OSCA Chaplain
A TRIP WITH A THEME OF
BEING WITH PEOPLE
ROAD TRIP WEAVES GOLDEN THREADS
CHRISTINE BRADBEER , GRAHAM BRADBEER , PRISCILLA AND DR BRIAN CONNOR (’ 56 )
T ’ was not the night before Christmas in July , but before my 54th wedding anniversary . Stressed , I called on the services of ChatGPT to generate me a poem for Christine .
I had hoped for something along the lines of Shakespeare ’ s Sonnet 116 . Disappointed at the first AI result , and having just finished Malcolm Guite ’ s brilliant book Mariner , I gave up on a sonnet . This time I asked ChatGPT for a poem with the metre of The Rime of the Ancient Mariner . This resulted in something workable , which briefly edited , was surprisingly OK , and was very much appreciated .
The next day after church we took off on our 54th anniversary 3500 km road trip . The theme we had chosen was being with ; being with people more than being in beautiful places , although we enjoyed many beautiful places ! We aimed at being with family , and being with friends , old and new .
Around that time I was reading The Nazareth Manifesto , one of Sam Wells ’ books . His contention is that the word with is arguably the most important word in the Bible . The great desire of God is to be with us . To achieve this he came to be for us at Calvary , so that ultimately we might be with him , and in the words of the Shorter Catechism ‘ enjoy him forever ’.
Can you think of places in the Bible where being with is emphasised ?
You could start in Genesis , but begin at Christmas , with Immanuel . Then consider the majestic prologue of John ’ s Gospel , or the Great Commission that concludes Matthew ’ s Gospel , or the end of Revelation .
Once you think about ‘ with ’, it is inescapable . Wells says ‘ there is no job that humanity has to do beyond accepting the invitation to that restored relationship with God and with one another ’.
These two relationships are summarised by Jesus as love for God and love for our neighbour ; there is no commandment greater than these in the Bible .
It is from this spring that Christian ethical and moral concerns arise . We treat others lovingly because we can discern , even in the stranger , ‘ the image of God ’. It is seeing that divine ‘ image ’ in the stranger , that awakens grace , mercy and joy in our hearts .
This is why ‘ service to others is a gift to oneself ’ as Dion Whitfield , our School Captain , has correctly observed . Acts of service yield untapped blessings ; it is The Way of the Lord ( as Luke records in Acts ), for He came ‘ to serve and to give himself ’.
With such ideas buzzing in my head I found every human contact infused with fresh meaning .
The time with Sydney grandchildren was a triple delight . Especially the gift of a ( six hours , 19 minutes ) Taylor Swift playlist carefully curated for us by a granddaughter . Then , heading north , old friends shared courage , wisdom and grace as we called to visit .
In NSW , time with friends in Yamba , and worshipping God with them in Maclean on Sunday was uplifting in unexpected ways . Then in Armidale on the Northern Tablelands we enjoyed the rich hospitality of friends who had welcomed us to town in 1972 .
We also had a meal for the first time with Brian Connor (’ 56 ) and Priscilla . Brian is the doctor who in the 1970s delivered our three daughters . That lunchtime conversation exposed many golden threads . We parted , delighted to have been with them , sensing much to be done , but confident in the One who said ‘ I will never leave you , nor forsake you ’.
REV . GRAHAM BRADBEER – OSCA CHAPLAIN
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