Embracing Redemption: A Journey Towards Healing, Responsibility, and Wholeness
The concept of redemption is something that lingers in the hearts and minds of those of us raised in a Western, Judaeo-Christian culture. For those who hold a faith position it might have a special significance, but for all of us there is a sense that in our journey towards peace of mind and heart there will be times when we need to make reparation for the wrongs we have done to others and through a genuine process of taking responsibility for our actions and trying to do what is necessary to earn forgiveness, we might thereby be redeemed.
I have often affirmed that our discipline policies here at All Saints are redemptive in their design rather than punitive, and this is an approach we are only allowed to pursue because of the generally outstanding behaviour of our students. Of course there will be repercussions for unkind or anti-social behaviour but the emphasis is always on trying to help the wrongdoer to understand why their behaviour has wounded others or undermined the standards and expectations of the school community. I am sure we might not always manage it as well as we would like, but our intention when dealing with disciplinary issues, to use a slightly archaic biblical expression, is to do our best to ‘hate the sin and love the sinner’. We are in part motivated by our awareness of the Golden Rule, since all of us get it wrong from time to time and we hope that when we do, we too might be treated in a way that encourages redemption. Much has been written in recent times about society’s reluctance to take responsibility for our actions. When we slip up it seems that too often our immediate response is to seek to blame someone else. The problem with this approach is that it discourages and occasionally renders impossible the chance of any resolution. If we rather develop, through self-discipline, a default position that sees us take responsibility for our actions, then immediately we are afforded the opportunity to learn from our mistakes, to make reparation, to grow and develop our character and to move on.
No doubt my mind has been pondering the notion of redemption recently because we celebrated NAIDOC week last week and have been holding our First Nations people front and centre in this first week of school. It takes courage to surrender to the impulse to want to be a part of a healing process, whether it involves a family feud, a friendship breakdown or indeed a nation that has fissures and cracks caused by unjust practices in the past. Yet without healing there can be no redemption; and without courage, honesty, forgiveness and remorse, there can be no healing. I think that sometimes we step back from surrendering to the impulse to be agents of healing because it feels like we are somehow losing control. But we never really have control in the first place; all we have is anxiety and our longing for control is our response to trying to quell the anxiety. Better to surrender; to believe in our individual and collective power to make a difference; to be instruments of God’s peace and healing in a fragile, broken world; and if we are able to find the courage to do this, that anxiety we once felt (about almost everything) simply melts away.
We have come such a long way as a nation in our quest for reconciliation, harmony, and wholeness. Let’s see it through. Let’s learn to listen to stories like Brenda’s. Let’s try to learn from those stories and together help to create a brighter future for our children and our children’s children.
Patrick S Wallas
Headmaster
