All posts tagged: Myuran Sukumaran

Where Chan & Sukumaran Found Grace

Published by

Do you know the words of the hymn that Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran sang before gunfire quieted their voices? It was Amazing Grace, penned by John Newton in 1748. Amazing grace! How sweet the sound That saved a wretch like me! I once was lost, but now am found; Was blind, but now I see. Grace is a characteristic of such exquisite beauty. When you know people who clothe themselves in grace, you want some for yourself. These people seem to live on a different plane. The blows don’t bruise, the hooks don’t snag. They are quick to forgive, they refuse to take offence, they love first (not only in response) and they can quickly navigate to the core of a person – the reason for their behaviour and attitudes. They are like a long exposure image of water running over rocks and branches: all soft and fluid lines, the sharp edges blunted. ’Twas grace that taught my heart to fear, And grace my fears relieved; How precious did that grace appear The hour …

Why Chan and Sukumaran Deserve Mercy

Published by

Better to know your hour of death, or not? Great dinner party conversation starter there, albeit macabre. Generally the consensus is in the negative. With knowledge, we can make a controlled exit; one without loose ends, skeletons in closets or untended grievances. Without knowledge, we can slip away blissfully unaware. Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran will know the date, hour, place and method of their death. It’s looking less and less likely that the two Australians of the Bali Nine drug smugglers will receive clemency from the Indonesian government and judiciary, meaning their executions will be carried out in coming weeks. They have languished in prison since their arrest in 2005 – since they made the mother-of-all stupid decisions. “Mercy!” the international community has cried. But letters and petitions and events and pleas have fallen on the deaf ears of president Joko Widodo who is intent on upholding the death-by-firing-squad sentence for their crimes. It’s the way things have been done since 1964. I wonder if they will need to be woken. Seventy-two hours after they have …