Southland Christian Ministry Training
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By Ian, on December 3rd, 2011%
 Over the last couple of weeks while my colleague has been on leave I have been feeling lonely and at times overwhelmed by all that should be done. Sadly, I have had to accept the fact that one person cannot do the same amount of work as two! Yes, I know that should be obvious but I am a slow learner! So, I have been forced to re-prioritise and choose to allow some things to fall through the cracks. Been there? Out of that confusion and frustration I found myself telling a story that I usually tell for others (like trainees and recruits) but this time it was for me…
Do you know how pearls are formed? They are the result of pain! An irritant, a grain of sand or other alien particle finds it way into the mussel or oyster’s outer shell. Professional producers like Paspaley Pearls in Darwin harvest wild Pinctada Maxima oysters and then surgically insert the seeding material which comes from a freshwater Mississippi clam shell. This material has a particularly unpleasant taste for the mussel! The organism responds by releasing a range of healing fluids which coats the foreign irritant, smoothing out its surface and after a couple of years producing a beautiful pearl. In one sense the pearl is a healed wound, a beautiful result of a very unpleasant experience.
 Life is like that… we too can take and use the irritating things that happen to us, the unpleasant things that leave a bad taste in our mouths to grow in us the character and values we need. Without that pain there would be no growth and no priceless jewel at the end. So don’t just put up with the pain, do something with it! Walter will not be back for a couple more weeks, but I will continue to do the best I can with what I have got, and hopefully grow some more pearls of wisdom as a result. Part of that is a recognition that God is in charge of my day, and I can leave both what I did AND what I didn’t do in His hands and expect a beautiful result… in His time not mine.
Chaplain Ian S Whitley
By Ian, on April 29th, 2011%
 As part of my rest and recuperation, between Easter and ANZAC Day I went walking to the top of Australia. No, I did not go to the Northern Territory, I climbed to the top of Mount Kosciuszko, the highest peak on the Australian mainland. In world terms it is not very high at 2228 metres but it was a good days walk, going from Charlotte Pass, via Main Range to the top and then back down the fire trail to our starting point, in all about 23 Km. I can assure you that there were lots of ups and downs with even some snow on the high points, but what made it worth the effort were the views which were spectacular.
Pondering this journey I was reminded of the fact that life is just like that. It is all too easy to opt for the status quo, to stay in the valley where you are comfortable, to accept mediocrity and other people’s visions rather than doing the hard work of walking it yourself. This was the hardest walk I have done in a long time, but I am glad that I made the effort, even with the weariness and sore muscles I had afterwards. Are there some mountains that you have longed to climb, but never got round to? Don’t put it off!
We met many people at the top who had taken the short cut via the chairlift at Thredbo and the much easier walk along the ridge. Not everyone is called to walk the same road, and sometimes this is a smart option, or at least a stepping stone which will prepare you for greater things in the future. What is important is that you have stretched yourself, gone to new heights and become stronger in the process.
 There were many who passed us on the trail, like some young people who ran the whole track! Yet in this journey, as in life, speed was not as important as consistency and perseverance, finishing the distance. Some people who are in too much of a hurry are often the ones who get injured! Those who lack confidence are also at risk. One girl trying to cross the creek at a crucial point hesitated, refused the help of others around, and ended up completely drenched in the icy waters! We need to admit that we are not lone rangers – we need each other – and should have the confidence to ask for help when we need it, and not allow our pride to get in the way.
One final lesson which I learnt at OTS (RAAF Officer Training School) was the six P’s – “prior preparation prevents poor performance”. If you are going to do a walk like this you need to be prepared for a whole range of contingencies. I may have complained about the weight of my pack at the beginning, with all that food, water, extra clothing, wet weather gear and gloves… but we used most of it! Yes some things in life are hard, so find the positives and focus on these, as it is those challenges that will build character and make life worthwhile!
Chaplain Ian S Whitley
By Ian, on March 12th, 2011%
 Periodically I have an opportunity to play at being (or becoming) a theologian. One opportunity came when I got together in Canberra with a range of other want-to-be theologians from diverse backgrounds and churches. Our purpose was to discuss recent trends in theology and examine how they apply to life in the real world. We did lots of the first but not much of the second!
But what did I learn? Well, it did remind me of a story. I am currently building a garage. I did my homework and worked out that the best and cheapest option was to purchase one in kit form and put it together myself. The salesman was confident that anybody could put it together “yes, you and your wife will have no trouble”. I niavely believed him…thinking it may not be easy, but all I have to do is follow the instructions.
The so-called instructions were just the engineering specs and the plans to be submitted to council. But all I had to do was put the pieces of the jig saw puzzle together – just start at the bottom and work up! Then I found that some bits required more brute force than we had available. Other sections required extra-ordinary long arms when we only had standard ones. There were building techniques that required three sets of hands when we only had two available. There were times when we despaired of ever finishing it because it was not obvious how it really fitted together and where do these other bits “fit”?
