Ash Wednesday.........

I have never thought much about Ash Wednesday. As children we were taught about it in school and at church however, as an adult I really have not given such a day much thought at all. Until today when a man came in for smoko this morning. Every day he comes at the same time and asks what the special of the day is and has that. He is a quietly spoken man with a heavy accent. To look at him one could not pick his nationality as everyone here dresses in fluro shirts, white hard hats and big work boots. After you have worked here a week everyone starts to look the same lol.

Anyway, I digress. This morning the man arrived and asked for fish, chips and salad. I asked him if he wanted me to put a special away for him for lunch and he replied that no, he will have another fish and chips. I must have looked surprised when John discretely reminded me that today was Ash Wednesday and that many people practice the tradition of abstaining from eating meat on this day. Ok, yes I remember that now. When the man returned at lunchtime I told him that each Friday I would make sure that I had a non-meat special on. He smiled and thanked me although I am not sure that he understood what I was talking about. We began talking and he told me that he wasoriginally from Sarajevo, which is the capital city and largest urban center of Bosnia. He migrated to Australia in 2000. Back in 1995 the Bosnian Government declared independence from Yugoslavia. The Serb forces sought to destroy the newly independent state of Bosnia and so it became one of the longest sieges in the history of modern warfare.

At the beginning of the war his extended family was killed, including elderly parents. His immediate family hid with neighbours many times during bombings and gunfire; even his practice was burned down at one stage. In an effort to save his wife and children he fled the country and eventually arrived in Australia. Unfortunately when he lived in Bosnia this man was a doctor however, his credentials are not recognized here in Australia so he went to work for a brisklaying company. In the first years after arriving in Australia he said that he worked three jobs, seven days per week in an effort to save enough money to buy a home however that is still in the making. Two of his three children now attend university of which he is enormously proud. I sense there is a lot of homesickness hidden behind his quiet nature although he said nothing about that, I got the impression that it was what he didn’t say that spoke volumes.

Anyway, getting back to Ash Wednesday, I guess we are shielded from war here in Australia. I know that most of my generation have never been confronted the immediate conflicts of war. I thought about this man’s religious beliefs later in the day and thought that after all he had been through, loosing his extended family, burying his elderly Mum and Dad, seeing his livelihood burned down, fleeing your country and everything that is familiar and cherished to save your children, all the home sickness, everything changing overnight, he probably thanks God every night for all he has. One would hold onto your religious beliefs zealously, it is quite probably the only thing that he had left apart from his children and wife.So today, Ash Wednesday, I happily served as much fish as people asked for, wished them a good day and realized that we never really know the personal story of other people until such times as this. People can be so quick to judge other's religious values without understanding what support they get from those beliefs. I might have a look on the internet to see if there is such a thing as a Bosnian recipe and surprise him one day lol.

Have a good evening everyone x