This weekend the Catholic Church begins its year with the season of Advent - a word that tells us that Jesus is coming (from the Latin adventus). That means we are just four weeks from Christmas, the annual celebration of the nativity of Jesus.
Of course that also means presents and overeating and last-minute shopping - but behind all of that we celebrate the hope of the world.
The shopping and overeating may not reinforce that sense of hope - but the gifts certainly do - and so does that other great part of Christmas celebrations: family.
The groups working on the amalgamation of the Stoke and Nelson parishes have reinforced that with their name for the new parish which begins in February next year: Holy Family parish.
It's a great name, and even though we are sure of very little about Jesus' background, childhood, and family life, we guess that someone who turned out so well as an adult MUST have had a solid early life.
It was also something of a modern family. His father seems to have died while Jesus was still quite young so Mary ended up as a solo mother. The Holy Family started under the cloud of an unplanned pregnancy, and ended up as a single parent family. And Jesus and his brothers went on to change the world.
Christmas is the time when we remember the start of that story - but it is also the time to remember the power and importance of family. It is a time for family to gather. It may be the time for forgiveness and new starts. Maybe a time to put Jesus and family back to a more prominent place in in our lives. Maybe a time to support struggling families at a difficult time of the year for poor families.
But the next four weeks and Christmas is always the time for hope.
Thursday 26 November 2015
Thursday 19 November 2015
Giving thanks
Americans have a holiday that is so integrated into their thinking, and so neatly aligned to religious thinking that most people assume it had some sort of religious origin (a bit like Christmas). That holiday (from the original "holy-day") is Thanksgiving - and they celebrate it next Thursday.
In fact it is not religious - it started as a collective sigh of relief that early settlers had survived! And it was a continuation of their European harvest thanksgiving parties: with the help of local indigenous experts, the European settlers had grown and gathered enough harvest to likely make it through the winter.
Down here in New Zealand we see Thanksgiving only in movies and television cliches where people are embarrassed by turkeys, sit around perfectly-set tables, and hold hands to say what they are grateful for.
I'm sure that is part of it - but it is also a time for families to forego the busy routines of their lives, and be together. In modern times that has become very significant for a lot of people.
On Thanksgiving day next week, again with no obvious religious intent, the staff of Garin College will welcome everybody who helped out during the year with plenty of food and drink so coaches, tutors, exam reader-writers, and all the rest can gather and be thanked.
Hundreds of invitations have gone out. Some people will come without an invitation.
People as young as our superb student sport and academic coaches - and as old as the school's famous workshop technician will come together as the community they are, to be thanked. The community will recognise that their cog is part of the whole well-oiled machine; they may feel separate when they zip into the school, do their thing, and zip off again - but in fact that well oiled machine would not run as well without them, without their contribution.
It is not a religious event any more than Thanksgiving - but "thanksgiving" is an English word that is a translation of the Greek word "eucharist". On a much earlier Thursday Jesus "gave thanks" for the fruits of the harvest, for creation and God's love, for friends, for life itself - then he blessed the bread and wine, and shared it with the instruction to keep doing this and to remember.
On Thursday next week we remember and celebrate - at least in America, and in Garin College New Zealand.
In fact it is not religious - it started as a collective sigh of relief that early settlers had survived! And it was a continuation of their European harvest thanksgiving parties: with the help of local indigenous experts, the European settlers had grown and gathered enough harvest to likely make it through the winter.
Down here in New Zealand we see Thanksgiving only in movies and television cliches where people are embarrassed by turkeys, sit around perfectly-set tables, and hold hands to say what they are grateful for.
I'm sure that is part of it - but it is also a time for families to forego the busy routines of their lives, and be together. In modern times that has become very significant for a lot of people.
On Thanksgiving day next week, again with no obvious religious intent, the staff of Garin College will welcome everybody who helped out during the year with plenty of food and drink so coaches, tutors, exam reader-writers, and all the rest can gather and be thanked.
Hundreds of invitations have gone out. Some people will come without an invitation.
People as young as our superb student sport and academic coaches - and as old as the school's famous workshop technician will come together as the community they are, to be thanked. The community will recognise that their cog is part of the whole well-oiled machine; they may feel separate when they zip into the school, do their thing, and zip off again - but in fact that well oiled machine would not run as well without them, without their contribution.
