We visited a hero of ours who now lives in Flagstaff Hills, Ian Corlett. We got to listen to his words of wisdom. He was involved heavily in the Kensington Commission Flats in inner city Melbourne, as a grassroots worker amongst the poor.

He would be happy to share that he suffered quite an incapacitating breakdown, and he found himself back in the Adelaide Hills. His encouragement and praise does not come lightly and it is an honour for us that he counts us amongst his companions.

Our encountered reminded me about the history of the “Silenced Priest” from Ireland:

When a priest was found to have some”major moral” flaw (as if we ourselves do not, theirs was usually the bottle), they were officially silenced, shipped away from the people.

Now, here is the interesting thing: If the catholic people wanted advice, they never went to the parish priest, they sought out the silenced priest, who, they claimed, had “the cure”.

How brilliant is that? They knew that wisdom and healing is borne out of suffering (and not in spite of).

Now, I am not saying that Ian has any major moral flaw, just that he has wisdom beyond measure, which is probably equal to the amount he has suffered.