Paul Morrison is surely one of the busiest men in Australia. He’s currently juggling roles as a musician, a breakfast radio host, and the Chaplain of the West Coast Eagles. Most people would stick to only one of these jobs. But Morrison, guided by his faith, approaches all his work calmly and thoughtfully. Through his childhood on the farm, his mission trips to Cambodia, and his new album, today we’re inspired by the building, and the rewarding, of a busy man’s remarkable commitment to God.
Holy for Football
When Shelley Scowen spoke to him, Mr Morrison and the Eagles were still recovering from their grand final loss against Hawthorn. This was the first time they’d made the grand final in his six years with the club, and he was surprised by how shattering the defeat was for the players.
He has talked his team through highs and lows, and learned a lot about how best to help them in moments of disappointment. “When they win, and they’re up and about, they talk, and they’re extraverted. But when they lose, or on the back of something tragic, they can be a bit cold and prickly, hard to get near. So you’ve just got to watch what you say, be present, and be encouraging if you can.”
Morrison understands that for them, this is far more than just a game. Their commitment to their work is a lifestyle, with players already preparing for next season after only a month’s break. His song Believe was inspired by his realisation that the public often don’t recognise the depth of their daily sacrifice in the two hours they’re on the field.
“Being a chaplain, people often say to me, I’m not religious,” Morrison said. “And I kind of use the language, I’m not overly religious either. In fact I’d say that these guys are more religious than me, because the idea of religion is doing something and being totally dedicated, disciplined. And the word holy in fact means set apart. And God has set us apart through Christ, but these guys have set themselves apart, and in a way they’re holy for football.”
When Morrison joined the club, he knew he might meet some confusion, and even hostility from the team based on preconceptions about religion. “I said I’ll tell you my agenda straight up. I said I really enjoy music. I really enjoy football. But the two passions and loves in my life are God and people. And I said and I just want to share that love, and be apart of this community. And from that day until this, they’ve accepted and embraced me on those grounds.”
Marked by God
Mr Morrison was born in Pingelly, in the Western Australian wheat belt, where his family have been for five generations. “I grew up on the farm, my Dad was a hard-working farmer guy, and from the time I was about three weeks old my Mum was teaching Sunday school at the local baptist church. So I grew up in a small-town church Christian community, of about 900 people.”
His childhood gave him a lot of time and space to think, and the inspiration to begin learning about God. “I was home from school one day actually, when I was twelve. Was supposedly sic, meant to be in bed, and I was bored out of my brain and looking for something to do. And I picked up a book, and thought I’m going to read this.”
That book was the bible. It took him a year to read it, and when he got to the end, he began again. “So from a young age,” he said, “I guess I began to get to know the word of God, his ways, his words and his plans for us. And that really kind of marked me as a young person.”
His passion for music was born out of a similar accident. Having quit piano lessons after six months, he borrowed his sister’s guitar, and taught himself the basics. “I’d always written a bit of bush poetry at school, and did really well at that. So once I picked up the guitar, songs just started coming. I was about fifteen at the time, and just began to write songs and sing them at a few different churches and weddings, and stuff like that.”
Knowledge and Wisdom
Morrison still feels homesick for Pingelly, for the slower pace that allowed him to build the foundations of the man he is now. “I moved to the city chasing a girl when I was 22,” he said. “I managed to get her, and get four kids along the way.” His life only got more complicated from there, taking him further from where he began. “I love it when I get to go back to the farm, walk through the paddocks, and catch my breath.”
One of the lessons he took from the farm to the city is the difference between knowledge and wisdom. “We can have a lot of knowledge. We can know a lot of stuff. But wisdom is when we allow that stuff we know to sink that short distance, that six to ten inches, between our head and our heart.”
“And it’s when we reflect on the things we know, and the things we’ve done, the things we’ve experienced, and allow them to go into our heart, and filter them obviously through the word of God, that we develop some wisdom for things to come.”
In his twenties, Morrison attended bible college, and went on to become a youth Pastor. In his decade working with young people, he learned that many of the issues our society faces are born out of our relationships with our Earthly fathers. “I really got quite passionate at that time, and still am, about the fact that if a man is able to keep his word in regard to two things, that is to love his wife, and love his children, then so many things in our world today can work out.”
Music and Mission
Mr Morrison has just released his third album, Crazy Days. The lead single was inspired by his early-morning internet trawling for stories to share on his 98.5 breakfast radio show.
“I don’t know about everyone else out there listening,” he said. But at times I just think the world has gone completely mad. And I guess I contrast it to my idyllic childhood, growing up in the country, where I was probably quite sheltered, and like I said, I read the scripture from quite a young age… I look at some of the things people are doing to each other in the world, and some of the strange crazy ideas that we think are going to work. It just breaks my heart.”
Morrison will be donating most of the proceeds from the album to Compassion Australia, with whom he and his wife have been working for more than twenty years. His music has always been closely linked to his missionary work, but his first international mission trip, ironically, was not through church, but through football. “The club was doing some development work with the first and second year players, where they took a bunch of them into a context that was obviously outside their comfort zone. We went to Cambodia, we worked with an organisation over there called Tabitha, which micro finances and builds homes for the poorest of the poor.”
Picking up the Pieces was a song about Cambodia’s dark history, but also about the resilience and unfailing kindness they found in the people there. “You go over there to give, but invariably, their attitude and their perspective on life gives back to us. So it’s about the fact that we all stand together, and help each other.”
Back home, the single raised more than $50 thousand, which they used to build a school for the village they worked in. The project was so successful that two years later, they did it all again, this time roping in fourteen players, and their Mums, as the choir for Love Lead Us Home. Sure enough, a second school was recently opened thanks to their efforts, and the Eagles returned to Cambodia last November to visit it.
“What makes us rich is not what we get but what we give,” Mr Morrison said. “And I could never have afforded out of my pocket to build a school in Cambodia for $55,000. But just through the use of a song, I’ve seen miracles happen. That’s the amazing thing, when you give something to God, and just let it go, he’s able to do great stuff.”
It’s hard to believe that one man has the time to be a radio host, a chaplain, a musician and a missionary. . But through his work in Cambodia, we see the strands of Morrison’s life coming together. His love of football gave him a unique opportunity to help people. And his music brought about God’s will by moving the hearts of people back home. And more recently, his radio work lead him to write an anthemic cry for help in a time when we need it more than ever. These intersections are obviously more than coincidence.
In everything he has learnt and done, Paul Morrison has been working for a higher purpose. Thanks to his childhood in Pingelly, he knows how important it is to catch your breath, and remember the difference between knowledge and wisdom. In these crazy days, he proves that we don’t have to always be distracted and confused. We don’t even have to give up things we love, if we give them to God instead. Paul Morrison’s passion, energy and humility set an example for us all.
