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a healthy church...transformingLIFE

Tasmanian Anglican

March 2003

 

 

 

empty red fridge in the bushmoving day?

photo - Peter Jerrim, 1999

 

Editor's angle

by Sheelagh Wegman

 

 

Saved by the fridge

Ever notice how in the movies they have enormous well-stocked fridges in huge high-tech kitchens?

Typically someone called Ben or Mary goes into the darkened kitchen, often in the wee small hours, alone and feeling anxious, and opens the fridge. The welcoming white glow inside reveals an Aladdin's Cave of food and more food, bright packages promising comfort, the door too, laden with cans and bottles of tempting beverages. Ben/Mary peers inside and grabs something from the glowing interior, then slumps onto a seat and it is apparent to the viewer that all will be well, he/she will cope with whatever. [An aside: note the absence of festering cheese and furry tomatoes lurking in the corners.]

In real-life Australian homes our fridges bristle with little magnets announcing all kinds of things: ours has pizza deals; hockey rosters; reminders for cat immunisations; video vouchers; phone numbers for plumbers and 'fix-it' shops; and the Serenity Prayer. Marketing gurus know the power of the fridge magnet &endash; how many times a day do you open the fridge?

It is just as well we tidied our fridge door recently, removing all the out-of-date stuff, but keeping the Serenity Prayer. We had to make space for the ultimate fridge magnet, the 'biggie' that will tell us what to do if confronted by 'terrists'.

So in true Hollywood style, if and when the unthinkably awful happens and our worst nightmares come true, we can gather quietly by torch-glow in our darkened kitchen and look to the fridge for direction and comfort.

If only it were so simple...