Open Eyes, Open Heart – Church Warden Todd Harm
For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, deluded … hateful ourselves and hating one another. Titus 3:3
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I’d like to say that no one knows more about the inner workings of a car than me.
I’d like to say that … but I’d be lying. I refuel when the dashboard alert pings … and I put my vehicle in for a service when I (belatedly) realise the dealer sticker on the inside of my windscreen tells me to do so.
And yet I’m a country boy, born and bred in an era when, for many, knowing the inside workings of an automobile was a Rite of Passage into manhood and, when the V8 Supercars competition reached the round at Bathurst, you were either a “Holden Man” … or a “Ford Man”. There was no middle ground; it was one or t’other. People would passionately assume either stance, and project all sorts of colourful Australian euphemisms at the opposing camp about the security of their mental state or credibility of their lineage … but at the end of the day it was a friendly rivalry … and no one was in fear of their lives.
Fast forward to 2024. Now it seems that every sector of our society is driven towards assuming one side of a binary opposite. You’re either “for” something 100% … or against it with every fibre of your being … and every social media platform is centred around algorithms that privilege emotionality over reason, and “dislikes” over “likes”. There is no grey area … no “middle ground” where we can compromise or make concessions … just “my side” … and “your side”. Yes, there are so many conflicts that have an historical amplitude to them that cannot be easily dismissed or ignored … but there are also any manner of trivial rivalries that are now escalated beyond the level of “State vs State; Mate vs Mate” … to the point of “hating one another” (Titus 3:3).
It is astonishing how far this stance is removed from that assumed by The Golden Rule: to “love thy neighbour as thyself”. I mean really!
It was only a few weeks ago, as part of the rotation of sermons between our beloved triumvirate of Reverends – Perry, Perry and Rulfs – that Rev’d Mary-Anne challenged us with the line, “It’s not about being ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ … it’s about being in relationship.”
I’ve ruminated a great deal on this line and the more I ruminate, the more milk I produce. Sorry! The more I ruminate, the more this aphorism resonates with me. My prayer is that, as Christians, we might challenge the prevailing winds of discontent; that we are inspired to find the right words and (failing that) the right actions to encourage friends, family and colleagues alike to strive towards being in relationship … rather than winning whatever (apparently) polarising predicament in which we find ourselves.
Todd Harm
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