Dear Inner Circle,
Last week there was a little reverse version of “Four Weddings and a Funeral” as we were involved with “Three Funerals and a Wedding and a Footy Final”. At all the gatherings there were family and friends sharing a moment to honour, celebrate and to mourn.
After the first funeral a member of our community, Marty, penned a poem in honour of a young life gone well before his time. I offer it to you here as a gift, and a reminder.
Enough
In the course of our lives
you were enough.
In the space of our foolishness and error
you were enough.
When you succeeded and were held aloft
you were enough.
In the depth of profound pain, loneliness and anguish
you were enough.
When I held you in my arms so small
you were enough.
If you disappointed and irritated
you were enough.
When care and kindness flowed
you were enough.
Failing and falling and in flight
you were enough.
In exultation and joy
you were enough.
Then despair and unloving took grip
and you were still enough.
Now silence and sadness remain
and with rasped voices we declare
You were enough.
You were always enough.
We live these lines on a daily basis – knowing that every time we open the doors there is a tangible sense that love is everywhere and everywhere in need of us, that in our hearts we know that to love means we give away our hearts, which means it is available to stretch, sometimes to breaking. That’s what they are there for.
As the rain pours down on Sydney, people in our city and across the country have been walking and fundraising their big hearts out this week in the Long Walk Home to honour people experiencing homelessness and social isolation. The weather this week has been a poignant reminder for our walkers that people living on the streets have no choice but to brave the elements and survive long stretches of rain as they hunker down in doorways and makeshift tents.
I am so grateful for our walkers for the action they’re taking to make a difference in the lives of people they’ll probably never meet. I’m grateful for the grieving mum who’s joining the walk for the third year in a row. She lost her beautiful 21-year-old son to heroin in October 2019. She shared that the walk allows her to do something positive in her son’s memory and raise funds to help others … to prevent even one loss to addiction. I’m grateful for the successful businessman who clawed his way back from alcoholism thanks to Wayside and now spends his days helping others. And I’m grateful for Byron – our enthusiastic visitor and Long Walk Home ambassador – who has spoken so bravely this week about his struggle to survive and his path back to health.
My heart grows whenever I think about all our walkers. If you can spare just the cost of hot coffee this week, you could help us reach those sleeping rough in some of the most difficult circumstances. Please share some love and donate to Byron to make sure people like him get access to the love and support that turned his life around.
I am always so grateful for you all, my precious Inner Circle. I know I have asked a lot of you these last few weeks, and I promise I won’t again for a little while. If you have already given, please accept my deepest thanks.
Thank you for being part of our Inner Circle.
Rev. Jon Owen
CEO & Pastor
Wayside Chapel
