The Last Word

Who can say which tiny wonderful thing will shape our future and remake the world again? The Last Word Wonder-full Life

2020 has certainly stamped its imprint on our lives and has focused the world’s attention on a very small thing. The coronavirus at the centre of the great disruption is as tiny as we can imagine yet look at how it has changed our world. It is challenging for most of us to stop and pay attention to the little things. The big and noisy things clamour for our attention: breaking news, fast-scrolling social media feeds, loud voices and eye-catching images. The quiet subtleties and soft whispers often carry the most important messages but go unnoticed by most of us. How many of us are bothered to notice bees, for example, until those who did pointed out that bee numbers were falling and threatening many of our food crops? Bees were just colourful visitors to clover patches, who might give you a nasty sting if you trod on one. We didn’t realise that they play a vital role in the food chain until there were not enough of them to do so anymore. They are more wonderful than we realised.

Jesus told a story of a small thing with a big impact too: a mustard seed, among the tiniest seeds in the garden but which grows to be a home for birds and one of the largest plants in the garden (Matthew 13.31-32). Something easy for us to overlook again proves to be wonderful, and the whole world to the bird which nests in it. What a metaphor for the Reign of God: so subtle we easily overlook it, yet with the capacity to change, or make, our whole world. Some tiny things like viruses manage to grab our attention despite their small size. Others we have to search for when we discover just how much they matter. The Society of the Sacred Advent has always worked on the premise that paying attention to the small things ensures big changes in society. Educating girls, caring for vulnerable women, and planting the seeds of faith has left a legacy that has shaped not just the SSA Schools but every part of the world in which those students have lived. How wonder-full!

Mustard seeds and seeds of faith remind us to stop and wonder at the small things in life. Who can say which tiny wonderful thing will shape our future and remake the world again? Reverend Gillian Moses Chaplain

ENROL NOW for 2021 & 2022 Did you know St Aidan’s has a co-educational Kindergarten?

St Aidan’s Kindergarten strives to provide an educational program of the highest quality for girls and boys. Central to this is the creation of an environment that is nurturing, engaging, supportive and inclusive for both our students and families.

We have limited places available for boys and girls turning four years of age.

For more information visit: staidans.qld.edu.au/our-school/kindergarten or call us on 3373 5999 to book a personal tour.

St Aidan’s Anglican Girls’ School

11 Ruthven St, Corinda Qld 4075 Australia P +61 7 3373 5999 E reception@staidans.qld.edu.au www.staidans.qld.edu.au

A School of the Society of the Sacred Advent

ABN 71079817981

CRICOS Provider Number 01194k

AUTHENTIC CARING CONFIDENT CREATIVE

11 Ruthven St, Corinda Qld 4075 Australia CONNECTED P +61 7 3373 5999 E reception@staidans.qld.edu.au www.staidans.qld.edu.au

A School of the Society of the Sacred Advent