Manaakitanga - may we value it into the future- without the need of a crisis! That is a key message from the on-line panel discussion led by Waikato's Religious Diversity Centre trustee, Marc Rivers, on Monday 6 April 2020. From his Spirit of Work series: ‘Resilience in times of change: Spiritual principles that apply to our current crises’. During an uplifting online Zoom discussion panel, four speakers from different professions and different spiritual back-grounds responded to questions concerning the challenges of the present pandemic, the tools and approaches they have drawn on to deal with those challenges, and the major opportunities we can take advantage of as a direct … [Read more...]
Covid-19
Time to Listen to our Fear - Sande Ramage Kali the Labrador, my closest living being, is in COVID19 lockdown with me. She’s the leader here because, like her wolf ancestors, she lives out of instinct, attuned to unseen forces and energies. But if I pay attention, she gives me clues about how to be in service to an inner authority, rather than kowtowing to external systems I’ve absorbed from family, religious, political or cultural groups. Understanding where our individual source of authority arises from becomes even more important when we are living isolated lives, watching the virus trample borders and dismantle social structures as it sweeps across the globe. In such a … [Read more...]
Life in the time of Covid-19
Our life has its seasons, and God has the reasons, Why spring follows winter, and new leaves grow for there’s a connection With our resurrection That flowers will bud after frost and snow, So there’s never a time to stop believing, there’s never a time for hope to die, there’s never a time to stop loving, these three things go on. There’s a time to be hurting, a time to be plucking, A time to be saving, a time to spend, A time to be grieving, a time to be dancing, A time for beginning, a time to end, But there’s never a time to stop believing, there’s never a time for hope to die, there’s never a time to stop loving, These three things go on. Shirley Murray Words by … [Read more...]
Listen into Life
The Revd Dr Jenny Dawson describes her Spiritual Direction training, in Australia. Why does she go to remote Kincumber four times a year? Jenny Dawson Is it because I just love learning?Is it because I know I need more skills to offer the people who come to me for spiritual direction?Is it because I have had some formation, enough to know the riches of experiencing more?Is it because, like many of my friends, I have a child living in Australia and want to have opportunities to visit?is it because I won Lotto so have lots of money to spend on travel? All these factors are part of my response (yes to all of them except the last!) when people ask me why I am doing a course that will … [Read more...]
Five Different Gifts
The Importance of the Ephesians 4 Gifts for the Mission of the Church -An article (based on my 3 min talk) written for the AWSC newsletter following the 2019 Hui,Tikanga Pakeha But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it…So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers. (Ephesians 4:7,11) Kaye Dyer This scripture clearly indicates that these gifts are for each one of us. Jesus modeled each of these gifts perfectly. He then spread these gifts among his body calling us to work together to fulfill his mission. Unfortunately much teaching on spiritual gifts has combined lists of gifts together without taking … [Read more...]
The Way of the Cross-the Way of Sorrow 2
Nai Cokanasiga concludes her report on her time at St Georges College, Jerusalem. We departed from the College on foot to walk the Way of the Cross. We took turns carrying the cross and singing hymns. It was a Friday morning in Jerusalem and most of the shops in the city were closed in preparation for the Sabbath, the traffic was not so busy and there were fewer people. We stopped for the readings all the way to the church of the Holy Sepulchre, and completed the 14 stations. It was quite a morning with the long hours we had to wait to get into the church to visit Jesus’ Tomb. There was a crowd already there , but only 4 people can get in, so there were queues of … [Read more...]