Message from the Chaplain

Jesus prayed; “I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world. My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them...” (Jn17:14-15)

People in the city escape to the country. Country people escape to the coast. People everywhere like to escape from where they are to somewhere that they are not. This isn’t anything new; the travel industry depends upon people’s desire for escape. Interestingly, when I read verses from John’s Gospel, it appears that people of the 1st century CE felt similarly.

I wonder, what on earth did John’s community want to escape from? They had no technology, no traffic, no white noise and no pollution to speak of. But maybe that isn’t the point. Religious faith can intensify a desire to escape. If one has to continually defend one’s faith, justify one’s beliefs, argue for the existence of God and stand in the face of ridicule, the notion of escape can be most appealing. Maybe John’s community wanted to be a solely Christian community; to be safe in sameness.

My notion of escape is shaped by Australia’s multicultural identity. I desire to escape from arguing ‘love of God and love of neighbour’. I yearn for a diverse community that is united by a vision of love and respect irrespective of beliefs. Imagine if people were respectful of divergent opinions and were open to learning from the other; if people treated the other with dignity despite our being different to them and their being different to us. Imagine if there was no ‘them’ and ‘us’, but simply ‘us’.

As an aside, did you know that countries with religious diversity are less likely to experience acts of terror? Countries in which the ‘other’ is respected for who they are rather than observed for who they are not, are even less likely to experience violence. It makes sense.

Having glimpsed a vision of what is holy and good, the human spirit seeks less from the temporary satisfactions of the world and instead seeks that which gives peace and rest to the soul. People no longer seek superiority over another but seek equality of all. John’s Gospel has Jesus acknowledging the temptation to ‘leave the world’; not death, but escaping from one’s reality. Jesus prays; ‘I’m not asking that you take them out of the world, but that you protect them in the world’. He tells us to be ‘in the world but of the world’. The vision of what is holy and good serves purpose to the world.

The challenge before us is to not allow the world to shape our understanding of our self. We are more than our homes, our ethnicity, financial independence or prestige. We all know the impact of the media, especially social media, upon the way we view the world. Jesus tells not to be ‘of the world’. Instead, be engaged in the world with patience, kindness and generosity of spirit. It is important to retreat to places to restore the soul – Jesus did that a lot – but we are to seek God and we are to be Godly, in the here and now.

I think of a colleague who returned from an enviable escape. He looked well rested, restored in energy. He commented; ‘Three days back, and it seems like a dream already.’ He deserved the trip and the memories. We all love those escapes. But they do not last and it would be foolish to rely upon escapes to feel alive. An awareness of God’s presence allows us to live fully every day.

Phil Worrad

Chaplain