The rainbow never sets

new thoughts for me. At the beginning of my studies I had a rather fundamentalist view of theology, but Dr. Alan Loy in particular presented an alternative view. I was soon persuaded that his way of thinking was far more acceptable and made better sense. However, some other students never got over their fundamentalist point of view unfortunately. We had to read extensively, and as there were only limited copies available at the library, very often the books were out. The library had, however, a complete set of Karl Barth's Church Dogmatics in German. I was able to read this in my own time, without needing to consider others, as none of them could read German. They all thought that I was advantaged by being able to read Barth in the original, but I didn't think so. His style was convoluted also in German and his long sentences could go on for almost half a page. I didn't find it any easier.

When we dealt with the church fathers, Allan Loy asked me to present a seminar on Origen of Alexandria. I took some time over the preparation and felt that I had learnt a great deal from it. Unfortunately, this didn't happen very often. There was only one other presentation on Dorothy Sölle, and one on the subject of creation. I found the latter a most difficult concept to understand. My stumbling block was the word 'creation'. When I eventually understood I realised that I couldn't simply apply the ordinary meaning of the word for the theological concept. Once I had grasped that, it opened up for me a whole range of new insight and understanding. From then on Theology became my favourite subject.

After passing a few exams and essays in the first year, I knew I was on the right track. Sometimes I would type out my theology notes on a stencil and share them with my mates, as some of them struggled with this subject. These notes became very handy a few years down the track.

In May 1966 I started as Ralph's assistant in the Rockdale/Arncliffe Parish. I was paid $10 per week for it and my duties were to lead two services on Sundays, alternating one in the morning and one in the evening, either at Rockdale or at Arncliffe. I was able to go there by train and leave the car back for the family. Apart from that I was expected to do two afternoons a week of pastoral work. The time there was most valuable to me and I feel that I learnt a great deal from the kind people in both congregations.

One episode stands out more than others. When I went to visit an elderly lady in a hospital, I prayed for her as I usually did, and asked God for healing. After the prayer she told me, that she knew she would not get better again, and that she was prepared to die, in fact that she was looking forward to meet her maker. I had not checked with her before my prayer what she really wanted. I hoped I would not make that mistake again.

At this time the Rockdale Presbyterian church stood in the flight path of Sydney's Kingsford Smith airport. The heavy jets made such a noise, that I had to stop for a minute or so in my sermon or prayer, as I could not be heard. It seems unbelievable that this aircraft noise is still an issue in

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