7 minute read
BELIEF MATTERS
What can we do with Discontentment?
OUR SYNOD’S FUTURE DIRECTIONS VISION IS: TO BECOME A CONTEMPORARY, COURAGEOUS, GROWING CHURCH PROCLAIMING JESUS CHRIST IN WORSHIP, AND WITNESS IN SERVICE.
This vision, with its focus on becoming and not just being, calls us into action. But like any vision, all the plans and resourcing priorities are meaningless unless we believe that this vision is credible and is part of God’s call. The UCA inter-conciliar council discernment process would affirm that this is part of God’s discernment in my current Synod role, but also for all of us in Ministry, having an open and generous posture to engage this vision as our own is essential. Building consensus around vision requires vision casting and narrative sharing of how this vision is born from prayerful discernment (with Scripture in dialogue with reason, tradition, and experience) and how this can and shape our common life. The UME “our story” videos are an example of this. One challenge that can emerge is that the individualist, as well as cultural and tribal critique, can “other the vision” (“just doesn’t feel like me/us”) too quickly if we are not careful. This is because anything different, that doesn’t align with our own biases, can feel wrong and will often cause a sense of discontent. This impulse is strong in all of us and is reflected in the view, “if only we could go back to what was, then it will be alright, we don’t need to change”. The call for transformation guided by discerned vision is much more challenging and quite frankly, hard work. It is engaging in discovery and possibilities, with skin in the game, making mistakes along the way, that can change us all as part of the ongoing story of God. But what do we do with the discontentment? It needs to be said that critique and discontentment are not always about our own biases, asking the question, who does this vision benefit is always essential as part of the discernment and vision casting venture. The critique of colonisation, and the maintenance of domination systems at the expense of minorities, the poor and disenfranchised are Gospel discontentments as well. So naming discontentment is always important.
A recent approach to navigating this space that I have found helpful in some of my ministry development coaching is to; deliberately name this critical discontentment, to bring it into dialogue with the vision, giving priority to the discerned vision, to navigate the next steps well. The next steps cannot be overwhelmed by the original discontent nor paralysed by it. To commit to such next steps and engaging in this reflective action process can assist in the “becoming” nature of discerned vision growing into practice. I am aware that for some, including myself at times, letting unhealthy discontentment be the vision can be not only counterproductive but can cause damage and harm to the flourishing of God’s people and work. Now the Synod’s vision, like a Presbytery’s vision and a Congregation’s vision needs to be grounded in THE SYNOD’S VISION NEEDS TO BE GROUNDED IN the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Because it is Christ who we are disciples of participating in God’s Ministry and Mission.
THE GOSPEL OF In Exodus 3, God gives Moses a vision “Go. I
JESUS CHRIST am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt.” Moses expresses discontentment “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?” God deepens the commitment to Moses with practical next steps and commitments, “I will be with you. And this will be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you will worship God on this mountain.” (NIV) There are countless biblical examples of this vision casting of God, naming our discontentment, and discerning the next steps which led to transformation as a gift of God. Many of us may do this intuitively, but next time you are in a tricky spot with discontentment, bring discerned vision back in dialogue and creatively discern the next steps, as individuals, communities, councils, and committees. This is something we all can do with discontentment. With peace and goodwill in Christ, REV. BEN GILMOUR
Lifting spirits with giant cuddly bears
WESLEY MISSION LEADS THE WAY WITH THERAPEUTIC CARE
It’s not uncommon for an ‘inflated love balloon’ to float down the corridors of Wesley Vickery Sylvania up to a resident’s room who’s in isolation due to COVID-19. The balloon is always sent with a handwritten card from another resident to let that person know they’re missed.
The ‘inflated love balloon’ is just one of many therapeutic activities, Lesley Fox, Wesley Residential Aged Care Lifestyle and Wellness Lead and her team have introduced to support the emotional, mental and spiritual wellbeing of residents across Wesley Mission’s three residential aged care centres in Carlingford, Narrabeen and Sylvania. “We get the residents to create and send things to people who are unwell with COVID-19,” explains Lesley. “And what we are hearing from people in the COVID-19 area is that they feel very well thought of, they still feel connected to the people who are not in isolation and it lifts their spirits.” For many residents, they’re now experiencing their fourth or fifth lockdown. Or as Lesley calls it, “a positive safe lockdown”. While normally those words aren’t strung together, from the moment the pandemic began, Lesley’s continually tried to instil “faith over fear” amongst the residents by finding ways to keep joy, connection and community alive.
“Right from the beginning, we decided to take a mindfulness and wellness approach to try and minimise daily anxiety,” Lesley explains. “We’re always looking for ways to build people up in their faith, connect with each other, connect with the outside community and strengthen this community to get through COVID-19 together.” Elaine McNaughton, Head of Wesley Home & Residential Care adds, “When you come into residential care, you leave your home and you can never replace that. But here you create a different home with a strong community around you. And that’s what’s really been key during COVID-19, having a community within your own home.”
When the pandemic began in 2020, during the first two weeks, Lesley organised
400 prayer flags, filled with prayer requests from residents and staff across Wesley Vickery Sylvania to hang in the building’s foyer. And every day since then, Lesley’s worked with her team to create personalised experiences and activities that focus on their residents’ wellbeing. “Giving people something to look forward to each day is important, especially during COVID-19. Because it helps alleviate that fear factor,” Lesley explains. “I think keeping the anxiety minimised has really helped our residents journey through this time. Because from what they've told us, they've felt incredibly safe and covered.”
Elaine adds, “Sometimes we can't control what's happening. We can only control our response to it. That's when you focus on your preparedness and response plan with communication key at every step.” Catering for individuals needs as always been part of the daily routines at Wesley Mission’s residential aged care centres. So, when the pandemic began, Lesley and her team discovered how easy it was to create personalised COVID-19 care plans for every resident. “We've always worked really hard at knowing our residents, knowing their heart, their mind, their soul and knowing what makes them tick. When we came into COVID-19, we were able to cater to the individual needs very well,” shares Lesley. To help remove the negativity associated with isolation, the team refer to a resident’s time in isolation as ‘room centred’. And when a resident is ‘room centred’, they receive a beautifully wrapped gift box filled with activities suited to their interests.
“The staff are working really hard at maintaining happiness, joy, reducing anxiety and really looking after the emotional wellbeing of a person while they're in isolation,” Lesley says. Wesley Mission staff have helped residents create their own window gardens, provided them with exercise equipment, facilitated Zoom calls between family members and even sent giant cuddly bears to their rooms. “We've got people with dementia who we know respond beautifully to puppetry… so the bear gets sent up. And the photos that we get back are with people giving them the most beautiful hugs,” explains Lesley. Wesley Mission staff have also facilitated many window therapy sessions between family members and share daily updates with families whose relatives are ‘room centred’.
“We change up the scenery so when people are ‘room centred’, they can still engage with loved ones by playing games, singing and even playing noughts and crosses through a window. We’ve even had Superman drop by for window therapy.”
Contact our friendly team today to discover more about Wesley Mission’s care and accommodation options at Wesley Vickery Sylvania, Wesley Rayward Carlingford and Wesley Taylor Narrabeen. Visit: wesleymission. org.au/seniors
