sustain:if:able kiwi

forgiveness and Kiwi culture

News from Bible society that well known Kiwi author, Joy Cowley, is writing a children’s book about Tarore.

“In 1835, Bible Society published 100 copies of the Gospel of Luke in Maori. In 1836, missionaries gave one of these Gospels to a young Maori girl, Tarore, at a mission school near Matamata. Tarore’s subsequent acceptance of the Christian faith and her murder at a young age had a great impact upon the Maori people with many coming to faith as a result.”

The risk of this is hagiography, overwrought emotional embellishment at the expense of truth, and the choice of Joy Cowley is wise in helping to avoid this.

The opportunity is to tell a Kiwi story in which forgiveness does have legs. I noted a few weeks ago the lack of such stories in Kiwi workplaces a few weeks ago. (This did spark quite some discussion among my theological colleagues, one of whom pointed out the differences between Pakeha and Pacific Island peoples, given a number of recent high profile incidents when Pacifica have shown public forgiveness.)

Anyhow, the Tarore story is the telling of a Kiwi story: of the murder of a 12 year old, of her father who preached forgiveness at her funeral, of the Bible stolen from the 12 year old which was then read, leading to the conversion of one of the murderers, and being instrumental in the spread of the Christian gospel down the lower North Island and into the South Island, through Tamihana son of the paramount chief, Te Rauparaha.

So forgiveness does have legs, in at least one place, in our Kiwi past.

Waitangi Day 2009: updated as synchroblog shapes up

(part of Waitangi Day 2009 synchroblog: synchrobloggers include …. Paul Fromont : Steve Taylor : Lynne Taylor : Mark Nichols : Stu McGregor …. (if you have blogged on being Kiwi, being Christian as part of Waitangi Day 2009, let me know and we can share the linking luv.)

I grew up in Papua New Guinea. It was by and large a great childhood, filled with mostly great memories. And a few not so good, including once being stoned. I and some expatriate friends were walking home one day, a walk of about 45 minutes in length, along a dirt road, with grass banks on either side. As we started, we noticed some local Papua New Guinean’s following us, walking above us on the grass banks. They started yelling, and gesturing. It didn’t feel very pleasant and we started to walk faster. So did they. Suddenly a stone started whistling through the air. And we ran. Chased down the road, a group of kids, chased by another group of kids, throwing stones.

Childplay? I suspect it actually was more like an early experience of bad race relations, and that I was a victim of “white man go home.” Which was hard to take as a kid, with very little choice about the actions of their parents.

One of the things I admire about Barak Obama is his appeal to a “better history.” Rather than focus on what divides, there is this ability to speak to hope, to the future, and to the best in us as humans. I wonder what Obama-speak means for New Zealand on Waitangi Day. I wonder what it means to speak to hope and future and the best of Maori and Pakeha.

One of the spiritual disciplines I have found useful in the last few years is appreciative inquiry. It involves asking people and groups to describe when they were at their best. Often out of those stories, come the values that take people into a new future. I think Paul the Apostle does this in the Bible, starting each of his letters with very specific thanks for the unique community he is writing to. The themes he introduces in the thanksgiving then shape the rest of the letter, and his ethical call to live differently. Practically for me, this has meant looking for the best in people and giving very specific thanks for that. I’ve seen it change people and situations.

I think that’s what Obama has done in USA. He’s practised a form of appreciate inquiry, sought to speak to the best of a nation’s past, and in doing so, uncover values which take a nation forward. This has the danger of white-washing the past, but the appeal of allowing shared values to inform the call to live differently.

Sometimes discussion between Maori and Pakeha takes me back to my childhood experience in Papua New Guinea. I hear yelling and sense the whistle of stones and groups retreated in monocultural huddles, to nurse their wounds among their own crowd. It might be that I simply need to get over my childhood. Or is that we need another approach, that of Obama and appreciative inquiry.

In the last few weeks, I’ve been part of conversations in which words like “coloniser” have been used. It felt like I was back with someone throwing stones, being blamed for the actions of my forbears. Equally when I hear Pakeha talk about the “Treaty industry” I again have this sense of stones being thrown.

So, in 2009, I want to say thanks: specifically,
– for the Maori language week and the beauty of Te Reo on our national news
– for the Waitangi Tribunal and their search for clear, open, informed truth
– for the Anglican three tikanga system which gives voice and diversity
– for the 2008 albums by Tiki Tane and Paddy Free which place Maori chants on our radio waves

and in doing so, I am hoping to live into a “better history” in which the stones that are the blame game are put down and an ever growing honesty and diversity shape the New Zealand story. I’d like this for my church and my family and the way I interact in public and in the internet.

waitangi day 2009 synchroblog

Anyone interested in joining in a Waitangi Day Synchroblog?

Over the last few years, I have taken Waitangi Day as an opportunity on my blog to reflect on various dimensions of being Kiwi and being Christianity (2006, 2007 and 2008 ). I’ve found it a worthwhile exercise and thought it would be fun to create a Waitangi Day Synchroblog (an invite for any and all to blog on a shared theme).

