Chaplain's Chat

I recently took some time to look at the building project for the new Library, Cafeteria, and Chapel. There was a massive yellow digger working away making and moving piles of rubble, stones, and dirt; there were steel beams poking out into Quad (above some very deep holes); and in the midst of it all, the clematis vines were still flowering and the birds were still flying in and out of them. That seemed to be a good reminder of the hope and life we can hold onto in the midst of challenge!

There have been a lot of challenges this year with regard to Covid and other illnesses, and their impact on school and family life. Unlike the past two years, this year has felt more messy – a bit like the Quad! Everyone has been dealing with things at different times, with different levels of stress and sickness, and there also seems to be no clear end in sight. So how do we manage when life is like this?

The vines and the birds in Quad remind us that life always has a way of persisting, of carrying on, of overcoming any challenge. No matter what is going on in the present, we can trust that good things yet to come, be they stability and health, or new buildings and opportunities. Jesus reminded people not to worry and to always hold onto the hope of God’s provision and care:

“‘Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life,

what you will eat or what you will drink, or about your body…

Look at the birds of the air; they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns,

and yet your heavenly Father feeds them.

Are you not of more value than they?…

Consider also the lilies of the field, how they grow…

So do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring worries of its own.

Today’s trouble is enough for today.” (Matthew 6.25-34).