13 Sep God’s good gifts
Thought for Food and what we consume is the theme for this year throughout the school. Physical food is what we eat and what fills our stomachs, and in the recent Sunday Chapel service we looked beyond this to the “food” that fills our mind and soul.
Under the banner of I am the Bread of Life, themes of God providing every good thing, our responses to God’s provision, and healthy and unhealthy choices of consumption were also explored.
During the service, Woodstock Chaplain Howard Wilkins asked the Woodstock community to consider God’s gifts and “to build a healthy mind and body and develop a lifestyle that takes advantage of the Woodstock educational experience”.
Maths teacher David Raju introduced the topic The good gifts of God. He spoke about the gifts provided by God that are mentioned in the creation story of Genesis, and jogged our memories about the gift of food given to the Israelites as they wandered in the desert.
Food and lifestyle choices were linked together by the next speaker, ESL teacher Meredith Dyson. The analogy between people consuming too much of the wrong type of food and the consequences of this was compared to nutritious food that not only satisfies human hunger but also helps a person to grow in many ways. Meredith linked the consequences of our choices in life and emphasised their importance in considering our response to God’s provisions.
A short video was then shown from the Service Learning visit to the Navdanya project during the RE retreat. This highlighted the importance of maintaining agricultural biodiversity, particularly in terms of preserving the thousands of seeds used in India over the last century. Poor choices not only affect humans but also impact greatly on the environment.
The use of creative videos and singing, led by a vibrant group of students, plus some insightful comments to ‘chew over’, left the students with much to think about as they walked down the mountain to the dorms.
The offering for the Chapel collection was to help the relief and construction efforts after the recent flooding in Uttarkashi.
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