From the Chaplains
The Black Dot
“In ordinary life we hardly realise that we receive a great deal more than we give, and that it is only with gratitude that life becomes rich.” -Dietrich Bonhoeffer
One sunny spring day, in a school quite like this, a professor asked her students to prepare for a surprise test.
The students waited anxiously for the test to begin, they had not prepared anything!
The professor handed out the question paper with the text facing down as always, and then asked the students to begin.
To everyone’s surprise, there were no questions, just a black dot somewhere around the bottom of the page.
The professor then said, “I want you to write about what you see there.”
The students were a little confused but got started on the task.
At the end of the class, the professor collected all the papers and started reading each one of them aloud to her students.
All of them, without exception, described the black dot, trying to explain its position on the paper, its shape and colour.
Once she had finished reading she explained, “I am not going to grade you on this. I just want to give you something to think about.”
No one write about the white part of the paper. Everyone focused on the back dot.
In our lives, its easy to focus on the black dot isn’t it? Our life is a gift, our breath is a gift, this day is a gift. We have so many reasons to celebrate, yet we focus on the dark spots of our lives. The opportunities that we miss out on, the speed that we don’t have, the friendships that aren’t ours, the beauty or lifestyle that is someone else’s.
These spots are actually very small parts of our lives but spoil our minds. She challenged her students to look away from the dark spots, to look at and name the blessings already in their lives. The gift of each moment, the gift of each other, the gift of today.
The Prophet Habakkuk was writing during a period political volatility, unpredictable weather patterns devastating livelihoods and emptying dinner tables. Yet he holds onto hope and thanksgiving, saying
16 I heard and my heart pounded,
my lips quivered at the sound;
decay crept into my bones,
and my legs trembled…
17 Though the fig tree does not bud
and there are no grapes on the vines,
though the olive crop fails
and the fields produce no food,
though there are no sheep in the pen
and no cattle in the stalls,
18 yet I will rejoice in the Lord,
I will be joyful in God my Savior.
Knowing the ‘black dot’ was ever present, but choosing to draw is glance wider to a new day, he sung to that which was constant, his God. He did not look with rose-coloured glasses, rather, he magnified his focus on that which was good, constant and hope-filled. May each of us magnify that which is hope-filled, enchanting and good, even as we walk in the awareness of our ‘black dots.’
Let me pray a Blessing by Indigenous Elder Francis Bodkin
May you always see the beauty of the Earth.
May you always taste the sweetest fruit.
May you always hear the laughter of the People.
May you always feel the warmth of the Flame.
May you always smell the perfume of the flowers.
May you dreams always be happy ones.
May your friends always be with you when you have need.
May your stomach always be full.
Amen .
Reverend Cass Blake
College Chaplain