onlyontuesday
  • Blog
  • About
  • Quotes
  • Nature
  • Destinations
  • Subscribe

The shoemaker

4/30/2019

2 Comments

 
Picture
When I was a little girl, I loved the story of The Elves and the Shoemaker. The shoemaker and his wife were terribly poor. One night, with a heavy heart, the old man got out his very last piece of leather ready for the morning and went to bed. When he arose in the morning the leather had been turned into an exquisite pair of shoes, which were bought on the spot by a lady willing to pay twice the price ... its a long story.  
 
So perhaps it was the little girl in me that got so excited last week when I discovered a real shoemaker’s shop right in the heart of the Sydney CBD. And not just any shoemaker’s shop but a delightful, whimsical, out-of-a-storybook-sort-of-shop.
 
I stumbled on it by accident and it instantly captured my imagination. It has an old-world feel. The windows are filled with old lasts and tools, quaint but beautiful boots and a sense of time stood still.  
Picture
Picture
Picture
The shoemaker is Andrew McDonald. He was living in London and working as a freelance photographer when he was given a commission to photograph a shoemaker. The whole experience fascinated and inspired him and the two became good friends.
 
Andrew had found what he wanted to do with the rest of his life. He returned to Australia, went to college and learned how to make shoes.  A few years later he won a Churchill Fellowship to study in London, France and Italy, an experience that has significantly influencing the shoes he has made over the last twenty years.
 
His shoes are bespoke, handcrafted to a high standard with quality materials. Unlike the mass produced shoes available in shoe shops everywhere, they are made to last and each pair is unique.
 
There’s something terribly satisfying about finding something made by hand using the skills of a bygone era, craftsmanship largely lost or forgotten in our rush into the mechanical and digital age. His shoes are a work of art.
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
It took me back to a small hospital in Niger where an old man hand-crafts shoes for those whose feet had been misshapen by leprosy or disfigured at birth. He’s a shoemaker to the outcasts of society.
 
Every pair has to be uniquely crafted to support the deformity, to give them a strong foundation, enabling them to walk. His tools were incredibly basic but the old man was innovative. The work was arduous but his was a gift of love. Every stitch said, “I care” to people who had never known real care.
 
Two shoemakers from very different worlds, one sharing his talent with those who can afford bespoke and the other gifting those who have nothing of this world’s riches and who have know only exclusion.

Some of us will have our names in signage but most of us will work quietly in the back blocks unrecognised by the world. It's so easy to compare ourselves to others but that’s a terrible waste of emotional energy. I can’t know another person’s heart any more than I can walk in their shoes.
 
Each of us is unique and valuable as is the path we tread. Its not what we give but how we give it that is truly significant ... to give with love, compassion and grace.

A day in the life of Andrew McDonald
2 Comments

Lest we forget

4/23/2019

1 Comment

 
Picture
You may never have heard of them. Two men from different sides of the world who created a masterpiece that lives on long after their too-short lives came to an end.
 
Rayner Hoff was born on the Isle of Mann, the son of a stonemason and wood carver. He studied at the Nottingham School of Art before serving with the British Army on the Western front during WW1. After the war he attended the Royal College of Art in London and won numerous awards including the British Prix de Rome.
 
He moved to Australia when he was 28 becoming head teacher of modelling and sculpture at East Sydney Technical College. He became known as the leading Australian sculptor of his day.
 
Charles Bruce Dellit was born in Darlington, Sydney, the son of a furniture manufacturer. Dellit trained as an architect and designed a number of city buildings, pioneering the Art Deco style in Australia. In 1929 his design for the ANZAC War Memorial in Hyde Park, Sydney, was chosen from 117 entries.
 
It was a project that would bring together these two very different but equally talented men to create what is thought to be the finest example of Art Deco in Australia.  


