Bill Hickford, the fellow I knew, never flinched.
And that trait was on show again just the other night when he confronted a knife wielding burglar in his Shepparton home.
Bill led the GV Centre Committee through difficult times when I was involved, maybe 20 years ago, and although circumstances made his role both challenging, and often controversial, he never flinched.
That admirable way of living is what our community needs more of and although the positive aspects clearly outweigh whatever might be considered negative, Bill, sadly, felt the sharp edge of the downside early Friday morning.
Bill had an acute sense of right and wrong, although such an instinct was unimportant when unusual noises led him to investigate, followed by his confrontation with an armed intruder and a subsequent struggle in which Bill was stabbed 13 times.
No instinct was needed; Bill would have simply known it was wrong to have an unknown fellow, armed with a knife, roaming about his darkened house.
Was the break-in planned or was Bill’s house simply chosen by chance?
Nothing points to the former and so it would seem the latter prevails, however the intruder had not accounted for the fact that inside was Bill, a fellow who does not have “retreat” in his vocabulary.
The passion for right a wrong is a personal power that Bill will need to enlist as he draws on reserves to repair the damage wrought as wrestled with that intruder to his Kialla Lakes (above) home.
For long I have wondered why bad things happen to good people and this seems to the epitome of such a dynamic, but I’m still mystified.
Law and order protagonists will use this to again beat their drum, but the issue is broader and deeper than a simple argument for more police.
Rather it is a symptom of an ill-society, one that is rich in inequality, promotes ideals unattainable for most, makes violence attractive and appear as an avenue to success and suggests that gratification is there to be taken.
Bill is one of the good people, who now struggles after encountering one of those bad things.
Christmas offends my sensibilities – but I just love it.
Christmas was born with the birth of a myth that invokes Christianity and became a marketer’s dream when the idea of gift-giving captured the modern mind.
Christmas, in its present form, worsens difficulties the world faces with the exhaustion of resources and encourages a way of life that is the antithesis of a sustainable world.
Christmas and climate change, or global warming if you prefer, seem unrelated, but are inextricably linked with industry working overtime and ploughing through resources to churn out what it is we want, rather than need, for this festive season.
Christmas does, however, have a positive dimension in that it encourages altruism throughout December, a generousity that is largely in retreat for the rest of the year.
Christmas is for many, wrongly and yet understandably, a real or imagined deadline for tasks ranging from the completion of projects to decision time about relationships or other personal moments of consequence.
Christmas gives oxygen to a lie that may seem innocuous and fun, but in a subtle manner illustrates to those at the heart of the deception, our children, that they should treat those in authority with some suspicion, bringing on an uneasiness that has the potential to surreptitiously trouble them throughout their lives.
Christmas, despite its Christian underpinnings and its consumerist overtones brings about brief moments that point to the richness of humanity and in so doing unearths the warmth, connectedness and collaboration that will be essential if humanity is to find the capacity to dispense with its differences and stand as one, rather than many, in confronting emerging difficulties.
Christmas for me will be particularly enjoyable as it will be the first I have spent with my one and three-year-old grandsons, something about which I often feel distress for long have I believed that we should all live where we live, meaning families should not be in disparate parts of the country, or even worse, overseas.
Christmas brings its dilemmas, but for me it is a particularly special time and I trust it is exactly that for you – season’s greetings!
