating human-caused climate change.

Nothing wrong with turning off the lights for an hour.

You can say your prayers just as well in the dark.

Better, perhaps, as there will be fewer visible distractions.

For many people it is probably a long time since they last gave an hour to contemplating God.

Or spending an hour in any kind of quiet, reflective frame of mind.

* * *

So the idea of a quiet hour of solitude in the dark is a good one.

But best find a different time to do it. Not tonight.

The 31 March Earth Hour is supported by activists like Julia Gillard, the World Wildlife Fund and UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon.

That is a big worry.

These people don’t just want you to turn off your lights — they have policies in mind that will mean there are no lights to turn on.

They want to phase out coal-burning energy sources.

They make claims about the capabilities of solar energy, wind-energy and so forth which, at this stage of history, are pure imagination.

* * *

To sum up, common sense suggests that we all switch our lights off regularly for the good of our mental and spiritual health.

But make sure they are ON this evening between 8.30 and 9.30.

The other day I visited an elderly couple.

They were watching television — a tennis match between Serena Williams and Ekaterina Makarova.

They wanted me to watch with them, so I did, for about ten minutes.

A few minutes can’t do much harm, I thought.

I don’t know if you’ve watched television lately.

I was amazed.

It was nothing like I remembered it – the screen perhaps ten times the size I had been used to — the clearness almost overpowering.

You could almost count the players’ hair follicles.

* * *

A persuasive, potent, compelling weapon — especially if directed at those who can’t or don’t read much.

Even the most appalling behaviour and ideas could be made to seem tolerable.

And viewers rendered even less likely to find the motivation to spend generous time with God.

* * *

How much more meaningful our lives could be if we found even small periods of time for silence and reflection . . . .

Would we not, then, experience what Saint Mary MacKillop described, “God’s presence seems to follow me everywhere and make everything I do, or wish to do, a prayer . . . .”

Libya’s Interim National Transitional Council (NTC), which seems about to take over the country, repeatedly announces its commitment to “democracy”.

Hard to believe.

It doesn’t seem to be happening in Egypt. It won’t happen in Syria.

Why should it happen in Libya?

Throughout most of history there has been no such thing as “Libya”.

 “Libya” holds over 100 tribes, many speaking different dialects.

The tribes around Benghazi have never considered themselves obliged to take orders from Tripoli.

The west-versus-east brawling of recent months is merely a continuation of what has been going on more or less forever.

Meanwhile, democracy remains a concept foreign to most North Africans.

* * *

How, then, to achieve peace?

The politicians will come up with various strategies.

But politics alone won’t do it.

There are two ways to seek peace in the world — the natural way and the supernatural way — i.e. politics and prayer.

Politics is unavoidable — but without supernatural help from God, violence will NEVER end.

When the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared to the children at Fatima, she offered a plan for peace:

“Pray, pray a great deal and make sacrifices. Penance is necessary. If people amend their lives Our Lord will, even yet, save the world – but if not, punishment will come.”

* * *

There are now fewer Muslims in Africa than there were in the year 1900 . . . .

 Whereas numbers of African Christians have increased by 33,000 percent — from an estimated one million to 330,000,000.

Why not in Libya?

I have pinched most of the following.

Hope it is some help to somebody out there:

I asked God to spare me pain. God said, “No. Hardship is your chance to detach yourself from worldly things and draw closer to me.”

I asked God to give me patience. God said, “No. Patience is a by-product of suffering. It isn’t something given. It is something to be learned.”        

I asked God to take away my bad habits. God said, “No. It is not for me to take them away, but for you to give them up.”

I asked God to give me happiness. God said, “No. I give you what is my will for you. You must decide to be happy about it.”

* * *

Catholics who pray the Divine Office prayers daily, begin every morning with this act of self-giving to our Creator:

Lord God, all-powerful, you have brought us to the beginning of this day.

By your power, keep us on the road to salvation.

Do not let us fall into any sin today . . . .

But grant that all our words, all our thoughts and actions may tend toward the fulfilment of your law of holiness.

Amen

On Thursday night, three ABC broadcast staff died in a helicopter crash near William Creek south of Lake Eyre.

They were Paul Lockyer (journalist), John Bean (photographer) and Gary Ticehurst (pilot).

They had been filming a documentary about the lake and intended covering yesterday’s official opening of William Creek airstrip.

The airstrip opening went ahead, but was more like a memorial service.

* * *

The priest, Father Paul, read from Saint Luke’s gospel, chapter 10, the story told by Jesus about the Good Samaritan – a story of undiscriminating love, an attribute which Australians admire and aspire to have:

A man going down from Jerusalem to Jericho was attacked by robbers who stripped him, beat him and went away leaving him half dead. A priest who happened to be going down the same road, seeing him, passed him by on the other side. So too, a Levite, coming to the place, passed by on the other side.

But a Samaritan, as he travelled, came near and took pity on him, bandaging his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then, putting him on his own donkey, brought him to an inn and cared for him. Next day he gave two coins to the innkeeper, saying,  ‘Look after him and when I return I will reimburse you for any extra expense.’

“Which of these three”, asked Jesus, “do you think was a neighbour to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?”

The teacher of the Law replied, “The one who had mercy on him.”

Jesus told him, “You go, then, and do the same.”

When bad times come, God calls us to show neighbourly compassion, even when there is sacrifice involved — or even danger.

* * *

God does not only want us to be kind.

He wants us to put worshipping him first, above all else.

The story of the Good Samaritan is not the end of chapter 10.

The following section shows how, although practical kindness is important, there is something else at least as important — if not more so.

Look it up.