Let me tell you a story about a boy named Sam and a Hockey team that participated at the Combined Independent Schools Carnival in Sydney on Thursday.
It really is a tale of 2 photos.
You see in the first one, these students who hardly knew one another are just standing peremptorily in a classic hockey photo.
This one was taken early in the morning as teams were warming up, Goal-Keeper trials had just been held, and as the Christian School Sports Association team had never won a match at this carnival, the morning prayer for safety and calming of nerves was necessary, along with the plea of “Please Lord, do not let us be embarrassed”.
And so these strangers banded together to face the onslaught of some well practiced and drilled teams.
Then God happened, and over the course of the day, in the course of exciting play, the boys gelled together and in camaraderie, not only drew a game, but won a game.
As the boys waited for their first game – they sat individually, but after a couple of games they were together – sharing stories of their school and their friends. These boys soon became a group of friends who had just shared a moment of their lives together that they will never forget, and this is seen in the last photograph.
This moment of togetherness, and the cheering off of the Year 12 players who would never represent CSSA again at the end of the day, the prayers for safe travel home, mark something different amongst this group that God held in his hand.
And it symbolizes this – you do not have to be in each other’s pockets day in and day out to form friendships, you need a common goal.
At our school, our students have a common goal, that of developing into people of character, people who show integrity, people who love life and live it to the fullest.
Prayer will help us grow in that way, and that is my prayer every day as I arrive at school and prepare to teach, that those in my care develop to be kind and considerate members of our community, and that they set squabbles aside to learn to live with each other as the love of God surrounds them.
Christian Fellowship is one of the most powerful and important tools we have to assist us here on Earth – it is left for us to use abundantly.
Jay