It is not often you get beautiful, heartfelt stories from passionate
people in our sector. We all work hard to make stories wonderful and
involving but they seem to come naturally to many Clergymen, but Rev Graham
Long bashes these out quite regularly apparently. I was forwarded this
from a member of the ‘Inner Circle’. This is a lovely, involving thank
you letter.
See what you think, and read my comments at the bottom.
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Dear Inner Circle,
Just now there was a woman
standing in front of our Op Shop. Although she had a blouse on, her arms were
not in the sleeves which caused the blouse to be worn more like a scarf,
leaving her upper body entirely exposed. As I moved toward her to see if I
could perhaps find her something to wear she bent down as if she was picking
up a baby and laid it on the seat out front. By the time I reached her, she
was nursing an invisible baby. A homeless fellow said to her, "Luv, if
you put your arms in your sleeves you'll be able to do what you're doing
without showing the world what you've got." She politely thanked the
homeless guy and put her arms in her sleeves and then resumed feeding her
invisible baby. I backed off because we had a couple of highly skilled female
staff around and they didn't need my help. As I plough through this day
however I can just imagine the kind of heartache that this dear lady has
brought to us today. I'm so thankful for so many skilful and safe pairs of
hands around here.
Robyn and I celebrated 41 years
of marriage this week and in my romantic style, I worked late on the night in
question. Yesterday at lunch, some staff members called us both up to the
roof where we found a table set for two, with candles and a menu to rival the
best restaurant in town. On the table was a card from our support team who
had decided to surprise us in this way. There are some beautiful people in
the world.
Last weekend was spent with my
Mum in a dementia ward. The ward could be called "Hogans Heroes" because
escape was on the mind of most of the residents, including my Mum. At one
stage Mum introduced me to a lady who just needed to get out to check on her
house that was quite near the nursing home. She said that a gentleman who was
a resident had a car that was just in the car park so that all I had to do
was let them out to get on with their business. The gentleman with the car
appeared with his shoes on the wrong feet which didn't give me confidence in
this particular plan. My dear Mum is well enough to know that she's locked in
but not well enough to live anywhere else. The Southern Cross Oaklands Park
Lodge in South Australia provides the most fabulous care for Mum and all of
their residents. My sister, Heather, who lives near-by, carries a heavy load
of love which she embraces like the five foot nothing giant that she is.
Thank you to the many who came to
hear the Salem International Choir from Chicago last week. I thought we'd
have a success if 200 people showed up. We had 400 seated and 160 people
standing plus the choir which was another 80 people. What a once in a lifetime
opportunity that we shared together! What an outpouring of joy and love! I
wrote to the Pastor this week saying, "I think our faith is not taught
but caught and I'm sure you left behind a pretty serious infection." I
will treasure that gift for the rest of my days.
I was talking to a woman this
morning who is living in a bus shelter. She said, "There isn't much
privacy but I have great access to public transport." Meeting the odd
saint like this helps to keep my petty whinging in check.
How glad are we to have you as
part of our inner circle? Plenty glad!
Graham
Rev Graham Long
Pastor and CEO
The Wayside Chapel
Kings Cross
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For sure, this will make you feel glad to be part of this inner
circle. I guess the technology (training, database or equipment – not
sure which) needs a little help though: My Inner Circle friend has a
name; why is it not personalised? And then it could have been great to
add a variable acknowledging whether she went to the Salem International Choir
or not.
But, is better to get a non-personalised but beautiful personal
email like this than a technically clever personalised but dull non-personal
email isn’t it? But imagine getting a fully personalised, beautiful
personal email too! I do hope the good Reverend gives some techy person a
holy tap on the shoulder to make this real!
PHOTO: Reverend Graham Long
(Thanks to Wayside Chapel for permission to reproduce the whole
letter – if you want to receive lovely emails like this become a member of the
‘inner circle’ here.)
Sean Triner
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