On the virtue of patience: a Yom Kippur reflection

I was a child when I was first told “patience is a virtue” – a phrase attributed to the 14^th century English poet William Langland. In my case it took a while for the message to sink in.

Over the years, however, and perhaps amplified by the COVID experience, I have come to appreciate the wisdom of the phrase.

My lesson in the true meaning of patience began with a case that took 15 years to achieve a positive result. I was contacted by a person who had borrowed my book on Australian Citizenship Law from his local library, trying to navigate how to challenge his wife’s cancellation of her citizenship approval.

The woman had been subjected to a truly dispiriting ordeal. She had received a formal letter congratulating her on the approval of her Australian citizenship application. But, with that, she still needed to take the oath (or affirmation) at a ceremony, for the actual status of Australian citizen to be bestowed. Yet, before that oath was taken, the Minister cancelled the approval. There had been a difference between the date of birth on her original documents and the later ones – all clearly explained by her in her application – but suddenly not believed by the Department.

There began a glacial journey to right that wrong. There were ‘Freedom of Information’ applications; the Ombudsman got involved; there were several merits review hearings in the Administrative Appeals Tribunal; and, not to mention, several Federal Court applications. She was a person with no criminal convictions, who did years of valuable work in the care community and was of absolutely no danger to anyone whatsoever. The emotional and psychological toll on her and her husband was immense.

Her third application for citizenship was finally granted. I felt like a marathon runner when I attended her citizenship ceremony and experienced the greatest joy on witnessing her take the oath and become an Australian citizen. It clearly demonstrated to me that patience is a virtue.