sustain:if:able kiwi

writing today

working on a chapter for an edited book. my piece is on the relationship between Spirit of God and popular culture:

The geography of the text in Luke 9:52 is also doing theological work. While the journey to Jerusalem takes ten chapters, all of which are strikingly sparse in geographic detail, the journey begins going into a Samaritan village. Shillington notes that the “place ‘between Samaria and Galilee’ is hard to find on the map. It looks like ‘no-one’s land’, a place for outcasts or expendables.” Thus, geographically and theologically, the mission of Jesus in the move toward Jerusalem begins in this ‘no-one’s land.’ This has relevance given that for theology, popular culture and everyday life have long been considered a theological extra at best, an outcast at worst.

Abel Tasman or spirituality of space and place

The shell picture at the top of this page/blog is an image Mike Crudge (fellow pilgrim at Graceway and Baptist pastor) created from one of his photographs taken on the Abel Tasman Coastal Track in the South Island of New Zealand. Mike has recently published a book on this walking track comprising of a photographic journey from start to finish showing the best bits of the track. He’s a bit of a fanatic, having walked the track every summer since 1997, and taking different friends with him each year (a testimony to his pursuit of a local spirituality of space and place).

The Abel Tasman is a favourite for our family – a place walked on our honeymoon, then kayaked with friends some years ago. Last summer we took the kids and kayaked with them on day trips into this beautiful part of New Zealand, what many Kiwi’s, along with many, many tourists, call “the best bit of New Zealand.”

If you’ve done the Abel Tasman you’ll find this book reminds you of the good times, if you haven’t yet been there this book should make you book your ticket and secure your track pass.

The book comes from his love of the National Park and of photography. As far as Mike knows it’s the first book of its type: a pictorial book on a bit of New Zealand, printed in New Zealand, on paper made from sustainable forests and recycled material, so it’s a book with a conscience (it carries the Forest Stewardship Council certification logo meaning each step of the process from the planting of the tree to printing the book hasn’t oppressed people or the environment).

It’s a small (240mm x 170mm), soft cover, 50 page, full colour book selling for NZ$17 and can be posted anywhere in the world when bought from Mike’s website here:

face to face: a mask too far?

I hate being a projection of people’s past. If you’ve got a problem with pastors then that stinks. But why dump that on me?

I was talking yesterday with a group and the blessing in Numbers 6:26 came up – May the LORD turn his face toward you, and we talked about what it might mean to really be face to face with someone.

And when you place a “mask” on me, constructed by your previous experiences of religion, then surely that makes it hard to have open and honest communication, simply because you are not actually talking to me face to face, but to a projection of what has been? Or is that too hard an ask, and in fact all our human encounters are coloured by our past, and we’re all putting masks on each other?

God at the races? you bet!

I went to the races yesterday, specifically, the New Zealand Cup, our nation’s most prestigious racing day.

1. I was struck, moving to Christchurch in 2004, at the buzz around the New Zealand Cup. What was going on? What excited people? What did it say about our society, including our local Canterbury society?
2. I teach a course that includes skills in listening to the everyday narratives of people, groups, communities and culture. One way to listen is to participate and observe people on festivals and public events. That includes the New Zealand Cup.
3. Being on sabbatical gives me time to do research, including attending a community festival, like the New Zealand Cup, with the hope of writing a paper on the everyday narratives of Kiwi’s at such events.
4. I found another Christian also interested in being a listener and learner and so felt some echo of Luke 10:1-12, in which Jesus sends out the disciples in 2’s.
5. I am good at inviting visitors to my church place, even though this is often an unfamiliar place for the people I invite. So it is good for me to reverse the roles, and to find myself in an unfamiliar world, to feel out of my depth and unsure of myself.

So I went to the races yesterday. I saw some things that moved me, including the celebration of fashion and colour and style. This seemed to echo the affirmation of God in Genesis 1 that creation is indeed good. I saw some things that disturbed me, including the vulnerable situations that young female drinkers place themselves in. This seemed to echo the reality of Genesis 3, in which God’s creation is vandalised. I saw some things that surprised me, including the singing of the national anthem and the huge crowds, despite being in the middle of a global credit crisis. I have much to think about, including what it means to speak of God’s redemption given the disparities of wealth in our society. How does a Christian respond to the vast amounts of money spent at a racetrack placed bang, smack in the middle of Addington, one of the poorer suburbs in our city?

I must also note that my presence seemed to greatly surprised some people, especially the couple who nearly fell off their seat when I told them I was a church minister. It seems that there are some places those called to be Christ-lights in the world are not meant to darken.

ethics of gardening

“You should only be allowed to vote in New Zealand when you’ve planted a kauri.” Listener

I spent the weekend in the garden. Gardening is one of the ways I re-create. The existing beds now have corn, lettuce and spinach in them. The hanging baskets have been replanted, this year mixing flowers, tumbling tomatoes and parsley to provide both colour and food. That was Saturday. On Monday, inspired by a visit to one of the “parishioners”, last Easter, (that’s another blogpost in itself), we began turning lawn into more vegetable garden.

