Pulling Together
13/09/23
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart. Do not lean on your own understanding.
In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will direct your path.”
Proverbs 3:5-6, The Bible
I hope you enjoyed a relaxing summer and are looking forward to all that the new academic year may bring. I spent some mornings walking by the river was interested to see a young child with his father in a small rowing boat. Whilst the father was relaxing, the child was having a go at rowing… only not very successfully! It was quite amusing to see the patience of the father whilst the child tugged at the oars, going round and round in circles, going nowhere fast and then finally getting stuck in the reeds at the side. Let’s face it, we have all been there! Carefully they swapped places as the father took the lead and skilfully directed the little boat along its intended course.
Whilst this was taking place, a team of rowers with perfect unity, strength and skill sped past, leaving the little boat bobbing in its wake. The difference was striking, and got me pondering; that day, I learnt some lessons from the rowers which we can apply to our school life:
Our school motto is 2-fold: Caritas and Veritas, God’s Love and Truth. We need both of these to permeate our daily life at Hartford in perfect unison. One without the other is like tugging on only one oar, instead of moving forward, we will end up going round in circles and go nowhere.
The boat that was efficient was the one where everyone pulled together, in the same direction. This meant hard work, training, submission and lots of encouragement. I’m sure there were days when they did not want to get up early to ‘train in the rain’, but their tenacity had played off. They pulled together, a common destination being the reason for their efforts. To see some rowers pulling in one direction and some another would be ludicrous, for they trusted the coxswain (pronounced cox’en), they moved forward together.
Each of us are on a journey at Hartford, a journey together to love and encourage each other to be the best we can be. Sometimes we can get it wrong, or like the child stuck in the reeds, feel we cannot go forward anymore. Let us look out for each other and support one another through all the ups and downs of this journey, knowing that we can accomplish far more together than we ever can alone.
Let us remember too, to keep God at the helm of every decision we make and everything we do, directing and guiding us in His Love and Truth. He is the Good Father and we must look to Him and let Him take the oars of our life, that we might find our intended course, living in fullness of life and becoming all He created us to be.
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart. Do not lean on your own understanding.
In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will direct your path.”
Proverbs 3:5-6, The Bible