Wondering Pilgrim

Fifty years ago, tonight, I knelt alongside my colleagues as elders of the Federal Conference of Churches of Christ in Australia stepped forward. They laid hands upon us, ordaining us as ministers. This sacred moment marked the climax of four years of rigorous study, formation, and discernment within our live-in community.

I honed my skills in Victoria as a trainee minister in two suburban churches and one rural church. Following graduation and ordination, I served congregations across South Australia, the Australian Capital Territory, and Western Australia. In retirement, I remain actively engaged in ministry.

Today’s moment will pass with little fanfare, just a quiet toast with close friends during an impromptu weekend retreat. In Churches of Christ, we embrace mutual ministry and the priesthood of all believers. Our history, while celebrating entrepreneurial, pastoral, and innovative leadership, shuns the notion of a clergy class that separates the shepherd from the flock.

Some have remarked that our baptism is our ordination.

Yet today feels special—it is a thin moment. I am remembering the faces of countless individuals, young and old, from all walks of life, with whom I have shared significant moments of deep engagement in life’s struggles and opportunities. Each face is unique, each story distinct. Many of them are now beyond the veil, part of that great cloud of witnesses.

Fifty years ago, kneeling on that platform, I recall asking myself in trepidation, “What have I done? What now?”

Fifty years on, today, I savour the same question with gratitude, awe and a remaining reserve of expectancy.

James Baillie, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Waking up to the day that marks the middle of my seventies, the muse beckons me to a brief thematic review of each decade – its wound and its gift. So here goes!

Decade one sees a fawn emerge
Timidly testing boundaries
Seeking safe borders

Decade two summons brittle courage
Trading safety for adventure
Finally discovering a set course

Decade three packs so much in
Equipped, wedded, and set loose
To see what makes this man

Decade four lights the fire that refines
Battles fought and skirmishes won
Revealing wounds that heal

Decade five changes landscape
A vineyard to tend
Its wine rich and flavorsome

Decade six calls forth a reluctant chief
Steering tribes through daunting change
While ever seeking one’s own stability

Decade seven sees broken shards
Releasing exotic bouquets
Bringing endings that are yet beginnings

Decade eight is not what it might seem.
Service ended that yet begins
Still in the fray of battle

Each decade has its four gospel paths
Winding change, suffering, union and service
Christ’s Celtic knot!

I saw it online
Therefore, it must be worthy
According to who?

I’m conflicted – ever vigilant and vexed by the great tide of false and harmful content washing over mainstream and social media and alarmed by current legislative efforts to curb it.

It is always problematic when freedom of speech is undermined by censorship. The current bill before the Federal Parliament aims to regulate not just factual content but also opinion. Who sets the criteria?

To manage the effects of content explosion on the population, investment in training critical thinking and cultivating discernment skills is a more promising alternative to bureaucratic control of legislation.