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Tasmanian Anglican

June 2003

 

The daily discipline of mending

An address on the fourth Sunday of Easter at Saint David's Cathedral by Stuart Blackler, Dean of Hobart

 

 

The headmaster responded to a staff request for a meeting about the pastoral care of the boys of the school, and decided to open the meeting himself, [heads are allowed to make unilateral decisions] and present a paper. The paper was somewhat unexpected from a man who never gave a verbal display of piety. It was also compelling because of its familiarity. His paper consisted largely of one Scriptural passage with a few comments ñ John 1:11 ñ 18, one of the great seven 'I ams' of John's Gospel: 'I am the Good Shepherd.'

Christ-mandate

There, was what today would be called the paradigm of pastoral care ñthe Good Shepherd who know his own and is known by them, the Good Shepherd who would do everything to protect his sheep.

It is always powerful to go to something familiar and, T.S. Eliot-like, to see it for the first time. If we are thinking about the obligations of the care and protection of others, here it all is in the story of the Good Shepherd. We are thinking about love in action, not only a Christian principle but a Christ-mandate, put directly by the writer of the 1 John 3:18: 'Little children, let us love, not in word or speech, but in truth and action.'

What, then, might this entail?

Just about everything really; but there is one relevant application of the instruction.

Speaking recently at Trinity Wall Street in New York, the Archbishop of Canterbury summarised some of the rules laid down by Saint Benedict: his way of the 'daily discipline of mending.'

Partner words

Here is a primary Christian focus, shared with other faiths and all who have a humanist conviction. The message of the Judaeo-Christian tradition and the necessary conviction of all the caring professions is that the mending of broken lives is possible because the mending between people and God has been achieved. This is the great message of the Passover, this is the great message of Easter. The restoration to health effected by love inspired by Jesus Christ.

Mending has its partner words: redemption, wholeness, salvation. This is love's re-establishing broken lives and fractured relationships, as intimate as family and as extensive as nations. But it is not so easy: the wholeness brought through Christ went through the suffering of the Cross.

Regardless of cost

The heart and the head are not always in harmony. Forgiveness and acceptance can come at a price of injustice. The pressure of choosing between protecting the mending institution which makes redemption possible, and bringing about that redemption regardless of cost to the institution can be unbearable.

We need a little more to heed Jesus' words of being cautious in our judgments. People are very good at keeping their heads down when others are in the firing line. There should always be wariness of being prepared to judge without being prepared to expose ourselves to the same process.

Fullness

There is a daily discipline of mending, daily because it is always before us; discipline because it is a non-negotiable obligation. The only criterion in that mending is love, unqualified respect for the other. People who profess a faith in God have no choice but to be the professional lovers of the world, the major agents for healing, the champions of mending and restoration.

To seek and find the grace to fulfil that apostolate is grave, is necessary for our own fullness of lifeóbut also brings rewards which makes our being reflective of Christ himself, the Good Shepherd, to whom, with the Creator and the Enthuser, we ascribe all honour, now and for ever. Amen.

This is an edited version of the Dean's address