The Warehouse were selling kitset raised bed gardens. $99 for all the materials to cover a 1 metre square. All you need to do is sink a few screws.

I then went and priced the actual wood at the local hardware story (Mitre 10). $88 for wood to cover a 2 metre square area.

So I came home pondering the ethics. Cheaper at Mitre 10, but it relies on me having the skills and capacities to cut the wood and bang in a few nails. But not everyone has those skills. So where does that leave the Warehouse.

As a Christian, it seems to me that gardening is something that should be encouraged. Good for body and soul and a more sustainable way to live. At Opawa we give out vegetable plants as part of our Spring Clean community mission day, and have done a 3 week series on Grow through Gardening, looking at gardens in the Bible and the spirituality of gardening. So I want to applaud any initiatives to encourage people into gardening. And a ready to go kit-set garden is a great place if you don’t know how to build your own.

But $99 for less, compared to $88 for more? If you don’t have the skills, is the Warehouse making money out of you? Or is is still performing a public good that should be applauded?

grow with peace along with Parihaka

Grow, Sunday, 7pm (Nov 9, 16, 23) explores the theme of peace.

First Sunday up will include the Parihaka story. This is a powerful and moving story, centred on the events of November 5, 1881, at Parihaka, a small North Island settlement, in which Maori practised peaceful and non-violent resistance in the face of white settler invasion. It is a much better thing for Christians in Aotearoa New Zealand to be reflecting on than Guy Fawkes Day, so if you’re a Christian blog reader in Christchurch, please join us.

We will also brainstorm peacemakers in the Bible, sing to Dave Dobbyn’s Welcome home and be offering some tips for personal peacemaking in our homes and workplaces.

creative sparks

Experienced this out door art installation at a winery a few weeks ago. From the outside, it was a black polythene structure, about 2 metre high and 3 metre long with a door, and intriguing puffs of smoke that snuck under the polythene every few minutes.

From the inside, it was this;

They had obviously pierced the polythene, in patterned shapes, and the use of dry ice enhanced the swirl of light.

It got me thinking about how we can engage people in public spaces. (At Opawa, we’ve got our Christmas Journey coming up, which takes Christmas outdoors.) These are stand alone, safe, secure spaces, which evoke mystery and invite experience. Perhaps one for the four weeks of Advent? Perhaps one at a Day of Remembrance or Hiroshima Day or at the opening of a Wine and food festival?

final sabbatical update

nb: my sabbatical from Opawa has ended, and thus my ability to be away and be secluded in Adelaide. However my sabbatical from Laidlaw College continues, and thus the writing project. So I intend to go out to our holiday home to write Wednesday’s and Thursday’s – pray for this – I have a lot of work to do – basically 2 book contracts and a book chapter to complete.

tuesday morning update

the weekend that was: led the Bible studies at the South Australian Uniting Church synod, offering a missional reading of Luke 1:39-45, which seemed to go really well. I took what I thought were quite a few risks – including doing a communal lectio divina with 350 people, mixing the Magnificant with Paul Kelly, offering open mic feedback – but the response was positive. Then I flew back home ! home ! home ! and ended the weekend as I started it really, doing a lectio divina, of another Luke 1 passage, at our Soak service at Opawa.

where i am at the moment: at home, in our home office, about to head to Opawa – to look at my pigeon hole after 10 weeks away, and to look into the eyes of the staff after 10 weeks away.

on my to-do list this week: not sure, but I suspect that there will be some unexpected surprises somewhere after 10 weeks away.

reading: The Race, by James Patterson, a lightly entertaining read on the flight back from Sydney.

music that’s caught my attention: International traveller by Salmonella Dub.

how i’m feeling about this week: glad – to be home, glad – to be running my river, glad – to be weeding the garden, glad – to be having a cup of tea on our deck.

mary and elizabeth action figures: updated with resources used

mary and elizabeth action figures

Mary and Elizabeth action figures making their appearance at the Uniting Church Synod today. Aren’t they gorgeous, greeting each other, with my lap top screen behind them.

Since the 350 Synod delegates met around round tables, it was easy to designate half the tables as “Mary” tables, each with a Mary action figure; and the other half “Elizabeth” tables. This allowed for an experience of communal lectio divina, wondering what it felt like to be Mary, then Elizabeth, and finally Zechariah, in Luke 1:39-45. From this flowed a chapter from the upcoming book, a missional reading of Advent, and then the table groups worked on some application questions.

I’m not sure if action figures were what the Synod were expecting when they asked a “Southern” Baptist to provide a Bible study, but it was good to be able to offer some creative Biblical interaction in a larger size group, and it certainly produced some great conversation with people over a cup of coffee afterward.

Tomorrow Mary is meeting Paul Kelly.