Dellit based his design on three words, Endurance, Courage and Sacrifice and each one is beautifully interwoven through every detail of the magnificent structure. ​
Picture
One hundred and twenty thousand gold stars cover the domed ceiling, representing each fallen soldiers.
Picture
Beyond the building itself lies the Pool of Reflection, Dellit’s invitation to all of us to stop and reflect on the lives given and the freedom won.
Picture
Picture
Picture
Hoff’s statutory is all encompassing. Sixteen seated and four standing figures of servicemen and women adorn the memorial. 
Picture
Hoff's sculpture, Sacrifice. A soldier who has given his all, lays on his sword and shield. Beneath the shield Hoff depicted three women, a wife, a daughter and a mother. He wanted to honour all female contributors to the war effort stressing that “Thousands of women, although not directly engaged in war activities, lost all that was dearest to them”, women who lost fathers, husbands, sons, brothers and fiancés.  
Picture
Picture
The memorial is striking in its beauty and simplicity, a blend of the talents of two men whose lives intersected for a few short years. Ironically both men died in their forties but their gifts, if not their names, will live on forever in this a hall of memories.
Picture
Our lives are a series of intersections with the people who have been a part of our journey. Each one has made an impact on the people we’ve become, whether they have stumbled across our path for a short while or been there for the long haul.

As I look down the trajectory of my life I remember the encouragers who’ve spurred me on to do things I wouldn’t have ever imagined I could do. Those who’ve challenged me to see things differently or to face the things in my life that needed to change … those who did it gently and with great love and those courageous enough to be brutally honest.
 
There’ve been those who’ve collaborated and together we’ve achieved what would never have been possible alone; like Dellit and Hoff, our blended talents and combined thinking have achieved great things.  
 
The ANZAC Memorial is much more to me than a great piece of architecture or a monument to those who sacrificed their life, it's a reminder of the important things in life, loyalty, respect, mateship, sacrifice and honour, things that seem to be frequently missing in the world today.

We seem surrounded on all sides with hatred, bitterness, divisiveness, greed, hunger for power and lack of respect, all the things that brought about the wars which ravaged our world. The peace and freedom for which so many laid down their lives feels so fragile in the light of the persecution being experienced throughout the world at the moment. How quickly we forget.

1 Comment

That elusive peace

4/16/2019

0 Comments

 
Picture
My friend’s life has been greatly shaped by the words of wisdom her mother spoke to her the day before she died. I’m sure there’s a certain urgency when death is imminent to skip the niceties and say what is most important on your heart.
​
I’ve been thinking a lot about that as I’ve been wandering through John 14 over the last few weeks. Jesus knew that his death was close and realised the grief, confusion and fear that lay ahead for his disciples.
 
In those days leading up to his crucifixion he said a number of things to try and prepare them, not just for the agony of his death, but for the road they would walk beyond it.
 
Tucked in amongst the numerous things he said to them was an amazing promise in verse 27, “I am leaving you with a gift – peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give you is a peace the world cannot give. So don’t be troubled or afraid”. I like that wording because it isn’t some vague concept of peace but strikes at the core of the practicalities of peace in my everyday life.
 
Peace of mind – how we all need that in the crazy, busy, often turbulent days in which we live. Peace in the middle of the night when sleep escapes us and our mind fills with a thousand competing thoughts, peace when there’s vital decisions to be made and we aren’t sure of the best way forward or like the disciples, we struggle with grief, confusion, loneliness or fear.
 
I love that the mind comes first because we will never have peace of heart unless we first have peace of mind. It's the battleground, the place where the battle is won or lost.
 
It's the place where doubt and fear want to crowd out faith and were we find a myriad of ways to justify what we want to do. The mind is a miraculous gift but can be a controlling curse, magnifying and exaggerating things out of all proportion.
Picture
I think the apostle Paul must have learned a thing or two about this battle of the mind. He expresses it so well in Philippians 4:6-8.  “Don’t be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus”.
 
How many times have you heard these verses quoted and that’s where it ends? Paul didn’t stop there.
 
He goes on, FINALLY, when you’ve done all that, and here’s the important bit, fill your mind with all that is true, pure, lovely, noble and praiseworthy and think on these things. When we empty our mind of all those anxious, repetitive thoughts a void is left and if we don’t fill it with something else the old thoughts will march right back in and we’ll find ourselves worrying all over again.  
 
I know that feeling well, but when I can manage to sift my mind to all the times God has answered in the past, the often miraculous ways he has provided and his amazing faithfulness throughout my life, I get a taste of that wonderful peace of mind and heart, and its easier to trust him with the current struggle.
 
Isaiah obviously understood that when he said,
 
You will keep him in perfect peace,
Whose mind is stayed on You,
Because he trusts in You. 
 
