On Sunday our service was led by the Rev Aubin de Gruchy, Chaplain at Truro School. We were also privileged to have the Truro School Choir who beautifully sang Stanford’s Beati Quorum Via, conducted by Music Director Martin Palmer.

The theme of the service was thinking about the purpose behind our learning. Mr Aubin used passages from Isaiah chapter 6 v 1-7 and Matthew chapter 25 v 14-30 to reinforce the need to always look for the potential in others and seek to draw it out.

He told us a true story of a monastery in Bangkok which needed to be demolished to make way for a road. Inside the monastery was a ten foot clay Buddha which they wanted to preserve. Once the building was demolished the crane came in to safely remove the Buddha, but when they started to lift it the clay started to crack so they gently put it down again. It was then covered with tarpaulin.

Later that day one of the monks went to inspect it and saw something unusual within the clay – he went to get a small hammer and chisel and when he chipped away it revealed a gold Buddha beneath the clay! It had been covered years before to prevent it being stolen by insurgents.

Mr Aubin related this story to the gold within each one of us- we need people in our lives to help reveal the gold as sometimes we don’t see it – parents, teachers, friends and God. God and others can help us to become the people we were intended to become and to fulfil our potential in life.

Next Sunday is Education Sunday and our worship at 10.30am will be led by the Rev Michael Caddick who until recently was lead Chaplain at Falmouth Secondary School. He will be assisted by Alan Offord and David Gee who are both involved in working within primary and secondary schools in Cornwall. Our service will be followed by a soup and pudding lunch.