From our Chaplains
Walking around and speaking to the Year 12’s made me realise how pressure-filled it is for them during the trials. They weren’t too happy with their second English paper, and I assured those I met that perhaps moving on to the next exam would serve them well. Easier said than done.
So how do we keep moving forward, especially when the day has brought us news that is wearisome, or we feel like our hearts could use a paperweight either to hold our worries down or an air balloon to lift them away? Either way, the words of Jesus from this week’s chapel do help me and I hope they do the same for you.
In Luke 12: 22-23, when Jesus says to his disciples: “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; or about your body, what you will wear. For life is more than food, and the body more than clothes.” These words can offer us comfort and strength for the day. The moments of each day can sometimes be daunting depending on what is unfolding in our lives. It may be a tragic loss, an illness, or a family situation that we find difficult to talk about. God knows our heartbeat – every single one – and holds us when we cannot hold ourselves.
Special prayers for our Year 12’s as they walk through these trials; may serenity and peace be theirs. Prayers also for our Year 9’s as they go to Vision Valley for the first ever Vision Valley residential program. I am very thankful to be seeing them on Sunday so I can pray with them as they begin this journey. As I always assure our students in Chapel, I assure you today: God knows each one of us by name and loves us as if there were only one of us to love.
May Christ uphold you in His grace, and may peace be yours as you celebrate or grieve, sit with yourself or others, find strength in what you know worked the last time you had a struggle, and hopefully step into spaces where people have walked before.
Blessings, peace and love.
Reverend Punam Bent