|PIC1|"While my wife Delma was trimming my 'white' beard on the veranda, I marvelled at the remarkable changing colour of certain leaves in the canopy of the six acres behind our home," M V Tronson explained.
He pointed out that those leaves change colours every year at this time, and although they must have been imported originally, those trees have been there to observe and enjoy well before he and his family moved into their home some years ago.
"Here I am a 56-year old with still sufficient energy to keep a coal-fired power station burning to light up the city of Brisbane. However, it is only in recent years that I've slowed down a little bit and begun to truly notice and appreciate such beauty," M V Tronson noted.
So much of what is around us, M V Tronson mused, is taken for granted. He recounts that in the fourteen years he and his family lived in Moruya on the New South Wales south coast, on a ten acre allotment, he learnt to take advantage of the natural surroundings, including the remarkable sound of the Bell Minor (commonly referred to as the Bellbird).
Mark and Delma Tronson established a Tourism Ministry, 'Australia's Bush Orchestra' with natural bush paths under a canopy of an Ironbark forest and the sounds of birdsong which tourists came from around the world to witness.
"These travellers were in awe. As Bell Minors are notoriously difficult to see, we were often asked in jest, where we had placed the speakers," M V Tronson commented. "Despite this wonder shown by others every day, it was unusual for us to tune in, for we had become deaf to this wonderful symphony."
Mark Tronson reflected recently that, at the many Christian conferences he has been involved with, there has nearly always been someone speaking about being 'still' to listen to the voice of the Lord. This is one of the great themes of Scripture and one of the most difficult to employ for oneself.
This part of a Minister's life was given a huge emphasis in the best selling book 'Still Waters, Quiet Waters', written by Melbourne's Reverend Dr Rowland Croucher three decades ago.
Yet many a Minister, taking time to be 'still' so as to listen to the Lord's voice for both devotional and directional purposes, has been criticised by his congregation. For all too many, there is a misunderstanding that the Minister should be out and about for his parishioners 24 hours a day; seven days a week, while still showing model leadership by maintaining the perfect marriage and raising the perfect family.
"As stress in the workplace is acknowledged, so too it is alive and well in Christian ministry; and one of the reasons is that Ministers have not taken time out. Likewise, congregations have not recognised that if the clergy take the appropriate respite and 'time for reflection', it will be for their benefit as well as for their minister," M V Tronson explained.
M V Tronson, who is not a Pentecostal, acknowledges however that this is one area where the broad Pentecostal movement has positively influenced the Australian Christian scene, in that the Minister (Pastor) is a servant of God, not primarily the servant of the congregation.
"This philosophical position demands that the Minister (Pastor) serves God and this demands an agenda that listens to the voice of God in a situation of 'stillness'. This in turn directly impacts the vision given to their congregations and it has the potential to turn the evangelical Australian Christian arena upside down," M V Tronson pointed out.