Dear Inner Circle,
Last weekend, in a backyard out in Western Sydney, I was honoured to be invited to christen 14 more people into the family of humanity. After the ceremony, we realised that the number was actually 15, as one of the kids’ mates got caught in the backwash! It was a joyous time and was all made possible through the love of one of the strongest women I know. She started out as a teen mother, who still went on to graduate high school. Then, she met someone who she thought was the love of her life, and they had more children. Life was good, but sadly what seemed too good to be true turned out to be just that. He was imprisoned, and she went downhill fast. Full of shame, she turned to substances to cope spending the next decade and a half in and out of self-destructive relationships and prison. Yet, she always managed to provide love and care for her children.
During this time, she was too ashamed to look into her own mother’s eyes, so she avoided her. However, after two years of sobriety, she found herself in that backyard, reunited with her mother. They reconnected just in time for her mum to receive a terminal brain cancer diagnosis. Now she has moved in to care for her in her final weeks and is arranging to fulfil her mother’s final wish – to christen all her grandchildren (plus an extra!).
It is dangerous to take a snapshot of a person’s life and call it the entire movie. Had we freeze-framed this woman’s life at various points, it would only feed judgment, condemnation, and despair. She, like you and me, is far more than a series of moments. It is just as risky to take a snapshot of our nation and assume it’s the whole story, as it is to judge an entire movie based on one frame. Martin Luther King Jr. reminded us just before he was assassinated that the moral arc of the universe is long, and it bends toward justice. “Take heart”, a mate, and community elder, told me this week. For many people, it feels like the end of the world, but for him it was just another Saturday night. He is hopeful that action is coming.
Many of us are feeling a little down at the state of the world, and I was on the train with my head bowed when I realised I was sitting next to two new faces who have found themselves at Wayside, and we were all headed there. They had just been busking and were coming in for a meal. “I love the food at Wayside; please thank your chefs. The thing you don’t realise you miss when you’re sleeping rough is the love found in a home-cooked meal, and when I get a plate there, it reminds me of home.” Sometimes the universe sends the right angels at the right times to whisper hope back into weary bones and fill them once again with life to walk on.
Thank you for being part of our Inner Circle,
Jon
Rev. Jon Owen
CEO & Pastor
Wayside Chapel
P.S Hats off to the extraordinary people who took the 28km Long Walk Home this month. Your determination and compassion breathe life and hope into weary souls living on the streets. With your support (and epic fundraising), we can keep offering unconditional love and care to our community. Thank you!
