Scotch College

The Cost of Building a BridgeChaplain’s Reflection

I think it was James Watt who said, “In all things, but especially in engineering, the essence of beauty is simplicity”. It was, in part, the beautiful simplicity of bridges that drew me into the study of Civil Engineering. Since those long ago days I have met several civil engineers who, like me, opted to build bridges of a different kind through Christian ministry.

Another kind of bridge building was described when Year 8 listened to a representative of the ‘Magic Bus’. He told of an extraordinary and exciting ministry bringing hope to thousands of children from the slums of Mumbai. It is estimated that 2.6 million of Mumbai’s children are street and slum dwellers, with over 400,000 of these involved in prostitution.

The Magic Bus is a charity that uses the fun and recreation of football (the game we call soccer) to bring lessons about living into the lives of thousands of children. The Magic Bus now has the support of the English Premier League. Football (as we know it) has also been a bridge by which indigenous boys from remote and seemingly disadvantaged parts of Australia can feel comfortable making the transition into our comparatively enormous and complex School and city.

Matthew Spacie, who started the Magic Bus in 1999, made his first trip to India in 1986 as a student volunteer with the Sisters of Charity in Calcutta. Later, as a graduate working in India, Spacie used his weekends to teach sport to groups of children at risk. Through regular practices, they were taught discipline, self-esteem, hygiene and the importance of respecting team members, in a healthy competitive environment.

Such support of disadvantaged children is vitally important. Also vitally important today is the erosion of alienation among disaffected groups. Clearly the health of any society is dependent on high levels of civility. This means that individuals and groups within the society affirm the value and worth of each human being.

How does one bridge alienation and disaffection? Baptist minister and Old Scotch Collegian Rev Dr Tim MacCowan has taken a small but significant step in this direction with his Building Bridges Program. As part of his program six Year 10 students from Scotch meet with groups of Year 10 students from Catholic, Jewish and Moslem schools for discussion of a range of issues. The program has been running over several years and among numerous schools. Stereotypes are always eroded and friendships typically arise.

In Christian teaching the person of Jesus bridges the greatest void. The gulf between the Creator and the creature is bridged by the incarnation. Christians acting in the spirit of Jesus will themselves bridge gaps of all kinds. It seems beautifully simple, but, as for Jesus, this often entails painful consequences for those involved. Jesus said it is a cost his followers must be prepared to pay.

Graham Bradbeer