Chaplains’ Chat

This week marks National Reconciliation Week throughout Australia. It is a week where we can reflect on relationships and indeed seek further reconciliation between First Nations people and wider Australia. To reconcile is really to foster and deepen friendly relationships with people. There are many relationships in life that seem to run smoothly with close connections and ties to one another. Other relationships might be more difficult, and indeed, reconciliation can appear almost impossible.

As we thought about reconciliation in Chapel this week and having been reminded that we are all made in God’s image, one of the keys of this is how we are made for relationships. Not only with each other, but also with God. We all know of many powerful and strong relationships that we have with people, and yet, sadly, there will be relationships that are fractured and difficult. When this occurs, any sort of restoration will involve one of the people taking steps of reconciliation towards the other. Perhaps that will be seen with a word of apology, or perhaps it will be a word of encouragement. Either way, there is a need for some sort of acceptance of this to restore the relationship. This may not always be easy. The Bible gives us a wonderful reminder that God himself brings about reconciliation with us, and he calls us to do the same with those around us. As 2 Corinthians 5:18 says: “All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation.” We are called to be people who hold up relationships as important, and we want to deepen and foster these relationships that we have with all people.

Rev Anthony Benn
Chaplain