I can’t help thinking that if my mind was focused on those true, pure, lovely, noble and praiseworthy things on a regular basis maybe I’d have a whole lot less worrying and anxious thoughts to contend with.
 
But more often than not I get caught up in the sprint of everyday life and sometimes it feels like a marathon … the urgent thoughts take over … life gobbles the best of intensions and peace becomes elusive.

Picture
A midwife missionary I’ve known for many years has been training birth attendants in villages in Africa where infant mortality rates are high. The results have been encouraging. But at the end of last year as she rested under a timber awning, grabbing some respite from the unrelenting sun, the awning gave way, causing horrific injuries to her head, face and eyes.
 
Surgery and treatment in three hospitals in Africa and more once she return to Australia have made it a long, slow, painful road to recovery and there is still a long way to go. There’s been grief and loss.  Yet she said, “I never thought that I would face such an accident bravely, yet God enabled me to be positive and thankful.”
 
She trusts the one who knows the future she can’t see at the moment and was able to say, “But I have never doubted God’s goodness or that he has a purpose in this rough road that I’m travelling”.
 
That’s the gift, peace in the midst of unthinkable suffering.
 
As Jesus faced the reality of the cross, he knew Judas would betray him, Peter deny him, and the fickle crowd turn against him and yet he could say, “MY peace I give unto you”. There was nothing elusive about that peace because it didn’t rest on his circumstances but in his unwavering trust in his father’s love and sufficiency.
 
And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
0 Comments

One in ten thousand

4/9/2019

1 Comment

 
Picture
Varkey Foundation
She was five foot tall and the epitome of a dignified English lady. I wouldn’t dare to guess her age although I remember she seemed quite old to me at the time. She lived around the corner from my grandmother in a whitewashed cottage every bit as neat and precise as she was, with an immaculate rose garden across the front.
 
Despite or perhaps because of her petite stature, she would stand no nonsense and yet of all my teachers she stood out as the one who invested most significantly in my life. Miss Russell   taught me English and history for most of my high school years and I am forever grateful that she saw something in me that she chose to nurture and nourish.
 
I can still picture her today as vividly as if I’d just left her room … pleated woollen skirts and twin sets in somber tones with a string of pearls at the neck and except in the hottest months, a light latte coloured jacket. I was a little afraid of her but she had a determination to enable each student to be the best they could be. She was a catalyst for change in so many young people’s lives.
 
We’ve all had them, those generous souls whose passion for teaching and enthusiasm for their subjects changed something in us, giving us a new understanding, leading us to a new confidence in ourselves or unlocking a latent talent that took us in fresh directions. 

I once heard someone say, "Each student is a gift to a teacher. They get to unwrap the gift and discover the gold inside".

Picture
Recently ten teachers were chosen from 10,000 nominees from 179 countries, to participate in the 2019 Global Teacher Prize, competing for a prize of one million dollars. Ten teachers from all corners of the world, including Australia, waiting anxiously for the big announcement.

​The winner, Peter Tabichi, a maths, science teacher from a school in a remote, semi-arid part of Kenya's Rift Valley, where drought and famine are frequent. Ninety-five per cent of his students live in poverty and nearly a third are either orphans or from single-parent families. 

Peter Tabichi is a Franciscan brother who gives 80% of his monthly income to support children who would otherwise not be able to attend school. With serious shortages of equipment and teachers Peter often has 60-70 pupils in his class. He use to teach at a private school with ample equipment and a more significant wage but chose to leave that behind to invest in a small school and a community with far greater need.
​
He is raising the aspirations of students. Some have been successful in national and international science competitions including the Royal Society of Chemistry in Britain. He is one man in a remote village of Kenya and yet he is proving the power of one to change lives and make a significant difference.
 
That’s often all it takes, one person to love, care and understand, to change a life.
 
Hugh Jackman hosted the Global Teacher Prize event. In his opening speech he remembered one of his schoolteachers, Lile Jones, who for two years encouraged him to not just play the part but to become the character. One night something change and he found himself in the character. Half way through the play, a deep, booming voice called out, “Yes, finally!”
 
One teacher invested in a boy who became the actor we know and love today
Picture
The mind boggles at the power within each of us to make a difference, whether through our secular employment or through our everyday interactions. Never underestimate the power of the moment you took to care – you may have been the only one. All around us are people struggling, starving for love and to know they are valuable. Often it's the people who appear to have life all together, the ‘successful’ ones, who are the emptiest of all.

