Relationships

and why they matter

When I was a young man, I was deeply involved in the church. On one occasion my youth group did a farmstay, working on a friend’s property in rural New South Wales.

One day, while the group went to work, I went by myself to the top of a small hill and spent some time in contemplation. I remember looking down at my friends rounding up sheep, like rolling balls of wool around the paddock.

Momentarily, I felt like I shot out of the top of my head and gained altitude. From altitude, everything looked small. I realised that from a distance I could see patterns that I couldn’t see up close. Patterns made up of small things - people, sheep, trees, grass, and a creek wending its way between them.