Scotch College

A hope that will not disappoint

What are your hopes? The young men and boys who comprise our student body doubtless have many hopes – to do well in their studies, to achieve results that will ultimately form the foundation for the career of their choice, to experience sporting success, to build strong friendships that will last into the future, to enjoy meaningful relationships with family and eventually to begin their own.

We all have hopes and here in this country, we are indeed fortunate because with application, commitment and dedication our hopes are well within reach. Hope is so important to a person’s sense of well-being and purpose. To strip a person of hope, to render a person hopeless, is one of the cruellest and most inhumane of actions. Removing hope from a person’s life experience removes all sense of meaning and purpose.

In recent weeks mysterious bright red crosses were posted on walls throughout the Scotch senior campus. Without explanation many pondered their meaning for days. Ultimately the crosses were revealed to be the symbol created by the Oaktree Foundation to highlight their ‘End Child Slavery’ Campaign. Coinciding with this revelation a number of prefects appeared across the stage during a Memorial Hall assembly, each stood in silence with a tennis ball tucked under his chin. In a powerful representation of child slavery it was explained that in some parts of the world children are forced to work with a ball in just such a position, the object being to ensure that they remain focussed on the task before them. Allowing the ball to drop would result in a severe beating. It occurred to me that the submissive nature of the head position with a ball under the chin was also a potent symbol – head bowed, eyes to the ground, not daring to look up and into the eyes of their oppressors for fear of savage retribution. Symbolically these were children who had been stripped of hope by cruel adults motivated by greed or lust or both. Children without hope. It is estimated that there are 8.4 million children in these circumstances around the world today.

For the remainder of this term assembly readings will be taken from the Book of Romans. Written by the apostle Paul, one of the many themes of this inspired letter is hope. In chapter five he refers to the “… hope that does not disappoint…”

Paul’s letter was written around 57 AD. Not long after it was being distributed and read by the followers of Jesus throughout the city, the persecution of Christians by the forces of the Roman Empire began. Christians became the target of a ferocious campaign of terror. It was an attack that the authorities believed would strip these people of hope and consequently any sense of purpose and meaning leaving them powerless and no longer a threat.

To the Christians of ancient Rome, living in a hell of persecution and abuse, Paul writes of the hope that belief in God provides. Hope is central to the Christian message. One of God’s greatest desires is to reach into the experience of the abused, the persecuted, the enslaved, with a true and lasting hope that will not disappoint, a hope that has the power to transform circumstances.

Our School community is frequently challenged to play a part in raising the hope of people less fortunate than ourselves. The support of projects like the Kapumfi Basic School, campaigns such as Make Poverty History and End Child Slavery, events such as the annual 40-Hour Famine, and the many other worthy causes brought to our attention throughout each year provide us who have hope with an opportunity to make a genuine difference in the circumstances of those who have little or none.

Supporting a program that seeks to bring hope where there is none is one of the most important and considerate things that we can do for our fellow human beings.

Grant Watson

Assistant to the Chaplain and Chief of Staff