From the Chaplains
This week, I was moved by a beautiful poem written by two of our Junior School students,
Kindness is important
If we want to be like God then we need to be kind
because God is kind and we are too.
When we are kind the kindness comes back to us
as a mirror of kindness in our world.
(Hayley and Flora Yr 3)
Seeing Hayley and Flora regularly in Chapel and Junior Ignite, I can testify that like so many of our Pymble girls, they walk the talk. They embody kindness and respect in a myriad of ways.
This week, Junior School Chapel joined with Assembly in celebrating diversity and inclusion through highlighting Refugee Week. We heard stories from our very own Pymble students about the cost, about the strength and resilience of what it means to leave their family and home country and embark on a new life in Australia. By supporting charities like Her Village and Mahboba’s Promise, Pymble upholds its mandate to champion education for young women, reaching across the globe.
Here in Sydney, the Pymble Foundation actively supports our refugee students through covering tuition, fees, laptops, and other expenses, ensuring refugee girls can access a quality education.
In this way, in the words of Hayley and Flora, Pymble becomes God’s mirror of kindness to the world.
I am reminded of the writer to the Hebrews own words:
Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it.
(Hebrews 13:2)
Why are refugees and the power of welcome so vital to God’s heartbeat?
Because Jesus himself was a refugee. The Gospel of Matthew (Matthew 2:13-15) tells us that he was forced to flee the threat of Herod’s persecution. He was carried by Joseph and Mary to Egypt, beyond Herod’s dominion, where they would be safe from the genocide inflicted by a jealous ruler on the little boys of Bethlehem.
This forced relocation makes Jesus, and his parents, refugees in the traditional sense, as they left their homeland due to persecution.
Jesus “gets” what it means to be a refugee from his lived human experience. That’s a powerful reality for the more than 32 million refugees in our world today, a number unprecedented in recorded history.
Many of today’s 32 million refugees know viscerally what it means to awaken in the middle of the night and to flee with what little they could carry, as an angel instructed Joseph to do. To feel danger just behind them. To complete a grueling journey only to arrive in a new land and a new culture with the ongoing grief of the loss of one’s homeland. Jesus presumably lived all of that in his fully human flesh as a small child. And millions today find solace in that reality. He gets them.
Let us join our hearts in prayer,
Jesus, friend and brother,
You know how it feels to leave your home and family,
To carry nothing with you, to travel as a stranger.
Help all refugees far from home, driven out by war and hunger.
Lead them safely on.
They are our sisters and brothers.
Inspire us to show our love and a true welcome.
Help us to create space in our lives to stop and listen,
Let our day be interrupted by people who need us,
To listen with open hearts and compassionate ears,
Amen.
Blessings, from Rev Cass.