Chaplain's comment - Reverend Peter Rickman

Kia Kaha

Kia Hari

Kia Tapu

Kia Ora Koutou

Warm greetings to all you readers of this edition of the Informer. It seems a very long time since I last wrote an article for this publication, indeed many weeks, months, in fact, have passed since the last hard copy publication. It has been a remarkable journey for us as a nation, for our families, and for our school community. There have been some incredible opportunities presented to us through this season of “lockdown” as well as some life-changing challenges. One of the opportunities presented for us was invaluable: the gift of time. To have more time than usual to reflect upon our lives, their direction, meaning, and purpose.

To reflect well takes time. It requires us to take time out of the usual busyness and craziness of life, to step off the rollercoaster, and to just pause, ponder, think, reflect, and to be still and mindful. In other words to pray and meditate. So how was lockdown for you? What worked well and what didn’t? As we ponder these questions in this world that seems so different from the one we left behind us in early March, I am reminded of a story that I shared with the students not all that long ago.

Many years ago a young man decided to make a journey. Over time this journey became something of a pilgrimage and he travelled through many lands. He travelled through nations at war, communities in conflict, the needless suffering of so many people, and saw the variety of ordeals faced by so many people. After many years of weary travel, he came upon a house set just off the road one evening. The house looked appealing and beckoned him in. As he entered he noticed that it wasn’t really a house as such but more of a shop. Behind the counter was a shopkeeper, a person that seemed to be timeless and without gender. The traveller asked: “What do you sell here? To which the shopkeeper replied, “We sell everything here, anything your heart desires, what do you seek?” The weary traveller said: “I want a world without violence and war, a world without needless suffering, a world where people can be fed, a world where people can find the healing they need, a world where resources are shared wisely and fairly, a world where there is justice and a world where the natural world is respected and cared for”. To which the shopkeeper replied: “Oh I’m very sorry, I should have explained, we don’t sell the fruits here, for that is what you are after, but only the seeds!”

We certainly sowed some seeds in lockdown. There were many positives amongst the challenges and difficulties. Many people have commented upon the availability of more quality time for other people in their lives and families. Others used the opportunity to improve themselves physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. Nature itself seemed to enjoy the absence of excessive human activity for a season and we would’ve all have heard the stories of the return of aquatic life in some parts of the world and other such similar stories relating to air quality, pollution, and animal activity. Seeds were certainly sown in lockdown. Seeds that we need to discern and ask questions of. What were the seeds? What do we need to cultivate, to feed, to water? What can’t we afford to lose and what do we want to keep hold of?

Of course, the world will change again, it won’t look like it did pre-COVID-19 and whilst there are certain characteristics of life that seem to resurrect themselves once more, the world is different, it has changed and we have all changed too. The greatest tragedy would be to see some of those positive seeds sown during the lockdown becoming starved of our attention and to wither away as life accelerates again. So let us all keep reflecting, keep asking those questions: What do we need to keep hold of? What can’t we afford to lose?

Jesus told a parable once about how God’s will for us takes root and it has been affectionately referred to as the “Parable of the Sower” for many many seasons. It is the story of someone planting seeds or rather scattering them. Some fell on stony ground, others on a rocky path, others amongst weeds and thorns, and a few lucky ones landed on good soil. Because of where they landed most seeds withered away in the heat, some only had shallow roots, some were eaten by birds or choked by other plant life. However, some fell on good soil and were nurtured to life. Some commentators would prefer this teaching renamed the “Parable of the Soils” as the central teaching point relates to where the seed fell rather than to the actual scatterer of the seed itself.

So as we regather and regroup in this Level 1 world, let us resist the temptation to charge on into the future without reflecting and remembering the challenges and opportunities of the lockdown. Let’s consider what was planted and what needs to be allowed to flourish in these new places that we find ourselves in.

Of course, this reflection will be challenging because it involves spending time to consider the past, in order to improve and shape the future. Such mindfulness, meditation, and prayer are costly in our world ravaged by the worst kind of poverty of all; that is being poor in relation to time. Time poverty plagues us all and having just a little bit more of it recently for a season was perhaps one of the greatest blessings of the lockdown.

So let us spend time wisely. Spend time with ourselves, with our loved ones and with God.

Blessings

Rev