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The Anglican Church in Tasmania Search |
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a healthy church...transformingLIFE |
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August 2005 |
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Stick to your wordTo get to his place you have to drive inland from the coast through farmland, bush, past plantations new and old. Through a 70km/h corner and up around the bend. Crunch tyres up the gravel to a fixedup house, an escape-artist cow called Mignon, stacked timber, a Peterson sawmill. Will Briggs continues the story. Duncan Sproule lives here with his wife Elizabeth and young children. And here he earns his living milling specialty wood to order. We wander about a bit, checking out the Huon Pine craft logs that have just been delivered. Earlier over a hearty soup on a rainy day a winter cold cannot hide the passion. 'Almost every timber has something new or different to reveal - smell, texture, colour' he says, and then tongue in cheek, 'once you absorb the sawdust you take on the beautiful aromas and characteristics of the wood itself.' He speaks of the 'joy of satisfaction of working with your hands,' the thrill of 'going on the hunt and finding a special log destined for firewood or something and rescuing it and doing something special with it.' He tells a story of ten years ago in Byron Bay sanding back fence palings to discover that they were made of a rare and beautiful timber. His delight in timber is only matched by his Christian faith. And his faith inspires his work and his work ethic. While timber is more than 'just making a buck' a buck still has to be made, but it has to be made well. 'Stick to your word' is his catchcry. Like any other industry, he suggests, its about 'being a Christian, not just to your Lord who sees everything, but to those who associate with you; to be utterly above board even when the majority of others are not.' As a small player in the Tasmanian Timber industry I want to know if it's possible to transcend the 'timber wars.' He is familiar with the issue. 'Both sides actually want the same thing,' he argues, 'Both run on fear that the world will die, or that family heritage and jobs will be wiped out.' Both sides 'love trees - some see them as sustenance, the other as a future; as bread on the table, or as air to breathe.' There is 'fear of the unknown on both sides.' In contrast, what I see in Duncan is hope - a hope that is willing to let go, in his words, of the things that lack 'eternal consequences' and to depend on the one who has 'eternal perspective.' This hope comes alive in integrity coupled with a delight in potential - the potential of logs, of people, of churches. Does working with timber have 'eternal consequences?' I smile at his flippant answer as I drive away through the eucalypts. 'No. But it's a lot of fun!'
Photos Will Briggs, Missioner in the Parish of Burnie. |
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