From the Chaplaincy

Hugh van Cuylenburg, author of ‘The Resilience Project: Finding Happiness Through Gratitude, Empathy & Mindfulness’, volunteered at a school for underprivileged children in Northern India. It was, for him, a life-changing experience. In his own words:

“The L-shaped mud-brick school rose unremarkably out of the hard, dry Himalayan desert plain. It was a fairly basic institution; most classrooms had only one table and one chair for the teachers, while the students sat on the dirt floor. 

The principal assigned four of the Year 3 students to show me around the school grounds. The first stop – the thing they were most eager to show me – was the play equipment. Never before had I beheld such a depressing sight in a school playground. The ‘equipment’ comprised a swing set and a seesaw . . . rusted and dilapidated. 

My little tour guides stood in front of this haphazard tangle of useless metal and jerked their thumbs at it. ‘Hey sir,’ they said, ‘look at this.’ It took me a moment to realise they were in fact saying, ‘Hey sir, how cool is this set-up?’ They were excited and proud to show me their amazing play equipment. The kids absolutely loved it. They didn’t need it to work the way it had been designed to; they invented different games to play on it, including swinging on the rusty chains or just hanging on them for as long as they could . . . They radiated happiness.”

I read this book from cover to cover. It was un-put-downable. It was profound. It was inspiring. It made me feel very humble. More than once, my eyes welled up with tears as Hugh painted a picture of that remote village, so lacking in material possessions, yet so enriched with gratitude, positivity and contentment. It made me think of our own beautiful Huntingtower. By contrast, despite our play equipment having been swallowed up within the recently erected construction barricades, and despite our play space having diminished considerably in size,  we still have tracts of green lawn, towering trees, and tastefully landscaped areas. 

Hugh hit the nail on the head when he described what is typically provided for our students in most Melbourne schools. In his words:

“We have basketball courts, synthetic ovals, all kinds of sporting equipment, the classrooms have carpets and chairs for the kids, heaters and air-conditioners and dozens of taps with water in them. We have electricity with lights you can turn on and off, laptop computers and these amazing things called ‘smartboards’.”

A contrast, indeed, compared to that ‘unremarkable, L-shaped mud-brick school’,  that was nevertheless so cherished by its students. In Hugh’s words, “Gratitude begins with focusing on the things we have, not the things we don’t have.”

From Hymn 249, v. 2 - Our gratitude is riches, complaint is poverty. 

So, let’s magnify the good with which we are blessed. Let’s appreciate the abundance which surrounds us. Let gratitude be front and centre of our thought, for it is the recognition and acknowledgement of ‘good’ that unfold happiness and contentment in our experience. 

As we anticipate our long-awaited ‘winter holiday’ we leave you with these thoughts:

My presence shall go with you, and I will give you rest. ... I will make all My goodness pass before you. Exodus 33:14, 19

The Chaplaincy Team