{"id":10184,"date":"2012-02-02T16:31:08","date_gmt":"2012-02-02T05:31:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/imaginarydiocese.org\/bishopjohn\/?p=10184"},"modified":"2012-02-05T21:36:51","modified_gmt":"2012-02-05T10:36:51","slug":"allan-carmichael-a-true-friend","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/imaginarydiocese.org\/bishopjohn\/2012\/02\/02\/allan-carmichael-a-true-friend\/","title":{"rendered":"Allan Carmichael: A True Friend"},"content":{"rendered":"

Funeral Service of Professor Allan Carmichael OAM<\/strong><\/p>\n

St Clement\u2019s Anglican Church, Kingston Tasmania 2 February 2012<\/strong><\/p>\n

Speaking notes of Bishop John Harrower<\/p>\n

ALLAN CARMICHAEL: A TRUE FRIEND<\/strong><\/p>\n

I have been asked by Beryl (Allan\u2019s widow) to speak on Allan as a friend. It is an honour so to speak – but the greater honour is to have experienced Allan\u2019s friendship. It is an honour shared with many who are here today.<\/p>\n

Last words are precious. Before I share Allan\u2019s last words to me, I want to put them in context. One of Allan\u2019s many gifts was his ability to place events in their setting or context. In fact one of our many breakfast conversations had to do with the discipline of understanding words and events in their particular context.<\/p>\n

The context of Allan\u2019s last words to me was four privileged visits to him in hospital during his final week. We had spoken about his illness, hopes, family, friends and deep faith in the resurrected Christ. I had prayed and read the Bible with him and even managed to get his iPod going! We had also spoken of an Anglican children\u2019s camp in which the children had visited our property and played with the animals, including the ferrets, and had ridden the donkeys. Gayelene (my wife) had noted that the main attractions were very clearly the ferrets and donkeys.<\/p>\n

On my last visit, as Allan and I were finishing saying \u201cGoodbye\u201d, (for we knew it was that) Allan smiled and as he nested back into the pillows he said, \u201cFerrets and donkeys\u201d. Last words are precious. \u201cFerrets and donkeys\u201d – What do such words tell us?<\/p>\n

Of Allan these last words tell us of a man who entered into the joys of his friends and family. A person commented to me, \u201cAllan was so learned and yet enjoyed simple things\u201d. He was genuinely interested and concerned for others. He would ask after the life of my family as well as the church and nation.<\/p>\n

Allan had a good memory for the goings on in his friends\u2019 lives. Sometimes it was a bit scary!<\/p>\n

Allan asked good questions. \u201cHow did the project, meeting, visit, writing go?\u201d<\/p>\n

He was gracious and humble. It was always the institution, never himself, at the centre of his work and concerns. Hence: \u201cThe Medical Faculty at the University has gained accreditation\u201d or \u201cThe hospital is seeking \u2026\u201d or \u201cThe conference engaged significant issues.\u201d \u201cYes\u201d, I would reply, \u201cbut how did your presentation\/ chairing of a conference session go?\u201d<\/p>\n

Hospitality was a hallmark of the Carmichael family. When we first moved to Tasmania, without our family, Allan and Beryl welcomed us by inviting my wife and me to meals, the theatre and other events.<\/p>\n

I found coming from Melbourne and entering into the role of the Bishop of the Anglican Community in Tasmania to be challenging. In God\u2019s grace, I was provided with a wonderful friend who walked with me over these past 11\u00bd years. \u00a0We met fortnightly for breakfast at Hadley\u2019s Hotel. Tucked away in the restaurant alcove, we talked, prayed and shared from the Scriptures. When Allan was with you he was with you \u2013 no iPhone distraction! Allan was invariably attentive to the person.<\/p>\n

Allan was trustworthy: a confidant, a sounding board, a person who maintained confidentiality. This was so vital to me. Leadership is not easy and it is not easy to find a person of wisdom and trust who makes themselves available to walk beside you as a friend.<\/p>\n

In the Bible the Book of Proverbs speaks of friendship and is replete with the very great value of friendship. Here are a few of these friendship proverbs,<\/p>\n

Reliable friends are hard to find – Proverbs 20:6<\/a>
\nMany will say they are loyal friends, but who can find one who is truly reliable. <\/em><\/p>\n

Counsel from a friend is pleasing – Proverbs 27:9<\/a>
\nThe heartfelt counsel of a friend is as sweet as perfume and incense.<\/em><\/p>\n

Friends shape and sharpen one another – Proverbs 27:17<\/a>
\nAs iron sharpens iron, so a friend sharpens a friend.<\/em><\/p>\n

And finally, purity and integrity gain the friendship of kings – Proverbs 22:11<\/a>
\nWhoever loves a pure heart and gracious speech will have the king as a friend.<\/em><\/p>\n

Allan, being Allan, may well have had kings and prime ministers and premiers as friends, and we would not have been told about it! But above all we were the privileged ones, the kings, to be befriended by him and counted among his friends<\/p>\n

Thank you, Allan: true friend.<\/p>\n

John Harrower<\/p>\n

Related posts at, \u00a0Note on a friend’s death<\/a>\u00a0 and\u00a0 Looking forward to our final emancipation<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Funeral Service of Professor Allan Carmichael OAM St Clement\u2019s Anglican Church, Kingston Tasmania 2 February 2012 Speaking notes of Bishop John Harrower ALLAN CARMICHAEL: A TRUE FRIEND I have been asked by Beryl (Allan\u2019s widow) to speak on Allan as … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[5],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/imaginarydiocese.org\/bishopjohn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10184"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/imaginarydiocese.org\/bishopjohn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/imaginarydiocese.org\/bishopjohn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/imaginarydiocese.org\/bishopjohn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/imaginarydiocese.org\/bishopjohn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10184"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"http:\/\/imaginarydiocese.org\/bishopjohn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10184\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10211,"href":"http:\/\/imaginarydiocese.org\/bishopjohn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10184\/revisions\/10211"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/imaginarydiocese.org\/bishopjohn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10184"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/imaginarydiocese.org\/bishopjohn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10184"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/imaginarydiocese.org\/bishopjohn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10184"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}