{"id":1273,"date":"2013-05-18T10:34:26","date_gmt":"2013-05-18T00:34:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.meganix.net\/pavement\/?p=1273"},"modified":"2014-05-30T17:47:03","modified_gmt":"2014-05-30T07:47:03","slug":"eternity-revisited","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.meganix.net\/pavement\/2013\/05\/18\/eternity-revisited\/","title":{"rendered":"Eternity revisited"},"content":{"rendered":"

I have talked about \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcEternity<\/a>\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 before, so please excuse my return to the subject, which has been prompted by two quite different sightings this week.<\/p>\n

Arthur Stace, \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcThe Eternity Man\u00e2\u20ac\u2122, stealthily chalked the word \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcEternity\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 on Sydney pavements from the 1930s to the 1960s. Even though Sydney is often accused of being a shallow and superficial city,\u00c2\u00a0Sydneysiders still perpetuate the memory of Stace’s one-word warning. Last Monday, for example, I found it chalked on the footpath in Pitt Street near Bridge Street, just round the corner from the Stock Exchange. It was written neatly but the handwriting did not approach Stace\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s masterly copperplate.<\/p>\n

\"'Eternity',<\/a>

‘Eternity’, Pitt Street, Sydney, 2013 (photo by meganix).<\/p><\/div>\n

If you believe in the afterlife, \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcEternity\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 is a powerful reminder to examine the deeds of your present life to ensure you will enter the kingdom of heaven. It was a sermon by evangelical Baptist, the Reverend John Ridley, that inspired the recently-converted Stace to embark on his footpath mission. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Where will you spend eternity?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d, thundered the preacher.<\/p>\n

But even for non-Christian Sydneysiders, \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcEternity\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 has resonance. Is it simply that they embrace the novelty of a home-grown eccentric who mysteriously but doggedly left his mark on city streets for over thirty years?<\/p>\n

Or is there some deeper feeling involved? Does Stace\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s message touch on an unspoken guilt about the kind of legacy Sydneysiders will leave?\u00c2\u00a0 In the very centre of the city is Sydney Harbour, so beautiful with its sparkling water and tree-lined coves, that is easy for people to be reminded how this place might have been before empire-building ambitions laid waste the bush and scattered its original inhabitants.<\/p>\n

Perhaps I am wrong about this. Perhaps we should not look to cultural commentators like me, or historians, poets and artists, for an interpretation that explains the appeal of \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcEternity\u00e2\u20ac\u2122. Perhaps instead we should look to the manufacturers of facial tissues.<\/p>\n

On Friday I lunched at a bowling club \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcbistro\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 in Liverpool, a city some 40 km west of the centre of Sydney. Instead of paper serviettes there was a box of \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcEternity\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 brand tissues on each table. These are apparently manufactured in a Sydney suburb and the typography used for the name cannot be a coincidence. So for me it was particularly interesting to read the vacuous message on the box that was meant to complement the inspiring brand name: \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcPursue in your dreams and anything is possible\u00e2\u20ac\u2122.<\/p>\n

\"'Eternity'<\/a>

‘Eternity’ tissues, 2013 (photo by meganix).<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I have talked about \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcEternity\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 before, so please excuse my return to the subject, which has been prompted by two quite different sightings this week. Arthur Stace, \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcThe Eternity Man\u00e2\u20ac\u2122, stealthily chalked the word \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcEternity\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 on Sydney pavements from the 1930s to the 1960s. Even though Sydney is often accused of being a shallow and <\/p>\n

Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27,78,55,105],"tags":[120,51,3,7],"class_list":["post-1273","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-chalk","category-city","category-mysteries","category-people","tag-chalk","tag-footpaths","tag-graffiti","tag-sydney"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t