Greetings,
During my study leave I was lucky enough to spend a couple of days staying with friends on their small, subsistence property at Ardlethan. While I spent some time working, Elizabeth had fun playing with the dog, collecting eggs from the chickens, leaving water for the bees, feeding the alpacas and generally just being out in the country.

Ardlethan is a small town (population around 360) at the intersection of the Burley Griffin Way and Newell Highway in New South Wales. Elizabeth and I were lucky that on the days we were there the Barellan Working Clydesdales and Bullock Teams travelled
into town via the old stock route. It was fabulous to see some of our rural history alive and well, particularly for Elizabeth who has grown up essentially a city girl.
Watching the bullock team was particularly interesting. My great-grandfather once
helped drive a bullock team from Victoria to Queensland, so seeing the driver work with
the huge, powerful creatures was quite incredible. Heavy yolks join the bullocks together so the driver can get the most out of the team. Their power is harnessed, and as the driver walks alongside them, he is able to encourage them to move in the same direction and to achieve something they could never do alone. What one bullock is unable to do, many bullocks can do with ease.
I have been reflecting on the fact that in some ways people are a little like bullocks.
Christians who follow the Western tradition often view their faith as a very personal
thing. We see this in the absence of the creeds in our worship – we are hesitant to ask
people to say something which they might not personally hold to. The tradition of
Eastern Christianity isn’t as hung up on the individual. Creeds are common place in
worship, because of the understanding that as a community together each member will be
able to affirm something of the whole.
While we may see things differently, as people of faith it is important that we work
together to achieve what we cannot accomplish on our own. My faith needs to be about
more than just me, for surely part of our calling is to be in community together.
Like the bullock team, with the gentle urging of the encourager, we can do far more in
community than we can alone.
As we think about whether we are on track with our Mission Statement, may we
remember to set our sights on being the community that God would have us be in this
place.
Blessings – Rev Heather.