Dear Inner Circle,
After conducting a “celebration of life” for a wonderful man at Wayside Chapel in Bondi, I took a few moments to walk along what has to be one of the world’s most stunning coastlines for a little slice of solitude.
There was a sudden commotion, then a gasp followed by an awed silence as a pod of dolphins frolicked just offshore. In a place where phones are often trained on capturing selfies and moments of self-betrayal, for an entire minute there were no phones out, just a collective awareness of being captured by the truly awesome.
Every genuine meeting has an element of surprise. As a young parent I marvelled at how fast our children learned our good and bad habits. The bad ones stick easily, like when our then 3-year-old gave a passing car a one-word blessing, “Sh$th3ad!” (must be from Lisa).
Yet the good ones were always there too, often lurking, and emerging in delightful moments. Our kids now are on their journeys as young adults and they still consume us with worry while filling our hearts with joy as they colour this world with their unquestionably unique and beautiful energy, so different, yet so delightful. It’s beautiful to bear witness to who they are becoming as they surprise us by hosting us for feasts and inviting us over for a cuppa and a caring chat.
There are surprises of different orders; all have the power to disarm us. This week I fell into conversation with someone talking about the upcoming NRL Grand Final. We laughed at best and worst players, I confessed I never knew the skill of this game until I played touch rugby in a juvenile detention centre and was soon out of breath at the sheer magic these kids wove around me, my aching body trying to keep up.
My friend and I discussed a player who has been in the media lately for going out too late and it soon led into an unexpected and raw outpouring of grief.
“He’s my favourite player, most people hate him but one day he turned up to my house, with no cameras around, and handed me a stack of money for my daughter’s funeral.” The grief from that loss turned my friend towards meth to cope with a life that had only known pain, an avalanche of heartache that ten people couldn’t cope with all concentrated in his one life. Yet, I was captured by something awesome in this meeting. I was there, and he was there, no pretences, false ideals or illusions. Alive to the reality of our shared humanity, of our presence here together.
Wayside’s power is in our proximity to pain, and even beautiful shores can harbour deep pain. Our work continues to grow and the need for it only seems to increase. We do not grow for building an empire. Perhaps we grow because in this age where some people are busy building walls, our mission of creating a community with no ‘us and them’ captures people and speaks to a deep longing for better worlds without the artificial walls of division.
Words create our worlds, and the biggest walls can be torn down with just a whisper, “I’m here.”
Thank you for being part of the Inner Circle,
Jon
Rev. Jon Owen
CEO & Pastor
Wayside Chapel
