A Soulful Story by The Reverend Julia Denny-Dimitriou, Associate Chaplain, St Peter’s School Collegiate (SPSC), Adelaide.
Back when I was just newly appointed to SPSC, I was rostered on to preach at Pentecost. I decided to use koala scat as a sermon illustration, drawing a parallel between signs of the Holy Spirit, and signs of koalas.
Koalas are often in the Eucalyptus trees around Adelaide, but we seldom see them, as we do not know how to look for them. Spotting a koala requires searching for the signs of their presence, such as: scat, broken branches, scratches on bark, urine markings on the ground and lots of leaf litter.
Similarly, I suggested, it takes looking with the “eyes of a willing heart and spirit” to see God the Holy Spirit at work in the world.
The younger boys particularly enjoyed passing around a container of “poop” in Chapel. Very few could identify it – Coffee beans? Kangaroo droppings? Dried herbs? – until the word got around, and students in services at the end of the week had heard what it was.
Soon after this Chapel service, a parent wrote to me and recounted the following story, which is reproduced here with permission, names changed for privacy.
“The other night after the Band performance, my son James and I had a very moving experience. I wanted to share our story with you. It really was quite incredible.
After the concert we stopped on the way home for Ice cream – yum! James and I walked home while Dad and the others drove.
On our walk home, James told me all about how, in a school Chapel service, the new Chaplain had shown the boys a small box containing Koala poop! She then went on to explain to the boys that the Holy Spirit is always with us… we may not be able to see it, but it is there. Just like koalas are there in the trees… we may not be able to see them, but they are there. Such a lovely story!
We happened to be walking down a street with gum trees around us, but it was too dark to see anything in them.
As James and I headed inside the house, Dad said, ‘Guess what we just saw?’
‘What?” I asked.
‘A koala!’ Dad burst out.
‘Pardon?’ I said. The look of astonishment on my face surprised my husband, as I have seen koalas before, but he didn’t know about the profound koala discussion I’d just had with James. ‘Are you serious?’
‘Yes,’ said Dad. ‘It was just outside our house as we got home! We took some photos.’
We had never, ever seen a koala in our neighbourhood trees before. James and I raced outside to look up and find the koala in the tree. Sure enough, a young koala was hanging out just outside!
What a miracle and an amazing reminder. An incredible experience for us all.”
