It was on a beautiful Wollongong day that I observed a tug outside the nearby Port Kembla harbour breakwater waiting for an incoming ship, the ‘Trans Future 7’. This large cargo ship cruises across the ocean at 18 knots – around 30km per hour. As it comes into Port Kembla, it slows to such a speed that it loses steerability and thus becomes totally dependent on the tug for guidance and docking. The tug ‘shepherds’ the freighter into the port, a place of safety and refuge from violent storms and rough seas, a place where it can safely unload its cargo.

In the journey of life, people, too, need to be ‘shepherded’ and ‘guided’.