{"id":16483,"date":"2024-02-28T11:14:29","date_gmt":"2024-02-28T00:14:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thebuzz.net.au\/shore-weekly-record\/?post_type=article&#038;p=16483"},"modified":"2025-05-15T13:48:15","modified_gmt":"2025-05-15T03:48:15","slug":"chaplains-chat-48","status":"publish","type":"article","link":"https:\/\/www.thebuzz.net.au\/shore-weekly-record\/article\/chaplains-chat-48\/","title":{"rendered":"Chaplains&#8217; Chat"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>We live in a world where we are constantly reminded that we should be free<em>. The Soup Dragons <\/em>(yes, back in the 1980s and 90s) sang a fairly catchy tune with the lyrics: \u2018<em>I\u2019m free to do what I want any old time<\/em>.\u2019 Freedom Furniture uses this in its advertising. Apple Music has used Pharrell Williams and his song \u2018<em>Freedom<\/em>\u2019, while Fitbit uses the song \u2018<em>Set Me Free<\/em>\u2019 in their promotions. It seems that we are all encouraged to be free in life. While initially sounding like a good thing (I could be free from the constraints of a work environment or deadlines or responsibilities), on closer reflection, would it actually be a good thing to \u2018do what I want any old time?\u2019 One such problem with this general line of thinking is that we certainly don\u2019t live in isolation from others in this world, and doing whatever I want will often impact those around me and the relationships I have (and quite likely in a negative way).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As we look through the School\u2019s New Testament reading in Chapel this Term, Peter writes in 1 Peter 2:16 to remind his listeners: &nbsp;\u201c<em>Live as free people,&nbsp;but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil;&nbsp;live as God\u2019s slaves.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In the wider context of the Roman empire at the time, some historians suggest that upwards of one third of the population was in slavery. In those days, people knew well about masters and slaves! Some of this slavery was, of course, of a brutal and harsh nature, and who wouldn\u2019t want to be free from that, while other slaves were reasonably well looked after. However, they were still slaves! Peter writes to Christians at this time and reminds them that whether they were under an earthly master as slaves or not, their true Master was in heaven, and He has actually given them freedom. This freedom is also for us a freedom to follow God and serve him. But certainly not to \u2018do what I want\u2019 but to do good, to love and serve others around us, in the same manner that Jesus has done for us. What a great Master indeed to follow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Rev. Anthony Benn<\/strong><br>Chaplain&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>We live in a world where we are constantly reminded that we should be free.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":7893,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","article_category":[20],"article_tag":[],"class_list":["post-16483","article","type-article","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","article_category-chaplaincy"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thebuzz.net.au\/shore-weekly-record\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article\/16483","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thebuzz.net.au\/shore-weekly-record\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thebuzz.net.au\/shore-weekly-record\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/article"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thebuzz.net.au\/shore-weekly-record\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16483"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thebuzz.net.au\/shore-weekly-record\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7893"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thebuzz.net.au\/shore-weekly-record\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16483"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"article_category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thebuzz.net.au\/shore-weekly-record\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article_category?post=16483"},{"taxonomy":"article_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thebuzz.net.au\/shore-weekly-record\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article_tag?post=16483"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}