It is not a religious event any more than Thanksgiving - but "thanksgiving" is an English word that is a translation of the Greek word "eucharist". On a much earlier Thursday Jesus "gave thanks" for the fruits of the harvest, for creation and God's love, for friends, for life itself - then he blessed the bread and wine, and shared it with the instruction to keep doing this and to remember.
On Thursday next week we remember and celebrate - at least in America, and in Garin College New Zealand.
Thursday 12 November 2015
Love one another as I have loved you
Many adults feel quite disheartened by the immature behaviour of our politicians. They certainly disappoint me at times - and this week has been one of those times. Parents and teachers work hard to encourage good behaviour and strong values in our children: it might be time for our politicians to go back to school!
Throughout the democratic world we have come to expect childish one upmanship as our elected representatives forget their roles as our servants and standard-setters, and do all they can to demean, undermine and sabotage their opponents - and groups they have decided they cannot tolerate.
Adversarial governance always ends up with immature name-calling, treating people as objects, winners and losers. And too often it seems to draw us in as we find ourselves supporting the ideas and behaviour of our favourites (who we do support - but for other reasons).
In Australasia at the moment we have added what seems to be a new dimension in our part of the world. We are fighting about how badly we can treat groups of people we have decided we don't like: people who are mothers, fathers, children. But we don't see that; all we see are the group, the gang, the different-from-us.
I understand that Australia is afraid of strangers coming to their country. I understand that they want to get rid of the sorts of people-different-from-them they have decided they don't like. But, although it is shockingly new for us in 2015, both countries have incidents from our not too distant past that we don't like to remember - incidents that we should never have allowed ourselves to forget!
There are better ways to deal with people we disagree with or fear. Just last week on 5 November we celebrated the rebellion of Te Whiti o Rongomai of Parihaka - a nineteenth century Maori New Zealand Christian pacifist who seems to have influenced the thinking and ideas of Mahatma Gandhi. He was a man who understood, and acted on that.
Politicians yelling at each other can be seen as mostly harmless posturing, albeit disappointing and setting a poor example of behaviour. But always, real individual people are being hurt. Real mothers and fathers, real children and friends and families are affected.
All of us - you and me, as well as our leaders - need to stop thinking in stereotypes and "getting one over" the other. We are all created one-by-one by the same God, who knows and loves each of us. Wherever we are, we all need to see people as they are. I recall a memorial in Rwanda where they know what this hatred can lead to ...
... and there's another Rwandan memorial that's always affected me, this one from a survivor of the sort of stereotyping we are flirting with ...
Throughout the democratic world we have come to expect childish one upmanship as our elected representatives forget their roles as our servants and standard-setters, and do all they can to demean, undermine and sabotage their opponents - and groups they have decided they cannot tolerate.
Adversarial governance always ends up with immature name-calling, treating people as objects, winners and losers. And too often it seems to draw us in as we find ourselves supporting the ideas and behaviour of our favourites (who we do support - but for other reasons).
In Australasia at the moment we have added what seems to be a new dimension in our part of the world. We are fighting about how badly we can treat groups of people we have decided we don't like: people who are mothers, fathers, children. But we don't see that; all we see are the group, the gang, the different-from-us.
I understand that Australia is afraid of strangers coming to their country. I understand that they want to get rid of the sorts of people-different-from-them they have decided they don't like. But, although it is shockingly new for us in 2015, both countries have incidents from our not too distant past that we don't like to remember - incidents that we should never have allowed ourselves to forget!
There are better ways to deal with people we disagree with or fear. Just last week on 5 November we celebrated the rebellion of Te Whiti o Rongomai of Parihaka - a nineteenth century Maori New Zealand Christian pacifist who seems to have influenced the thinking and ideas of Mahatma Gandhi. He was a man who understood, and acted on that.
Politicians yelling at each other can be seen as mostly harmless posturing, albeit disappointing and setting a poor example of behaviour. But always, real individual people are being hurt. Real mothers and fathers, real children and friends and families are affected.
All of us - you and me, as well as our leaders - need to stop thinking in stereotypes and "getting one over" the other. We are all created one-by-one by the same God, who knows and loves each of us. Wherever we are, we all need to see people as they are. I recall a memorial in Rwanda where they know what this hatred can lead to ...
“If you knew me,
and if you really knew yourself,
and if you really knew yourself,
then you would not have killed me.”
Felicien Ntagengwa
Tuesday 3 November 2015
The next step
This week at Garin College in Nelson, all over New Zealand, and - I assume - all over the Southern Hemisphere, 17, 18 and 19 year old students are leaving school to take another step in their lives.