And here is a list of the resources I used in both sessions, as I sought to offer a (creatively, interactive-ish) missional reading of Luke 1:39-45 and Luke 1:46-56 ….. (more…)

communion with companions

I wrote the following today for my final chapel service at Parkin-Wesley; seeking to weave theologies of creation and community in relation to communion, mixed with some of my experiences of being here in Adelaide:

For where two or three are gathered
And so God created
gave us earth from which comes grain
gave us water which comes grape
made companions, for it is not good for one to be alone

And so we pause, and in the silence give thanks to God for the companionship of God’s creation

For where two or three are gathered, around table, with friends,
Jesus took bread, broke it, and gave it to them
Some would betray, some would stumble,
some would overpromise, others would underdeliver
“This is my body, which is for you, do this in remembrance of me”

And so we pause, and we give thanks to God for the body,
for our companions at Parkin Wesley, by passing the peace among each other

For where two or three are gathered: this (data projected) moment/image:
taken with my cellphone,
of a wine glass, a McLarenvale Grenache, taken at Samuels George
a Saturday two weekends ago
sitting with companions

And so we pause, and I invite you to name, first name only,
as an expression of thanks to God for the companions  – parents, teachers, lovers, friends – that have brought you to this day,

In the same way after supper he took the cup
“This cup is the new covenant in my blood
do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me”
The “Companion” wine label, a new covenant – God for us, God with us, God among us,

And so we pause, and in the silence invite the Spirit to renew us,
that in grain and grape, our companionship – with God, with each other, with God’s creation – might be renewed

Come, eat, drink,

and then, as an expression of our companionship, we will conclude by saying together the Lords Prayer

spirituality of gardening

Saw this over the weekend, in a shopfront, yep – INSIDE a shop window, pavement on left, pram handle on rigth, corn and tomatoes in the middle looking grand.  Got me thinking about how easy it is to play with space, about what it would mean to grow a garden indoors and then to actually celebrate communion, the life of God given for the world, in the middle of that garden.

indoor life

sabbatical update 8

Monday morning update

the weekend that was: in Melbourne with friends. they were unable to come to Adelaide, so I had to go to them.  Good to renew relationships with 4 groups of people.

where i am at the moment: Parkin-Wesley, having flown in from Melbourne this morning, but heading off for lunch with a local church leadership team. I’ve got three such conversations this week, joining with local church leaderships for conversations sparked off by my presence and speaking here in Adelaide.

on my to-do list this week: Speaking at Uniting Church Synod, doing a 50 minute Bible Study on Friday morning and again on Saturday morning.  And leaving Adelaide, Saturday, to return home.  So this week marks the end of my “church” sabbatical, although my Laidlaw College sabbatical continues through until the end of the year. I’m sad about that, as it has been such a richly refreshing and profitable time.

reading: Derrida’s Bible. Picked it up at a book sale yesterday for $5 and appreciating the provocative insights around Scripture.

music that’s caught my attention: Coldplay’s Strawberry Swing, and that line “without you it’s a waste of time” and thinking of my family and really missing them and wondering what I’m doing here when they are there.

how i’m feeling about this week: nervous – speaking at the Synod is a big deal and I’m trying some creative stuff and I don’t want to stuff up – and stressed – I have to clear up the relational and physical debris of my last 10 weeks – and unsettled – I have not eaten a meal at home in the last 10 days, what with all the goodbyes and relational stuff – and sad – sad to go, yet I’d be sad to stay. In other words, I’m a complex mess of feeling.

Captain underpants

I was driving back in the car from retreat thinking about children and the Bible. I have been invited to do a week long conference in Australia next year, exploring the topic of family and faith. It will require a fair bit of work, but it does give me the chance to pull a few pieces together scattered across my laptop around Bible families and inter-generational faith formation.

And in the heat of the car (it was 30 degrees outside), I got to thinking about my 8 year old cousin and his love for Captain Underpants. (And at the risk of lowering the tone of this blog considerably;

“So, what about doing a series of kids talk around the theme of “God’s big story according to Captain Underpants?”

— genesis story and the first undies;

— forming of nation of Israel and wearing the leviticus law;

— king david dancing with NO undies;

— prophets and soggy underwear for Jonah;

— Jesus first undies;

— Jesus last undies, complete with the flasher in the garden of gethsemane

— the early church, who got baptised with NO undies.

retreating along a wine trail

As part of my sabbatical, I wanted to include some time to retreat, pray and reflect. I have just had a wonderful time completing part (a), which involved walking the Riesling Trail.  I find God best outdoors and when walking, so I really wanted to do something that allowed this.   Plus a few years ago, I came across 10 excellent reflection questions, which I saw on MarkO‘s blog.  So I put the two pieces together over the last few days.

I would walk the Riesling Trail for an hour, pondering a question, surrounded by this incredibly rich mix of history, wine production and art of various sorts. Then I’d stop and journal, often with a coffee or with a tasting mixed in.  It proved very fruitful, helping me focus, opening up some surprising new insights and providing some real clarity on the next steps for my life, including Opawa.  (And I kept the tenth one back, because I think it’s worth talking about as a Taylor team :)).  For those interested, here are the 10 questions: (more…)