Strong Foundations

I work in an extraordinary place

where sacred and secular combine –

where human hands and hopeful hearts

breathe new life into an old, old story.

~~~

Late in the nineteenth century,

a little church stood proudly in the Australian bush,

surrounded by native shrubs and horse-drawn carts

and well-scrubbed families in their Sunday best.

Candles framed the altar,

their gentle flickering light

extinguishing the gloomy shadows of sin,

until that terrible day

when the altar caught alight

and the sky glowed bright

and leaping flames licked hungrily at wooden walls.

~~~

Some years ago,

excavating workmen uncovered a partially-charred beam

deep beneath the floor of my classroom.

I saw blackened marks where that fire had vented its rage.

Despite its ordeal, the beam remained solid and strong.

I looked more closely at the hybrid architecture –

the arched windows in the eastern wall,

the square windows in the north –

and realised that in the course of my daily work,

I was standing on holy ground.

~~~

In a distant time,

long after my life’s work

has disappeared beneath the soil,

education will endure –

a sturdy blackened beam

that survives the ravages of change

and forms strong foundations for the future.