Nearly all of those students are more than ready to throw off the uniforms, the monitoring and checking, the routines and the hierarchies of school life and try themselves out in the adult world.
So far, most are not fully aware of the size of the step they are taking.
At school older adults take care and responsibility for the growth, learning and safety of their pupils. The staff want them to do well academically - and want them to develop in positive ways as people.
But over the next week our young adults enter a world where (when they leave home) no-one they see on a day-to-day basis really will care about their life as a whole or about their personal development. They move from environments where they are genuinely loved and cherished and supported - to much more impersonal places where, at best, people are paid to watch out for them for eight hours a day, for a term or a year.
At school older adults take responsibility for the safety of their students. The adults - parents and teachers - explain how things might go wrong and try to prepare them for the step they take this week.
Adults put themselves out to provide rich and stimulating experiences. Parents support them financially with free food and accommodation, and with other necessities and luxuries.
When our students were children many of the adults around our young people did their best to make them aware of the spiritual world around them. In most families and schools that support has become a rationalisation that we each must make our own way spiritually. In most families all they can do is set an example - or just pray for their children. Some families give in to the indifference of the world and are no longer involved in spiritual formation - of the adults or children.
At school and inside families, the consequences for mistakes are mostly personal and loving (even when the consequences involve short-term pain!) Next week - and definitely next year - mistakes will have adult consequences. A growling, a detention or suspension, or a "talk" - will be replaced with impersonal failure, debt, fines, prison, or lifelong commitments.
In our families and schools the adults protect young people from the worst consequences, but in the adult world that protection quickly fades and sometimes even becomes illegal. Everyone must face their own consequences.
Even the language changes. Borrow becomes steal. Tease becomes harass. Push becomes assault. Consequence becomes punishment. Experiment becomes illegal. Risk-taking may become death.
Parents and teachers have done all we can to prepare our young people for the world they step into so lightly. There will be grief for all of them - as there was for us. Most will adjust quickly and thrive. Some will continue to need our support.
Most young people stepping out this week are spiritually aware, even if most are not particularly religious. Tell them you are praying for them. Tell them you are still there for them. They will mostly be too proud to ask, but knowing you are still their backstop is an important security.
We ask God to continue to bless them, to protect them, and guide them in their lives, and as they become the people God (along with parents and teachers) created them to be.
Nearly all of those students are more than ready to throw off the uniforms, the monitoring and checking, the routines and the hierarchies of school life and try themselves out in the adult world.
So far, most are not fully aware of the size of the step they are taking.
At school older adults take care and responsibility for the growth, learning and safety of their pupils. The staff want them to do well academically - and want them to develop in positive ways as people.
But over the next week our young adults enter a world where (when they leave home) no-one they see on a day-to-day basis really will care about their life as a whole or about their personal development. They move from environments where they are genuinely loved and cherished and supported - to much more impersonal places where, at best, people are paid to watch out for them for eight hours a day, for a term or a year.
At school older adults take responsibility for the safety of their students. The adults - parents and teachers - explain how things might go wrong and try to prepare them for the step they take this week.
Adults put themselves out to provide rich and stimulating experiences. Parents support them financially with free food and accommodation, and with other necessities and luxuries.
When our students were children many of the adults around our young people did their best to make them aware of the spiritual world around them. In most families and schools that support has become a rationalisation that we each must make our own way spiritually. In most families all they can do is set an example - or just pray for their children. Some families give in to the indifference of the world and are no longer involved in spiritual formation - of the adults or children.
At school and inside families, the consequences for mistakes are mostly personal and loving (even when the consequences involve short-term pain!) Next week - and definitely next year - mistakes will have adult consequences. A growling, a detention or suspension, or a "talk" - will be replaced with impersonal failure, debt, fines, prison, or lifelong commitments.
In our families and schools the adults protect young people from the worst consequences, but in the adult world that protection quickly fades and sometimes even becomes illegal. Everyone must face their own consequences.
Even the language changes. Borrow becomes steal. Tease becomes harass. Push becomes assault. Consequence becomes punishment. Experiment becomes illegal. Risk-taking may become death.
Parents and teachers have done all we can to prepare our young people for the world they step into so lightly. There will be grief for all of them - as there was for us. Most will adjust quickly and thrive. Some will continue to need our support.
