From the Chaplains
New Beginnings
As I enter this new year, 2024, I have been thinking a lot about the word ‘unprecedented’ and found wonder in the fact that there has never been a year such as the one we have entered. This year is fresh and new. A clean slate. There are new songs about to be written, new works of art about to be painted, new records in speed and strength about to be broken; the year of 2024 is indeed ‘unprecedented.’
On 1 January 2024 I sat in my local coffee shop, opening a fresh new journal page, when a favourite quote came to mind: “Don’t get stuck on one version of you. There are so many beautiful versions of you still to come.” These words ring true for each of us, there are so many more versions of us to be drawn out in experiences, travels, struggles and joys in 2024.
For me in particular, the year of 2024 marks a new season in my life as I join the Pymble family, along with Reverend Mark Sweeney, as the new chaplains. I am a Sydney girl through and through. For the past 25 years I have served in local churches as a pastor, ordained by the Baptist Church. I particularly enjoy being in environments of learning and growth, having also spent the best part of my adult life either studying (BA Ancient History + Master of Divinity +PhD) or teaching in universities. So it is with great excitement that I join the ever-expanding environment that is Pymble Ladies’ College.
Reverend Mark and I have been overjoyed by the warm arms of welcome we have received from staff, parents and students. We are extremely proud to be a part of the Pymble story and look forward to seeing our students flourish. I had the joy of speaking to many of our new students this week. We spoke about new beginnings and change. I invited our girls to reflect on one of my favourite passages from the Old Testament:
Ecclesiastes 3: 1-5, 9-11.
There is a time for everything,
and a season for every activity under the heavens:
2 a time to be born and a time to die,
a time to plant and a time to uproot,
3 a time to kill and a time to heal,
a time to tear down and a time to build,
4 a time to weep and a time to laugh,
a time to mourn and a time to dance,
5 a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,
…….
9 What do workers gain from their toil? 10 I have seen the burden God has laid on the human race. 11 He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end.
This passage describes two certainties in life change: change is inevitable for all, yet God is constant. God is God in all seasons. In Malachi 3:6 we read “I am the Lord, I change not!” Like the changes of seasons that mark our weather systems, each of us experiences seasons of change. From changing hairstyles, fashion, friendship to careers, our lives are ever changing. Indeed, doctors tell us that 330 billion cells in the human body change each day!
Having grown up next to the bush I have seen how the seasons transform our environment. I had an old gumtree in my backyard that l loved to climb as a child and was heartbroken when it died and had to be cut down. As the chainsaw cut through the tree’s core, I recall being mesmerised by the pattern of the tree’s lines, a series of concentric circles marking each year the tree’s life. In the years of rainfall and sunny skies the tree’s rings were thick and lush, in the years of dry conditions or sickness, its lines are thinner. These rings told the tree’s story. Each season witnessed in this way, like a unique fingerprint.
In many ways we are like those trees, it is no accident that we are planted here, in this school, and on this planet. Each of us is planted here for a purpose. Each of us is unique- no tree’s story is the same – each have its own characteristics, its own story.
Like trees, much of our story is result of their environment, the atmosphere that we absorb from around us. Pymble is our eco system- the environment in which we have been planted to thrive and flourish. There will be seasons of change, but to remember that you are surrounded by teachers, parents and friends who champion your growth! I challenged the students to absorb strength, purpose and joy from their friends. To posture themselves around those who will see you thrive. I called upon them to commit to each other’s growth. Because when I thrive, you thrive with me. And when you thrive, I thrive with you!
May you prosper and flourish this year. May he make you beautiful in this season.
Reverend Cass Blake
College Chaplain