Being called to Elder in the Community of Christ means many things to me.

In their 1991 book, The Edge of Adventure, Keith Miller and Bruce Larson recount a story about a traveller who is venturing across a desert when he runs out of water under a searing hot sun. The traveller is near death. Then he comes across a pump above a well that is buried deep in the sand.

I love a sunburnt country…Those words evoke a special feeling of connection for many of us, and it is almost impossible to say those words without moving on to the following lines that conjure up personal reflections of what this country means to each of us. The words from this poem “My Country” by Dorethea Mackellar, connects us to the collective conscience of Australia, no matter what part of the country you reside.

Have you noticed the wattle is in bloom? As I drove into Newcastle today the wattle blooms lined my path; the golden yellow and green standing out against the more subtle green-grey of the tall gum trees in the distance. For a moment the beauty had me transported to a place of calm and reverence and the words to the song “Cootamundra Wattle” filled my thoughts.  I felt a gentle touch of God’s healing as I listened again to the words.

I recall the experience Jeremiah had with the Lord recorded in Jeremiah 1, when he was assured that he was known by the Lord before he was even born.  At that time Jeremiah was consecrated by the Lord and was appointed to be a prophet.  Jeremiah replied to this commission by saying that he didn’t know how to speak for he was only a boy.  But the Lord promised him that wherever Jeremiah was sent, the Lord would tell him what to say.  Then the Lord put out his hand and touched Jeremiah’s mouth and said: “Now I have put my words in your mouth.”  This divine touch gave Jeremiah the authority to become a great prophet for the Lord and speak for him.

The ocean waves were pounding on the shoreline today. My puffer jacket and a hot coffee were the only things that stood between me and the icy breeze. I sat in solitude until a little bird inquisitively came to sit at my table. He looked me right in the eye almost politely asking for a crumb from my muffin. I dare not show him any favours though. The sea gulls were nearby ready to swoop at any moment if they saw any sign of weakness.

It was Mother’s Day 1983. I awoke to a chilly morning in Toronto. My mother was thousands of miles away. I had received an invitation to have lunch with a family from the congregation. In that family, there was a mother; her name was Ann.

Harry Truman ordered the dropping of the atomic bomb on August 6, 1945, and hastened the end of the war in the Pacific. When the bomb exploded, at least 150,000 people were killed or maimed. The legacy for the generations that followed has been horrendous.

Recently I came across a book with the title “I Was Just Wondering” and it reminded me of a wonderful church hymn from our current hymnbook Community of Christ Sings (“CCS”) number 176, “Teach Me God to Wonder”. You may like to look it up. This set me wondering about a number of items.

I have been associated with a number of universities for more than four decades. I have probably attended more than fifty graduation ceremonies in that time.