Lent 1 – Hope 25 – Reflections on Michael Leunig’s Print ‘Another Way of Life’
Sermon Preached by Reverend Tracey Gracey on Sunday, 9 March, 2025.
Last year, I attended a Michael Leunig exhibition.
I wasn’t intending to buy anything, but this print and its title, “Another Way of Life,” spoke to me. It now hangs in my office at home.
During my long service leave, I arranged a retreat in my little house, which I had only moved into last year. Each day, after my check-in and conversation with my spiritual director, I was drawn to this print and decided to spend time reflecting on my ministry and my future hopes through the images.
I used a method of prayerful reflection called Lectio Visio, which involves connecting with art through our five senses.
Each of you has been given a copy of the print, and I would like to briefly lead you through this reflection. This will be much faster than the full practice, but there will be more opportunities to engage with Lectio Visio at our Tuesday Lenten Bible Studies.
As you look at the print, I invite you to identify:
- Five things you can see.
Don’t overthink the process; just notice and name the five things your eyes are instantly drawn to. - Four things you could touch.
- Three things you could hear.
- Two things you could smell.
- One thing you could taste.
[If we had more time, we would share our observations as it is often surprising how we each notice different things in different contexts.]
This is one of the reasons that I have invited different voices to speak about hope and our future hopes during Lent for we all notice and think about things in different ways.
After completing this visual activity, I sat with the images and selected those that spoke to me about where I have experienced hope and my future hopes for when I would begin my ministry in this community.
The first hopeful images were the three flowers at the top of the tree. They represent my relationship with God and the Trinity—a reminder of divine guidance and wisdom, and of how God has been actively present in my life.
Two hopeful stories come to mind: the birth of Erin and my experience with a Walford student.
[Personal sharing of these accounts]
Erin’s birth story has been a constant reminder of God’s sustaining presence in times of trouble and fear. My encounter at Walford affirmed that when we seek to reflect God’s love and openly share our faith, we may impact others in ways we never anticipate.
The next image that stood out was the teapot. I didn’t choose this image myself—when I bought the painting, I asked my youngest daughter, Adele to choose an image that represented her and she chose the teapot. This now represents my family, my hopes for them, and the quality time we share, which sustains me.
Other images that spoke to me included:
- The love heart on the plant, symbolising those we minister to and serve with love.
- The person leaning against the tree, reminding us to lean into and rest in God’s presence. For our hope comes from God.
Which then This brought to mind the scripture verses from Romans:
Our hope comes from God. May God fill you with joy and peace because of your trust in God. May your hope grow stronger by the power of the Holy Spirit.
The trumpet represents our God-given gifts and our invitation to use them with kindness and care, offering hope in times of uncertainty, darkness, and fear—symbolised by the moon above the tree.
Other hopeful images included:
- The flowers, reminding us to take time for reflection.
- The fruit and leaves, encouraging us to till the ground, grow, and bear good fruit.
- The guitar, inviting us to make music and sing God’s praises.
- The birds, calling us to notice the beauty of creation.
- The cup, symbolising drawing from the cup of abundance.
At the conclusion of my reflection I noticed that I had not included the houses in the background and wondered why but Now, I see that they represent my hopes for this community and our journey together.
Some of these houses need refurbishing which we cannot do until we have heard from our guest speakers over the coming weeks.
Your reflections and energy will help guide us as we begin this process of renewal.
I have already begun work on a couple of these “houses.” For the past three years, I have served as the Senior Chaplain for Schools SA, a 0.2 paid position. When I was appointed to this parish, I expected the Archbishop to ask me to step down. Instead, he affirmed that things were working well and asked me to continue in the role for the time being.
The funding of the senior chaplain’s position are paid to the parish.
As I have done in other parishes, I use these funds for extra for hands-on ministry. With the parish council’s approval, I have arranged for Rachel Chapman to work with me and our parish to build faith-forming links with the school.
In Term 2, Rachel will resume her ministry here. We hope to form a youth group for Year 5 students so they can remain connected with their St. Andrew’s school friends even after transitioning to high school.
We are also exploring ways to use our community centre for outreach. One idea is to establish an Anglicare Christmas hamper packing station, involving student leaders and parishioners working together.
We also hope to open the centre for morning cuppas, creating a welcoming space for parents to gather, with students helping to serve. We may even invest in a coffee machine to compete with the nearby cafes!
We are also planning to reintroduce worship opportunities for families, such as a Blessing of the Pets service, a Christmas Nativity, and Yoga Church (which has received grant funding).
Another “house” I would like us to work on together is strengthening the wonderful ministries already present in parish: Bible studies, women’s and men’s breakfasts, and the markets (if they are to continue).
We must consider how to promote these ministries and our parish to the wider community and become more invitational. What we do here is good. The way you care for, support, and accept one another is good. There are many people seeking a loving community that can offer them hope we just need to find ways to reach out so that we can be reflections of God’s love.
These are just a few of the things I have been thinking about and I am excited to hear from our speakers in the coming weeks.
As we journey through Lent, may we hold God’s message of love in our hearts and listen deeply so that we may discern where God is calling us next in our shared journey.