Like all the Aussies at the Adelaide Oval on Australia Day, we had a great time watching our invincible cricket team pound the poor Pakistanis into the turf! The day was hot, and the competition somewhat unbalanced, so by dusk the crowd was growing restless. Even the Mexican wave wasn’t stimulating enough to make it all around the ground, although when it passed the mob on the hill in front of the famous scoreboard, hundreds of plastic beer cups sailed into the air and came down like confetti.
One young man in particular must have had too much to drink, and this, along with his youthful exuberance, motivated him to climb the lattice-like structure at the side of the scoreboard. Step by step he hauled himself up to the top where he called out to spectators and players, waving his shirt above his head. His perch was precarious – even the television cameraman had come down out of the wind. He went very quiet and we were concerned about how he, intoxicated and foolhardy, would get down. Some of his mates might entice him to jump. Our attention drifted back to the game, and when we looked again through our binoculars, we could see that another figure was climbing the structure. He climbed more cautiously and slowly. He squatted with the youth and the two talked. He had brought more clothing and a safety harness. They sat up there, both of them harnessed to the scaffold. Eventually the innings finished, the cheers went up and the crowd began to disperse. It was then that the Fire Brigade arrived with ladders and ropes to help the two men down. No drama, no excitement. We were relieved at the professional way it had all been handled.
Pastoral Partners are a bit like the second man. We’re not necessarily the experts, and our actions may not be spectacular, but we take risks to stay with people whose lives are precarious, to calm and support.
May you have the courage to care and may you keep your own safety harness in place!!
© Sharonne Price