So this is an invite to any and all Kiwis to join me: and reflect together on February 6, 2009, on what it means to be Kiwi and be Christian. Any angle, any perspective, any media welcome.

If you want in, just say so and leave your URL. I will then produce a list of all participants so everyone can link to everyone else on Waitangi Day. (Feel free to pass this on to others in your networks you know who may be interested. OE Kiwis welcome too.)

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:

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?

youth ministry in the pacific rim

Great post from Mark Ostriecher on the Asian future of youth ministry.

I appreciate the humility of his opening: let’s face it: the united states hasn’t been leading most international youth trends for many years

Question 1: If US is not at the leading edge, then why is NZ youth ministry still so shaped by American models?

Question 2: What could it mean for New Zealand youth ministry to engage with Asian youth trends?

Anzac Day worship

At the door, everyone got given (the free gift) of a red poppy. I talked in the sermon about Anzac Day and how it leads me to Jesus;
from dark to dawn
voluntary sacrifice (John 15:13)
that forms a new community (1 Peter 2:9, 10)
practising forgiveness and grace (Ephesians 2:13-14)
and in our dying, resurrection life is born (Galatians 2:20)

By way of response, people were invited to say thanks by pinning their poppy on a rough wooden cross wrapped by barbed wire. It was quite something watching people crowd forward and seeing the love.

anzac day dawn parade

Christchurch Square. The place is packed. I have to park 4 blocks away, on the far side of Barbadoes Street. It is standing room only all around the Square, all at 6:30 am on a public holiday.

The PA system is not working and for a 30 minute service, we will basically hear nothing. Still the thousands in the crowd will stand motionless. There is no texting, no talking, no hilarity. Fathers hold babies. Children stand. Teens cuddle.

The service has good ritual moments – the trumpet, the gun volleys, the silence, the band playing, the wide variety of participation by bands and wreath laying groups.

There are 5 songs, with brass band accompaniement. But no one sings. Is this because we have no words? Or know no words? Or need no words?

Once finished, the crowd pour onto the centotaph. Young and old lay poppies, their poppies. I will go for breakfast and return through the square and past the centotaph 2 hours later. Still young and old are gathered, looking at the wreaths.

And they say there’s no such thing as Kiwi spirituality; when thousands of people gather at dawn, when they stand motionless for 30 minutes, when they remain for hours to personally adorn a memorial?

updated: would Jesus smack children?

Update: I have added in the sermon “would Jesus smack?” to this post.

Further to my post regarding the anti-smacking legislation, I am preaching on the topic this Sunday: Raising children in an anti-smacking society.

I am aware of the dangers of mixing the pulpit with politics. But it is a hot topic in our New Zealand culture. The Biblical text is Luke 18:15-17; where Jesus welcomes the little children. What would he do if one of those children mis-behaved? We are dedicating Samuel Taylor, one of 10 children born in recent months. So our families are facing the issue of raising children.

So would he? Would Jesus smack children?

Update: OK, here is my sermon. It is for the sake of discussion, and I hope people read it as a discussion document.

(more…)

anti-smacking legislation

I sent the following email to my local MP, to Sue Bradford and to the political parties I am most likely to vote for in the next election. (For my many readers from outside New Zealand, our Parliament is voting this week on a piece of legislation that would make the act of parent smacking a child a criminal offence.)

In no way do I condone the unacceptably high levels of violence shown to children in New Zealand society. However the legislation as it stands seems to me to be a blunt instrument and a poor response.

I would ask you to consider these issues as the Law goes before Parliament,

local and global

I am a long way from home. I have flown many miles to sit among many accents, spending the next 4 days in a roundtable conversation with 20 others around the topic of mission to Western Culture.

Our starting point is the suggestion that mission does not start with the theory and the general, but in the local church, in the everyday lives of the peoples of God. I smile at the irony in this: I am a global traveller to a many-accented conversation about the local.

So with my heading spinning between local and global it was good to receive news of this:

Culture Yeah Right is a collection of essays (3 by me), plus an accompanying DVD, that explore the nature of culture, and the implications for ministry among the real lives of our young people. Culture Yeah Right is based on the conviction that ministry practitioners in this country have a lot of experience and wisdom to offer both here in Aotearoa-New Zealand and the international youth ministry scene. It’s aim is to provide local-grown resources and stem the tide of always gazing seaward for overseas youth ministry resources.

Link

WWJS (where would Jesus sit?)

I am teaching a class on being Kiwi, being Christian at the moment. Tomorrow we are exploring the Treaty of Waitangi, New Zealand’s founding document. I am raising questions of justice, facing the past, Christianity and post-colonialism. I mean, where would Jesus sit in relation to the Treaty of Waitangi? As part of stirring the pot, I’m going to be using an artpiece of Douglas Coupland’s (photo taken by John Drane). View image – 120K