Mission Report

by Director of Mission, Mr Geoff Brodie

English writer, philosopher, and lay theologian, G.K. Chesterton wrote about the ideal of the universal man. The universal man lives and thinks with an openness to the world, who finds nothing so small that it fails to give him pleasure, who finds nothing so great that he may not think about it, either to question or to adore.

This week sport started again at SPC. This may seem only a small thing but let us remember the joy and friendship that abounds in sport. Our boys have missed many of the opportunities taken for granted for over 120 years, and this week was another beginning towards reclaiming that heritage. Education, however, is also the invitation to expand one’s horizon to include all of God’s creation.  This week we are witnessing the unfolding tragedies of Afghanistan and Haiti – the first the horror of human violence, the latter the suffering of a natural disaster. To be human is to question the reality and meaning of both tragedies, even when they seem beyond understanding.

To place our questions as prayers is to seek the wisdom of God and is the only way we may come to understand these tragedies. Therefore, on Wednesday our day started with this prayer:

Lord God,
no one is a stranger to you
and no one is ever far from your loving care.
In your kindness, watch over the refugees and the victims of the war in Afghanistan,
especially those separated from their loved ones,
young people who are lost,
and those who must leave their home.
Bring them back safely to the place where they long to be
and help us always to show your kindness to strangers
and to all in need.
Grant this through Christ our Lord.
Amen.

And Thursday began with this prayer:

Gracious God, we pray for the victims of the earthquake in Haiti.

Lord, comfort the lives that were spared,

as we know you care for those who perished.

Please bless those who are doing everything they can to help those in need.

God of love, help the victims to have patience

and touch the hearts of the world to continue to pray for the people of Haiti.

 

May our faith sustain us in the small and big moments in life. May Christ dwell in our hearts through faith, as we are grounded in love. May we pray that God grant us the power to comprehend, with all the saints, what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that we may be filled with all the fullness of God. (c.f Ephesians 3:17-19)