‘…A woman of the village, having learned that Jesus was a guest in the home of the Pharisee, came with a bottle of very expensive perfume and stood at his feet, weeping, raining tears on his feet. Letting down her hair, she dried his feet, kissed them, and anointed them with the perfume…..She was forgiven many, many sins, and so she is very, very grateful. If the forgiveness is minimal, the gratitude is minimal…”’

(Luke 7:36-46)

It’s worthwhile considering what motivated this woman to so openly and freely express her gratitude toward Jesus. The passage states that she was forgiven many sins and so she was very grateful. She realised how lucky she was to be forgiven. Her guilt had gone and her sense of worth and zest for life had returned. The fact that she waltzed into a house that wasn’t her own, washed Jesus’ feet with her tears, dried them with her hair and soothed him with expensive perfume, highlights an outward expression of gratitude that did not take notice of the criticism and judgement of those around her, but rather gave her strength of character and determination that stemmed from the heart of being genuinely gratitude. To her, she was the luckiest person alive and that was all that mattered.

‘Did I ever tell you how lucky you are?’ is a relevant question that we should ask ourselves all the time.

Albert Einstein, the German theoretical physicist aptly quoted, “There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.” The perspective on life that we choose to embrace very much influences the way we treat each other, how we feel about ourselves and our strength of resilience amidst challenging times.

A former Newington staff member once shared with me how fortunate he felt to walk through the gates of Newington each day, entering into this oasis nestled within the busy inner west, being welcomed with smiles and at least seven personal greetings, all before he reached his office each morning. He reinforced how important this has been to him, contrasting this to the environment that he had previously worked, where it was easy to miss the beauty that surrounded him each day, robbed by the dominant lure for corporate success. I wonder how many Newington boys feel lucky each morning as they walk into school? There’s no doubt that one day they will, as evidenced by the 250 or more old Boys who celebrated the 70’s Club luncheon on Tuesday, May 8^th with so much enthusiasm and gratitude. The key for our current cohort of students is to grab the opportunity to realise how lucky they are now, as it will make all the difference in their lives today. The encouragement is for each boy to ask themselves the question ‘Do I know how lucky I am?’ taking the time to acknowledge their good fortune as they relish their days here at Newington.

A pearl of wisdom, courtesy of Dr Seuss’s book “Did I Ever Tell You How Lucky You Are?”, published in 1973, reminds us of how important it is for all of us to adopt a clear perspective of how lucky we are;

When you think things are bad, when you feel sour and blue,

When you start to get mad, you should do what I do…

Just tell yourself, Duckie, you’re quite lucky!

Some people are much more…

Oh, ever so much more…

Oh, muchly much-much more unlucky than you!

Rev. Geordie Barham
College Chaplain