Kimberley Ellison

I love massages.

Even a simple back rub has a seemingly magical ability to send tingles all through your body, as though your muscles are actually unclenching their fists and breathing a sigh of relief.

As nice as massages are, though, everybody knows that they are not enough to maintain good health. To be healthy, a person needs to eat good food, drink plenty of water, get lots of sleep, and, of course, exercise. Only a fool would think that by getting a daily massage they could remain fit and healthy.

I believe the same applies to our spirituality. It needs wholesome spiritual food and water, it needs healing rest, and it needs to be exercised regularly. And yet, sometimes it seems as though all we give it is massage after massage after massage.

How often do you walk away from a sermon about how much God loves us and wants us to be with Him, feeling all warm and fuzzy as though someone has been giving you a back rub the whole way through? Unless you’re one of those lucky people who actually does get a back rub from the person next to you during church, it’s very likely that you’re feeling the effects of a spiritual massage.

Source of eternal wisdom, Wikipedia, defines massage as “the manipulation of superficial layers of muscle and connective tissue to enhance the function and promote relaxation and well-being.”

Massage is good, but it’s not enough.

To really do our spiritual muscles good we need to exercise them. We need to get our hands dirty and do what God calls us to do. It’s great to keep those muscles supple and in top form, but what good is it unless we’re planning on using them?

Choosing Christianity is not choosing to get a spiritual massage once a week. It’s choosing to represent Christ, and choosing to have Christ represent us. What would Jesus do? It’s a valid question. Jesus stormed through temples throwing tables around. He confronted religious and political leaders when they were doing the wrong thing. He fought for the needy and spoke for the afflicted. He used his energy healing people and fulfilling their earthly needs as well as their spiritual ones.

There are plenty of spiritual massages available all the time at college. That’s great. Enjoy them! But don’t forget to exercise.

Jeanita Hosea

There is always something in life that doesn’t make sense. Something that is constantly on your doorstep, just waiting for you to open the door and walk right into it. Something you know the consequences of but are curious as to what the experience will be like.

You try hard to stay away from temptation, but there’s an emptiness in your life you are trying desperately to fill. Yeah sure, you hear it all the time. “God is what you’re searching for. He will fill that void.”

But why don’t you pursue it? You try to fill this emptiness with stuff. Music, friends, going out, breaking the rules. Now tell me, once you’ve done all of this, have you filled the void?

You begin questioning. What did I do wrong? Am I missing something? Questions fill your mind. Confusion seeps its way through, and you are left with everything still not making sense.

You want to move forward. You want to do things, you want certain things to happen in your life. You know what to do to get there but you just don’t do it. Why? Is it a lack of motivation? Is it the fact that these things take time and impatience overrules?

Questions!

This is me. I feel guilty, empty, confused, trapped, limited and useless. I see what I want to be, I see what I can be — but look at who I am!

Questions!

This is me, on a journey of discovery. A journey of self-discovery. A friend once told me that sometimes struggles are exactly what we need in our lives. If God allowed us to go through our lives without any obstacles, it would cripple us. God never puts us through anything we can’t handle.

Questions and confusion come and go, but it is up to you; will you settle for that? Or will this journey of discovery lead to better things?

I am on a mission to unlock answers — a mission to make sense out of the confusion, to accept, to think positively, to read scripture, observe, apply and pray with God. This is a mission of discovery.

Trent McCrow
As we promised last issue I went straight to the top to get answers to the questions you have been asking. Below are the questions we asked.

Hi Dr Ray. How are things going with Avondale’s journey towards university status and where are we at the moment? Apart from research output is there anything else we can do?
Avondale College Council has voted for a staged progression towards university status. The end of this year should see us put in an application for self-accredited status. And then next year we are hopeful of achieving university college status. What can you do? We are raising our research profile among both staff and students. This year, a large number of student will be published in a book of poetry and others will contribute to the “Critical Issues in the 21st Century” Undergraduate Conference. That’s great! Encourage your friends and family member to enrol as students — we need to continue to increase our student numbers. And, pray for Avondale!

I really like the changes that have happened with open dorms or the new visitation program, but does this mean we are going to be able to have visitation during week days as well?
I talked with some of the residence directors on this one. Avondale is committed to a balance between openness and privacy in the residences. It is apparent that at least some of the residents don’t want the dorms open all the time, but that they should be maintained as private residents. Others, of course want the visitation times extended from weekends to weekdays as well. So, keeping a balance is the key, although your residence directors are open to discussion on this issue.

I remember a story in connections about the girls dorm having recycling bins. I live in Watson Hall and we don’t have any. Why? When will we get them?
Apparently the Watson Hall bins have arrived and are being labelled. So, soon the Watson guys will be able to do their bit for the environment too.

In a previous edition of The Voice we were told that the Brandstater Amphitheater was supposed to be finished by homecoming this year but it is clear it still isn’t finished. What’s the delay and will it be finished before Grad this year? I was hoping to have photos with my family in that area.
We were probably a bit optimistic with the timetable of the Brandstater Amphitheatre completion. However, it will be completed for Graduation this year. The official opening will take place on the Sabbath afternoon of Grad weekend. The main thing still to be completed is the granite capping which is on its way from China. So, here’s hoping that it will not be “a slow boat from China” and that your family photos turn out well.

