The Last Word - Lachlan Davies

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Last week, we talked about respect. It’s a word we use often, something we say we value, something we expect from others. But today I want to take that a step further, because respect by itself can just stay as an idea and not really mean much. It can sit in our words without ever showing up in our actions.

So the question is, what does respect actually look like when it's tested?

As Dr Columbus has covered, when Elizabeth Eckford arrived at school alone, most of the people there that day wouldn't have seen themselves as villains. They were ordinary people, and many others, watching from the sidelines, did nothing at all.

But a small number of people made a different choice. They stepped forward, stood beside her and helped her leave safely. They didn't change the entire system that day. They didn't fix the injustice of segregation. But they changed something immediate and human, they refused to let her stand alone.

That is what it means to be an upstander.

Being an upstander is what happens when respect becomes action. It’s the moment where you decide that someone else's mana is worth protecting, even when it's uncomfortable, or when it would be easier to stay silent.

Because honouring the mana of another person isn't just about how we treat people when things are easy. It's about what we do when someone is being diminished. When they’re excluded, mocked, or harmed. In those moments, silence doesn't sit on the fence, it leans in a direction, and here's the thing, most of us will never face a moment as Elizabeth Eckford did. But we will face smaller, quieter versions of it every day.

It might look like someone being left out of a group.

It might sound like a joke that crosses the line.

It might feel like that pause where you know something isn't right, but you’re not sure whether to speak.

Those are the moments that matter.

Being an upstander doesn't mean being perfect, and it doesn't mean you always have the right words. Sometimes it's as simple as standing beside someone. Sometimes it's checking in afterwards, making sure someone knows they’re not alone.

And yes, there can be a cost. You might stand out, and you might worry about what others think. That’s why it takes courage. But that's also why it matters.

Because when we honour someone else's mana, we strengthen our own. We shape the kind of community we’re part of. In small but powerful ways, we decide what we stand for.

So if respect is what we believe, then being an upstander is what we do when that belief is tested.

The quote I want to leave you with is from Martin Luther King Jr, “The time is always right to do what is right.”

Thank you

Lachlan Davies

Sports Prefect