 It's All Greek To Me... Seems to me that many people come to faith like that. They are told they can do it – they sign up and are assured they have all the bits required, all you have to do is follow the instructions. They look at the instructions – the Bible and find that it is in code! They decide they can do it without being able to decode the specs, but run into a whole range of other problems and give up in a mess and walking away from a half completed garage in total frustration. What went wrong? They did not get any help with theology! My role as a theologian is to breakdown the engineering specs and plans and develop some step by step instructions of how to really put it together, including some trade secrets on easy ways to do it.
I finished the garage, but still have to work out what to do with all the leftover bits. But my real job here is to help others to build their lives and maybe help them see and interpret God’s overall plan.
Chaplain Ian S Whitley
By Ian, on January 19th, 2011%
Over the last couple of weeks I have found out what it is like to have major surgery. There has been pain… which has affected me on not just a physical level but mentally and spiritually as well. The fact is, going under the knife has a unique way of slicing through the unimportant stuff and forces one to consider what is really important and what is not. There is also an overwhelming sense of powerlessness, a recognition that you cannot do all those things that you take for granted, and having to accept that I am no longer in control.
At this point the key to my survival is trust. I have faith that the doctors have made the right diagnosis, and that they took the right kidney and not the wrong one! I have to trust the nursing staff to look after my physical needs and relax in the knowledge that my body has what it takes to continue the healing process… even when it hurts! The biochemist in my brain tells me that one kidney can handle things, though the other voices in my brain voice their doubts, I choose to remain positive.
In my role as a chaplain and a pastor I have spent many hours in hospitals, visiting, supporting, encouraging and just being there, but this is the first time I have been on the receiving end! A humbling experience… in which the support of family, friends and colleagues has been tremendous… thanks… though some of those visits are just a vague blur. The doctors and nurses at Nepean Private did a great job, and I am now home (at Woonona) trying to get my body and soul back together.
So, where is God in all this? The why questions are still there as well, but out of that confusion I was reminded of a quote from Helen Keller (who had more than her share of trials and struggles being both deaf and blind) who was able to write this:
“Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet,
only through experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened,
vision cleared, ambition inspired and success achieved.”
Without doubt this experience has deeply affected me, I hope my soul has been strengthened, and I have definitely learned to rely more on God. My vision of the future is still somewhat blurred, but I still firmly believe that God is in control and that he still has a plan for my future whatever the RAAF MEC board says.
As the old hymn says:
I do not know what the future holds, but I know who holds the future
……..and that makes all the difference!
Chaplain Ian Whitley
By Ian, on October 17th, 2010%
 War Memorial, Canberra Sir Edward ‘Weary’ Dunlop, was one of the extraordinary figures in Australia’s history, yet what made him different? He was born in 1907 at Wangaratta, county Victoria, and one biographer suggests that he “was exposed to a culture of privation and extremes from an early age” which was typical of farming communities in those days. After finishing school at Benalla he was apprenticed to the local pharmacist, and when he topped his class and won all the other awards in that field he was encouraged to change over to medicine, graduating from Melbourne University in 1934 with a MBBS and granted a fellowship at the Royal College of Surgeons.
Somewhere in his spare time he also joined the Coburg/Brunswick Battalion of the Citizen Military Forces and was later commissioned as a Captain in the Royal Australian Medical Corps (RAAMC), where he also picked up the nickname ‘Weary”. When war was declared in 1939, Weary was in England doing post graduate studies, yet was allowed to join an Australian unit in Jerusalem without having to return to Australia first. He proceeded to assist the RAAMC in Crete, Greece and other trouble spots in the Middle East.
When the situation closer to home in 1942 changed, he was posted back to Australia but then diverted to Java, Indonesia to support the war effort against the Japanese. In March the Japanese advanced on the Banoeng Hospital where Weary was working. Apparently he had the opportunity to escape but chose to stay with his patients and became a prisoner of war. He was subsequently shipped to Singapore and then to Thailand where he was made Commanding Officer (and Surgeon) for over a thousand men who were to work on the Burma- Siam Railway, and engineering project also called “The railway of Death”. One estimate it that this railway cost the lives of one hundred thousand lives, yet there were many who survived only because of Weary’s medical skills, compassion and dedication to duty.
One biographer summarises it like this “He displayed extraordinary courage in attempting to improve the harsh living conditions imposed by his captors. With scarce medical supplies and lack of proper instruments, the prisoners manufactured needles and artificial limbs from bamboo – improvisation was the order of the day and often made the difference between death and survival”. He took his role seriously and would often choose to confront the Japanese soldiers and protect his men, yet this frequently resulted in dire consequences for himself. He endured many beatings and other indignities, yet his courage and kindness was respected by all, even the Japanese! One of his men, Don Stuart put it like this:
“When despair and death reached us Weary Dunlop stood fast…
he was a lighthouse of sanity in a universe of madness and suffering.”
That is part of our heritage as military members and against that standard so many of the problems we face seem so insignificant. Dunlop refused to allow helplessness, indifference and fear to control him and he remained positive and optimistic throughout the rest of his full life, till he passed away in 1993, aged 85 years.
What an example for us to follow…
Chaplain Ian S Whitley
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