Southland Christian Ministry Training
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By Ian, on September 12th, 2011%
We are now half way through the year. How have you gone in terms of achieving your key performance indicators? While I know that I should be halfway there an honest appraisal leaves me a long way short! My first response is to start making excuses, a fairly natural inclination but that does not make it right! Why am I not making the progress I agreed to, achieving the goals that I believed were reasonable? I lack self discipline!
It is much easier to talk to others about it than to do the hard work of applying it to my own life. Self discipline is one of my core values, but maybe I have got lazy… and I suspect that also applies to others. So what am I going to do to address my lack of discipline? The more I pondered this, the more I came to realise that it is not just about trying harder, but seeking to go back to basics. Self discipline is really about choices, starting with the need to:
1. VALUE YOURSELF! You are of great worth, and exercising self discipline is about adding value to yourself. I am not calling you to be selfish, but encouraging you to invest in yourself in positive constructive ways, recognising your physical, mental and spiritual needs. That might mean losing those extra couple of kgs that have accumulated, reading that book on the coffee table or even taking the family to worship this Sunday.
2. VALUE YOUR GOALS! Take some time to consider where you are going, and what you want to achieve. We all need to have both short term and long term goals which are written down with a specific completion date. They need to be challenging enough to stretch us, but not so far out of reach that we believe they are impossible! To value those goals they must be worth something, and big enough to demand your best.
 3. VALUE DELAYED GRATIFICATION! We live in a world that demands everything immediately, yet the reality is that all the worthwhile things in life will take time. There are no short cuts to success, so if you are serious about valuing yourself and your goals you need to choose to put in the hard work without expecting an immediate reward. Get used to the fact that in life most of the time you have to eat the vegies before you get sweets! Don’t fight it embrace it!
4. VALUE THE PROCESS! The reward is not just at the end, choose to enjoy the journey. Be thankful for the companionship of friends you meet on the road. Pause to appreciate the grand views you see on the way, you may never come this way again. Rest in the rich green valleys, but realise that the journey requires you to scale the rugged mountain peaks if you want to see the destination. Look for the positives at each point in the road and go the extra mile to encourage those around you.
So, instead of bemoaning the fact that you have failed to achieve some of your goals, adjust your values and priorities. You might be surprised to find that your level of self discipline will have improved as well! Keep at it you can do it!
Chaplain Ian S Whitley
By Ian, on March 18th, 2011%
 This week I have been forced to consider what I have been learning. Have you ever recognised that your mind is a bit like a muscle? If you want it to stay sharp you have got to stretch it! We seem to be naturally lazy and so we need to prod it and push it to make it perform. It does not happen overnight, but if you allow it to stay idle and unexercised it will revert to useless flab, making one of your most useful assets mere weight that will hold you back! What have you done this week to stretch your mind?
Here ae three suggestions to give you some good mental exercise that will keep the cobwebs from growing:
- READ! This appears to have fallen out of favour in recent years, but it is still vital to open your mind to a bigger world. Read widely – not just what you are comfortable with. Read wisely – taking time to think about the meaning and application.
- TALK! Go beyond talking about the weather and the football and deal with the how’s and why’s of life! Be prepared to discuss issues, ideas and concepts that will mean something in the long term. As you talk, probe and question, your mind will be forced to reason through specifics and take you to places you have never been before.
- WRITE! As somebody once said, “thoughts disentangle themselves over the lips and through the finger tips.” Have you ever kept a journal? I find that is a great way to spell out what is going on in my mind. It spells out ideas, feelings, struggles, hopes and dreams. In some respects it forces me to articulate who I am and where I’m going.
So, this weekend I am going to re-prioritise to make sure I do some mental exercise as well as physical. Come to think about it, maybe I will need to do some spiritual exercise as well!
Chaplain Ian S Whitley
By Ian, on December 1st, 2010%
I am now a member of No 31 (City of Wagga Wagga) Squadron. This squadron has a long proud history, dating back to its formation in Wagga on 14 Aug 1942. They were very active during WWII flying Bristol Beaufighter aircraft and based in exotic places like Coomalie Creek (where I dedicated a plaque about 10 years ago), Noemfoor and Moratai before being disbanded on 06 Jul 1946. On 01 Jul 2010 this SQN was again stood up, however the WOD tells me that we are the only SQN in the RAAF that does not have a squadron crest!