The more I've learned about Peter Tabichi, the more he has inspired me. He makes no apologies for basing his life on the prayer of St Francis of Assisi - Lord make me an instrument of your peace, Where there is hatred let me sow love ... For it is in giving that we receive
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned ...
so when asked if he would use some of the prize money to replace his motorbike with a car, he said, "No". He doesn't consider the money to be his but to be used to better equip the school and to alleviate poverty in the community.

​He believes that the lives you help to change are the most valuable contribution you can make in life.

There on the glittering stage in Dubai, surrounded by the greatest luxury the world has to offer, a selfless man of faith shone a light on the most important thing in the world, the gift of love. 


Enjoy a glimpse into the life of Peter Taichi 
1 Comment

Messy endings

4/2/2019

1 Comment

 
Picture
It was 6am when the phone rang. The call I’d feared. They weren’t sure how long my mother had to live. I dressed quickly and made it to the nursing home by 7am to find her clinging limply to life. She looked peaceful, as if the days of pain and struggle had taken their leave.
 
I settled down beside her and held her hand. What does one say when all is said and done and there is nothing left but deafening silence?
 
I read the scriptures to her and prayed, hoping she would hear and find comfort, but much of the time I thought about her almost 90 years of living. This dying lady was once a vibrant young woman. Her now twisted fingers had once danced across exquisite fabric, turning it into haute couture masterpieces. I thought about all those years she had been my mum, and the sacrifices she made for me; how in her own simple way she had left her mark on so many people’s lives; how she’d adored her grandchildren and delighted in their every endeavour. 
 
Then came cancer with all its agony and ugliness and round after round of radiotherapy. Finally she suffered the loss of independence and the ability to do anything for herself. It seemed an undignified end to a beautiful life.
 
In the weeks that followed I felt empty and lost. I missed my mum terribly, although I was grateful she was at peace and free from suffering, but I was facing another ending, one I had been completely unprepared for. My father had died 6 years earlier and suddenly I realised I was no longer anybody’s daughter. This role I’d had since the day I was born, I had no more. The loss was intense.

Picture
Picture
It came almost as an epiphany this week when I realised that few endings are neat and tidy, mostly they’re sad or horribly painful and frequently messy. You see, as a writer, I struggle with endings. I have a file chock full of beginnings and middles waiting in anticipation of one day finding their endings.  I’ve often wondered why endings are so hard, but of course they are in life too.
 
We move house and leave behind people we love, the dog has to be put down, the friendship ends or the kids’ leave home, and we’re left with an strange emptiness … even in the everyday things, endings are rarely easy.
 
I wonder if I’ve ever fully appreciated the importance of endings. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow said, “Great is the art of beginning, but greater is the art of ending”. Of course he was speaking from a literary point of view, but I think it applies equally to life. Endings tend to focus us on the importance of life, and its brevity.  They have a way of waking us up; making us reevaluate.
 
They are inevitable … the end of the movie, of our schooldays, of a career. That day comes when arthritic hands and feet don’t work the way they used to and knees and hips have passed their used by date, or like my mother, life itself draws to a close. Maybe mastering the art of endings is one of the major achievements of life.
Picture
It's not the endings that will haunt you
But the space where they should lie,
The things that simply faded
Without one final wave goodbye.”  ― 
Erin Hanson
 
We are often haunted by the things we didn't say or do when we had the opportunity.

The daughter of a missionary once told me about the time her parents took her to the plane that would take her to boarding school. As she climbed on board and looked out the window she was devastated to see no tears in her parent's eyes. That day remained forever in her memory and although much later she discovered that her parents had just tried to be strong for her, she said it was too late. She had spent all those years at boarding school believing that she was neither loved nor missed.

I felt her pain. Oh the power of e
ndings to remain in our memory; the good ones and the ones we regret. Her story reminded me of the importance of vulnerability and being willing to share my heart even if that means enduring more pain. More often than not we only get one shot at an ending and sometimes honesty and tears are balm for the soul.
Picture
1 Comment

    Author

    Glenyss Barnham
    ​I'm a mother and grandmother who loves  discovering beauty in unexpected places.

    Archives

    December 2022
    August 2022
    June 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016

    Categories

    All

    RSS Feed

Proudly powered by Weebly