I’ve heard on the grapevine that the cafeteria is going to introduce an extra surcharge on gluten-free menu options. Is this true and why is it happening? It doesn’t seem equitable.
This is not so. Presently there are about twenty students who require a gluten-free or dairy-free menu. While this costs the College about twice as much, Avondale is providing this service without extra cost.

I’ve been told that if I’m not graduating I can’t stay in the dorms all the way up to graduation and that I have to leave after my exams. Is this true? How is this fair as I’m paying the same amount as those who are graduating?
This is somewhat true. Basically the dorm fees cover for the period of the semester through to the end of exam week. However, graduating students are able to benefit from a little extra time in the residences. When you graduate, you will receive that benefit as a courtesy from Avondale. However, should you wish to remain in the dorms you can do so with a nominal payment for board. See your residence director about this. We do need to clear as many rooms as possible in preparation for year-end conference events, etc.

I remember when full time reception was dropped there was a promise to get phones in each of the dorm rooms as a compromise for not having reception at the dorms open all day. Is this still going to happen? Why has it taken so long and if it isn’t happening what is being done about outside communication on campus?
I understand that night reception is still in place through to midnight in all dorms. Keep in mind that emergency calls can be directed through to a special phone number 24/7. Avondale is also looking at the possibilities for using VOIP now that we have a better broadband system in place. At the same time, though, I do notice that most students and staff now carry a mobile with them at all times.

What is happening with the married student’s units? They used to be run by the real estate agent but I was told that Avondale is now looking after them. I’ve also heard a rumor that the North Cooranbong development will be the new location for a married students village. Is this true? When will they be available?
You’re correct. Avondale has taken back the management of the married student units. Our financial management team thinks that we can provide a better service that we were receiving from the real estate agent. And, it is planned that some housing will be provided in the North Cooranbong development that will be rental subsidised. However, this will not be in a “village” setting, but will be dependent on private investors making their choice in regard to building blocks, etc. I don’t have a timeframe for this at the moment. All development projects have been slowed by the GFC and ours in no different. Hopefully, next year will see some major progress on the North Cooranbong site.

So those are the questions readers of The Voice have to ask you. Thank you for taking time to answer these and I know the answers will be well received.
Thanks for the opportunity to answer these questions. And thanks for your efforts in making a great place even greater!

Jamin Binning

A week’s worth of rain wasn’t enough to dampen the spirit of Iki Taimi, the speaker in the 18+ Tent at the North NSW Big Camp at Yarrahapini. Those of you who heard Iki talk during the week will understand where I am coming from.

His passion, humour and spiritual empathy was an inspiration to those who heard him. I came away from camp thinking what an awesome week it was, with great worship and great messages — but then I sat down to think about what the one thing was that I captured from such a spiritual week. What is something that I can tell those who weren’t there? What is something that I can remind myself of daily?

Iki reinforced two words constantly throughout his talks; Expect and Allow. For us humans, having expectations of our friends and families can prove to be quite dangerous at times. This is because we do not have what it takes to meet all the expectations that society places on us, but we find it easy to place expectations on others. God, however, is not like us. He wants us to wait on Him. He delights in our expectations and questions.

I often place more expectations on the people around me than I do on God. But the times I do place an expectation on God, do I allow Him to work? Most of the time I would have to say no.

Expect and Allow.

Iki’s point was that it’s alright to have doubts, it’s alright to question, and it’s alright to have expectations of our God — but when you place expectations on God, don’t let it end with an expectation, but allow Him to meet them. Unlike ourselves, God is strong enough to handle anything thrown at Him.

Expect & Allow God.

“The Lord is good to those who wait for Him, to the person who seeks Him.” Lamentations 3:25

Josh Zyderveld

“The attitude of unhappiness is not only painful, it is mean and ugly. What can be more base and unworthy than the pining, puling, mumping mood, no matter what outward ills it may have been engendered by? What is more injurious to others? What less helpful as a way out of the difficulty? It but fastens and perpetuates the trouble which occasioned it, and increases the total evil of the situation.

At all costs, then, we ought to reduce the sway of that mood; we ought to scout it out in ourselves and others, and never show it tolerance. But it is impossible to carry on this discipline in the subjective sphere without zealously emphasising the brighter and minimising the darker aspects of the objective sphere of things at the same time. And thus our resolution not to indulge in misery, beginning at a comparatively small point within ourselves, may not stop until it has brought the entire frame of reality under a systematic conception optimistic enough to be congenial with its needs.” – William James in The Varieties of Religious Experience.

Elsewhere in his lectures, James touches on the central idea of most religions — that they “minimise the darker aspects of the objective sphere” of the world, and put them in a perspective where they are no longer seen as purely “dark”. Politics can be similar: I think particularly of how politics attempts to redeem violence done and violence suffered.

This perspective on death, suffering, privation, and the confusion of the human mind are the main value of religion so far as I’m concerned; even those who feel hostility to Christianity often find the metaphysics of Buddhism deeply appealing, and among those who dislike all religions there remains the consolation of various other ‘faiths’ in progress, history, civilization, technology, justice, the personal, the artistic. So, in a world of a million diverse ‘religions’, there will always be a way to lift our wandering soul out of unhappiness.