My Swine Flu Experience
In a few weeks I am off to China so I thought I had better get a swine flu injection – you know northern hemisphere winter and all that stuff! So bright eyed and bushy tailed – I turned up at the Ipswich Health Department Plaza attempting to be the first appointment at 9.00 am. My thinking is that if I get in first the nurse giving the injection is also bright eyed and bushy tailed rather than the opposite at the end of a long day! Plus I hate waiting.
I arrive and follow the signs – now I am talking signs – there is no way you could miss where you have to go and when you arrive what you have to do. Obviously this is a tried pathway. There must have been at least half a dozen signs telling you what to do. ‘Take a seat – fill in the green form on the table and wait for someone to collect you’ – so that is what I do!
As I wait a couple appears – they look at the signs – go to the wrong place – come back out – go to a second wrong place then come and stand in front of me. Directly in front of me they read one of the signs again then attempt to go to a third wrong place. Returning quickly they again stand in front of me – I am about to say something and one of them says to me – ‘What do we do mate – you got any idea?’
I hand then one of the ‘green’ forms and tell them to fill it out and take a seat! The young man says to me – ‘Are these the forms the sign says to fill out?’ I politely say, ‘yes’. The nurse appears and the man asks her, ‘Are these the forms the sign says to fill out’ – she points to the sign and says ‘Yes – they are the only ones there.’
I can’t help a smile. Little interactions like this always take my fancy – I often watch these situations with great interest – a silent spectator viewing life’s moments from the sideline.
It’s a bit like life isn’t it? Well that’s what I thought! We can be told something many times over but often it takes someone to lead us. Someone who is close to us to guide us – a friend we trust, a fellow pilgrim, one who has been that way before or taken the path before us. One who when we are unsure even though the course of action seems clear to all around gently counsels us in the right direction.
Everything made sense to the couple when I handed them the right form – isolated walks in life are just so lonely aren’t they?
I had the injection – walked out – smiled at the couple and thought no one was meant to walk this life alone!
Ipswich
1860 – 2010 – 150 years – Ipswich the city I call home is going to celebrate 150 years since it, as a municipality, was gazetted on March 3, 1860. Now the city itself is older than that but next year the city will celebrate.
I am the great grandson of a Welsh coal miner who migrated to Ipswich at the age of 14 without his parents to start a new life. He did what his father did before him – he mined coal. He had fourteen children, one of which he lost in the bowels of the West Morton coal mines. His life was lived in the city of Ipswich.
It was the same for my grandfather who was a businessman, local Councilor, Deputy Mayor, and later in life a Minister of a local church. And my father was an electrician, medical practitioner, and local politician of this city. With that heritage how can I not love this city? How can I not be saturated with the virtues of community? How can I not have running deep within my veins a heartfelt passion for the city of Ipswich to be all that it was destined to be?
I can truly say I am a ‘son of the city’. I am born and breed in Ipswich; I live and work here by choice. There is a deep sense of calling in my life that binds me to this city and will continue to bind me to this city.
So there are now five generations of my family, which have lived in this city.
The Mayor Paul Pisasale has included me in a group to help plan the celebrations so I am really delighted to do this.
As I sit here typing this blog memories of this city flood into my mind and I reminded about that the bible says that God determined the times set for us and the exact places where we should live.
I am so glad that for me the choice was Ipswich.
Rocky Horror Road Show
An ambulance, siren blazing goes past my office – then a fire engine followed by a police car – all sirens going. What is going on – curiosity has got the better of me? I leave my office – walk outside and then I see it. The stark reality of a car crash is certainly very confronting even if it is staged.
Every year at our church over a thousand Grade 12 students come to the Rocky Horror Road Show. A joint emergency services Year 12 School Leavers Harm Minimization Initiative – everyday demonstrates the reality of what can take place where young people, drugs, alcohol, and cars combine to form a fatal attraction. This is especially relevant as many of the young people at this educational day will be part of end of school celebrations.
So before my eyes was a staged crash – appearing very real – teenagers in a crashed car – even the blood looks real – one teenager killed another badly injured – two others hysterical – ambulance and fire officers cutting the car open to free the victims – police interviewing the driver – all this in front of a memorized crowd of potential school leavers.
The message of ‘Don’t be a statistic!’ is driven home in the most dramatic way.
Ipswich District Crime Prevention Coordinator and project manager Sergeant Nadine Webster said all emergency services wanted to deliver a lasting message to young people. It certainly did that for me and no doubt in my mind it does it for the onlooking young people as well.
I thought again how a picture says a thousand words – as a communicator I stood there and again realized the power of a picture. How do I utilize this vivid experience in how I communicate? Sometimes I wonder if too many words are used in so many situations of life including my communication when all that is need is a picture.
Word Association
I was at a conference this week where one of the speakers was Steve Murrell who is the Senior Pastor of Victory Church in Manila, Philippines, a director of the Real Life Ministries and the co-founder and president of Every Nation, a worldwide family of churches and ministries.
He played a word association test with the delegates – you know what I mean – say a word and then what do you associate it with!
So here it was!
Gloria Jeans – coffee – did you get that one?
Holden – cars
Rolex – watches
Fosters – beer
Harley Davidson – Motor bikes
Church?
Wow – what would you say? Now no doubt you would something and you may well be right but would it be as clear as some of the above?
His answer made me really think. Steve Murrell said that when we say church the word association MUST be disciples.
He went to say that we are not called to build the church – Jesus has that role. We are called to make disciples. Food for thought I think!
The Crowd
I haven’t blogged for quite a while – went on holidays – got busy but really no excuses. It wasn’t as if there wasn’t anything to write about but I wanted to feel passionate about something, then I find writing is so easy.
Well that’s what happened!
I was reading my devotions this morning – in fact it is one of my favourite parts of the bible. It is Luke 15 when Jesus tells the story about the lost sheep, loss coin and lost son.
How many times have I read it yet something was different this morning?
At the very start of this story the writer identifies who was in the audience that Jesus spoke to.
‘Tax collectors and other notorious sinners often came to listen to Jesus teach. This made the Pharisees and teachers of religious law complain that he was associating with such sinful people—even eating with them!’
I laugh every time I read this – ‘notorious sinners’ what is a notorious sinner? What a unique expression! And then he ate with them – oh no! I’m smiling as I type.
These people felt safe with Jesus – they listened to what Jesus had to say – there were multitudes of people who thought Jesus had something worthwhile to say. They listened!
It prompted me to think whether these people would feel safe at the church I pastor.
Would they want to come and then stay?
Would they be judged?
Would they feel safe?
Would they think I had something worthwhile to say and equally worth listening to
I wonder how many of us judge others by, perhaps, their conduct, their clothes, their looks, their attractiveness, their lifestyle and the list goes on.
Jesus never judged people yet provided an environment where they would come and listen to what he had to say.
My mind goes to the crowd again – I would have loved to walk through that crowd – again I am laughing out loud just thinking about it!