 We are in the process of fixing that but why? What difference does it make? We need to know who we are! Military history in particular and human history in general recognises that our identification with a military unit, community and country, requires a concrete rallying point, a symbol, a flag to draw us together and unify us in our common cause.
The fact is, that sense of identification is also important to us as individuals, because we all need to know who we are and where we fit. Hugh Mackay in his recent book called “What Makes Us Tick” suggests that this is “one of the ten desires that drive us”. Do you know who you are? What symbols give your life meaning and draw the best out of you?
My experience is that it is only as we connect with who we are that we will be able to effectively connect with others. It seems to me that those who lack this self awareness, who are struggling with grief and loss due to death or divorce or even for some, the effects of joining the military are most at risk to a range of mental health issues. At one end of this spectrum would be mild depression, while at the other end would be a level of hopelessness which may result in suicidal thoughts.
 So what can we do about it? How do we find ourselves and recover from the traumatic events that have left us feeling lost? The first step is to find someone you trust to talk to who will help you to tell your story. People such as Chaplains, Medical and Psychologists might be able to help you with this. The next step is to find some creative way to symbolise who you are and where you fit in the world. That might be a self portrait, a collage of photographs, or something else you might make that has meaningful symbolism for you. You are only limited by your own imagination!
Finally, I want to assure you that you are unique, special, and loved by God. Although you may feel alone, your family does love you, your unit does care, and the RAAF wants to help you through your struggles. You are part of a rich tradition, remember your history, encourage one another and value the symbols we share together. In your spare time you might like to design a new 31 SQN crest!
Chaplain Ian Whitley
By Ian, on October 17th, 2010%
 War Memorial, Canberra Last week I mentioned Sir Edward ‘Weary’ Dunlop, 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
By Ian, on September 26th, 2010%
There are some weeks when it feels like no matter what I do, I just can’t get ahead. You don’t need me to tell you that life is sometimes hard, and we all go through difficult times, but how do we deal with those issues that get us down? This week I have been reminded of what happens when people just deny they have a problem or adopt poor coping mechanisms – out of control stress, depression, relationship breakdowns, alcohol abuse and other self destructive behaviour. The scary thing is that there have been times over the last few days when that has been internal and not external!
That is the bad news, the good new is that it doesn’t have to be like that! Although you might feel like a victim and it seems like you are unable to do anything about your situation, you CAN! My first go at this ponderings I came up with seven things you could do… but it just did not ring true for me, and where I am at, so I decided to tell you a story.
 I first met Bruce when he was probably only 16 or 17, and I was 15. He was the opposite of me in every way. By that age he had already tried everything, he smoked heavily, was an alcoholic, dabbled in drugs, was covered in tattoos and had a police record. He was qualified to do nothing and only got a job as a storeman because the boss wanted to give him a chance. He couldn’t seem to get his life together, and at every corner things just got worse. One night while smoking in bed, heavily under the influence of alcohol, things happened and the boarding house where he lived burnt down. He fronted up to work next morning with nothing but the clothes on his back, and his boss, (my father) invited him to live at our place till he could get his life sorted out.
My life from that point my life changed, as I began to understand that I had everything going for me. I had a stable, loving family, a good education, healthy self esteem, hope for the future and the belief that God was in control. As Bruce would say that is easy for you – I have NONE of that! Yet in the years to follow my brother Bruce taught me basic counselling skills, as we worked to overcome his bad start in life, we laughed and cried through many and varied crises. He emerged from those struggles with a strong faith and was able to establish a stable family for his children but bore the scars of those early years for the rest of his life.
Why tell you this very personal story? Because I needed to remind myself that bad things do happen to good people. We cannot control what has happened to us in the past, or our family background but we can choose our response. Sometimes it is only when we get to the very bottom that we are forced to accept the truth about ourselves and the need to take desperate action. Maybe you too are in one of those crises, what are you going to do about it? If you have admitted that your life has become unmanageable and that you are powerless to fix it, you have reached step one of the AA process. My job is to help you with step 2, to come to believe that there is a higher power that can help to restore your sanity… yes, it is possible but nobody ever said it would be easy.
Chaplain Ian Whitley
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