Billabong Tea

If I had to invent a name for an Australian tea, I might go for 'Billabong Tea'. This was indeed the name which the Pure Australian Tea Company opted for. The word is rather peculiar and refers to an ox bow lake, though it is also a famous and iconic fashion brand. The tea tastes ‘Australian’ but that is surely the power of suggestion, for Australia does not have a taste.

I wonder if 'Hallelujah' is to Christianity what Billabong is to Australia. It is a strange word with which even unbelievers are familiar and sometimes repeat in jest. I recall a group of lads shouting it to me as a teenager when I was passing their football game; because I went to church, it was the word they thought most amusing to quote. But what does it mean?

"Praise ye Jah!" or “Praise Jehovah!”

It is a word of worship which refers to God’s personal, covenantal name, and therefore not to be spoken lightly or flippantly. Billabong is a pleasant, flavoursome blend of tea, but Hallelujah is a wonderful, heartfelt expression of praise which only God's people have a genuine desire to repeat.