Wash-outs And Wedding Anniversaries
Well over fifty people were expected at a Quiet Day at the Alternative Adventure outdoor centre at Woodford - home of the famous folk festival. The plan was for Judy and Rod to drive me there on Friday. But a storm, described on TV as ‘highly dangerous’, engulfed us. 277mm of water fell in two hours. Three people were killed on nearby roads. We delayed two hours. Rod, tracking every detail and direction on his smart phone, decided we could get there. We did. Jeanette, the Vicar of Woodford and Kilcoy, collected me early Saturday. The flooded roads were closed until a bridge-checking engineer gave the all-clear. We detoured, splashing through minor roads. Cancellations flowed in. The bishop rang Jeanette to see if she and her flock were safe. We arrived at our venue. No one else was there. I half joked ‘Let’s wait and only begin if we get twelve – like Jesus’ twelve disciples’. Two ladies came down from their mountain homes. Another drove two hours from Toowoomba, which was outside the flood area. Seven nearby locals dribbled in. So the twelve disciples plus a very late arrival spent a wonderful day. The sun came out. So did God. And I noted down from the centre's leadership training board: 'Those who lead others must first learn to lead themselves'. Next day people said 'We just assumed it was cancelled'.
I preached twice on Sunday, at Kilkoy and Woodford on 'A life-giving way for the rest of our lives', but the star that shone through these days was the wedding anniversary: Marg and Neil Pearson's. Neil has terminal cancer. Marg is in treatment for it. They are so used to caring for others and walking humbly with God that there's not a trace of negativity. Their daughter, with her three children, has moved in to their one spare room to be the carer. Yet Rod and Judy, myself and Jeannette (who laid her second husband to rest only five weeks ago) were invited to celebrate an evening meal in their home, and a hotel anniversary meal with many relatives. They renewed their vows in the service at which I preached. They still have a community shop, arts centre and weekly café which Marg inherited from her mum, Thellie. It's called Thellie's Place.https://www.facebook.com/pages/Thellies-Place/511768968933091 And there I had a bed all to myself! In the evening we met the extended family and friends at a celebration in an open air eating place. It was there that I learned it was Rod and Judy's wedding anniversary too. So I signed and gave them my last copy of 'Hilda of Whitby'
I arose in the morning bemused by the fiddle faddle of changing plans. The May 18-22 Wilderness Retreat in Boorabbin National Park WAA (www.kooraretreat.com) has long been fully booked, but now a group has cancelled. There's room for you if you want an adventure. I think this may be the spiritual equivalent of extreme sports. Judy Kennedy is now coming to lead a session on Creating Celtic Prayers. A voice inside me says 'Be still and I will speak''.
