Time with Tony - February 20, 2026

 

This week at the Middle School Meeting for Worship, Cameron invited us all to reflect on times when we’ve had to persevere, even when the easier choice might have been to give up. His message felt perfectly timed. With the first hints of spring in the air, there’s a sense of renewal all around campus, a time for fresh starts, new growth, and the energy that comes with the warmer air after a pretty cold start to 2026.

I shared with our students that this week also marks the beginning of Lent. Having grown up in a Catholic household and attended Catholic schools, Ash Wednesday was always a day of both symbolism and sacrifice. I remember clearly the mark of ashes on my forehead and, perhaps more vividly, the Friday school lunch of a smelly tuna or curried egg sandwich, in place of my standard strasburg and tomato sauce sandwich. In Australia, we hardly need an excuse to eat fish and chips for any meal, especially when they come wrapped in old newspaper or butcher’s paper, but still, the Friday night ritual carried meaning during Lent.

In those days, Lent was about giving something up, about sacrifice in its most literal sense. But as I’ve grown older, I’ve come to see it differently. Rather than what we deny ourselves, the season can also be defined by what we add. More kindness, more patience, more generosity, more grace. Faith, for me, has evolved into something rooted in everyday opportunity. To serve, to care, and to do better.

I challenged our middle schoolers to think about their own relationships, with each other, their teachers, and their families. How might they persevere with kindness and good intention, even when it’s easier to give up or withdraw? How might they choose to do more in small but meaningful ways?

This invitation, I reminded them, isn’t limited to those observing Lent, or any faith tradition at all. In times when our larger world can feel divided, it feels even more important for our community to pause and reflect on how we connect, how we listen, and how we extend understanding, even to those we don’t always see eye to eye with.

May this season of early spring bring each of us a moment of renewal and a reminder of the power of perseverance grounded in compassion.