From the Chaplains
This week I was chatting with some of our senior students about a popular Netflix series, particularly talking about the broken friendship between two of the characters, Penelope and Eloise. It got me thinking about the power of letting go. The healing power of forgiveness in friendships.
Someone wise once said, “Forgiveness is a sign that the person who has wronged you means more to you than the wrong they have dealt.”
It reminded me of a story that I heard earlier that day.
Two good friends were walking along the beach one day when they had a quarrel, one of them betrayed the confidence of the other. The friend who felt wronged, felt pain, and wrote on the sand: “Today my best friend betrayed me.”
The two friends decided to swim in the water when suddenly the one who betrayed her friend, started to sink, but her friend saved her.
When she regained consciousness, she wrote on the stone: “Today my best friend saved my life.”
The other friend, asked her, “When I hurt you, you wrote on the sand and now you are writing on the stone. Why?”
Her friend answered, “When someone hurts us, we should write it on the sand, so that the wind can erase it. But when someone does something good for us, we must engrave it on the stone, so that the wind can not erase it.
Our Pymble community is knit together by thousands of interconnected friendships. Sometimes letting go of pain will mean letting go of people from our lives because boundaries and self-respect are important. Sometimes letting go will mean forgiveness and reconciliation. Because true friendships are worth it. Forgiveness is a sign that the person who has wronged you means more to you than the wrong they have dealt.
Colossians 3:12-14
Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.
A Prayer
Father, you are the provider of all good things.
We thank you for the blessing of friends who love us, who share our joys and sorrows, who laugh with us in celebration, and who need us as we need them. We thank you for the friends who give us the freedom to be ourselves. Help us to always be a friend to others, no matter who they are. Help us let go, where we must go. Give us the grace to forgive and generosity of heart to let others near. Fortify our friendships in resilience, kindness and care. Amen.
Holy Communion and a time of Prayer
All staff and parents are warmly invited to join the College Chaplains in the War Memorial Chapel at Pymble for a short service of Holy Communion, followed by a time of prayer for our school community and our world.
Date: Friday 14 June
Time: 7.45am to 8.15am, followed by tea and coffee
RSVP: Email Fiona van Horen, Pymble Parent Prayer Group at vanhorencf@bigpond.com (or just turn up!)
The Uniting Church believes in an open table. All are welcome, no matter your faith or church background. Gluten-free wafers available.
Cass Blake
College Chaplain