Most young people stepping out this week are spiritually aware, even if most are not particularly religious. Tell them you are praying for them. Tell them you are still there for them. They will mostly be too proud to ask, but knowing you are still their backstop is an important security.
We ask God to continue to bless them, to protect them, and guide them in their lives, and as they become the people God (along with parents and teachers) created them to be.
Tuesday 27 October 2015
The letter of the law
I recently joined Twitter (we retired people can make time to do these things!) and even more recently got into a very focused discussion arising from the Synod for the Family about remarried Catholics being able to receive communion.
In that discussion it was brought home to me very forcefully that there are huge divides in the Church.
People who have got to know me have mostly worked out that I have a simple theology and philosophy of life: God made us in his image, so we are all spiritual beings created to mature spiritually and find our way back to God.
That means that we were all born blessed and gifted - and so the purpose of families and schools and parishes is to help us grow along that path by growing in God, sharing the blessings, and developing the gifts by using them for others.
My key understanding of our Creator is "God is love".
To me this is very obvious. It is all supported by scripture, the teaching of the Church, and reinforced by the experiences of my prayer-life. Just this week our Pope, speaking of Jesus healing blind Bartimaeus, reminded us that "even though Jesus has only begun his most important journey ... he still stops to respond to Bartimaeus' cry. Jesus is moved by his request and becomes involved in his situation. He is not content to offer him alms, but rather wants to personally encounter him."
Last week I got into discussion with very committed Catholics, members of my Twitter community, who have a strong black-and-white view that mistakes made early in life cut a person off from full participation in the Church for ever.
My understanding of the conclusions of the recent Synod is that these Catholics may be right objectively - but people in that situation always have the right to a subjective case-by-case review with their priest, and their conscience (which I see as a person's individual developing relationship with God) also plays a part. I do not know any priests in our country who would treat that discussion with a closed mind.
I would feel uncomfortable in a church that cut off prodigal members with no possibility of return.
However, one of the best things about the Catholic church is that there are about 1.2 billion of us. That is far too many for a real community - but when we break ourselves down into real communities, there seems to be a place for most of us.
That 1.2 billion is about half of the 2.5 billion Christians in the a world of 7 billion. I include these numbers not as a source of pride, but because all 7 billion were created in the likeness of God, and each has a direct link with our Creator. We are together finding the kingdom within us.
Many of those links are tenuous - but on a subconscious level at least, we are each guided by God. Some choose not to listen. Many do not know how to listen (and this includes nearly all of us at some stages in our lives). Listening to God is a skill that most are given as a seed only - and with a responsibility to water and weed and fertilise as we grow.
Perhaps some very committed people feel safer relying on clear and objective rules and find security there.
My Twitter friends may find food for thought in St Paul's comment in his second letter to the Corinthians 3:6 ...
In that discussion it was brought home to me very forcefully that there are huge divides in the Church.
People who have got to know me have mostly worked out that I have a simple theology and philosophy of life: God made us in his image, so we are all spiritual beings created to mature spiritually and find our way back to God.
That means that we were all born blessed and gifted - and so the purpose of families and schools and parishes is to help us grow along that path by growing in God, sharing the blessings, and developing the gifts by using them for others.
My key understanding of our Creator is "God is love".
To me this is very obvious. It is all supported by scripture, the teaching of the Church, and reinforced by the experiences of my prayer-life. Just this week our Pope, speaking of Jesus healing blind Bartimaeus, reminded us that "even though Jesus has only begun his most important journey ... he still stops to respond to Bartimaeus' cry. Jesus is moved by his request and becomes involved in his situation. He is not content to offer him alms, but rather wants to personally encounter him."
Last week I got into discussion with very committed Catholics, members of my Twitter community, who have a strong black-and-white view that mistakes made early in life cut a person off from full participation in the Church for ever.
My understanding of the conclusions of the recent Synod is that these Catholics may be right objectively - but people in that situation always have the right to a subjective case-by-case review with their priest, and their conscience (which I see as a person's individual developing relationship with God) also plays a part. I do not know any priests in our country who would treat that discussion with a closed mind.
I would feel uncomfortable in a church that cut off prodigal members with no possibility of return.
However, one of the best things about the Catholic church is that there are about 1.2 billion of us. That is far too many for a real community - but when we break ourselves down into real communities, there seems to be a place for most of us.
That 1.2 billion is about half of the 2.5 billion Christians in the a world of 7 billion. I include these numbers not as a source of pride, but because all 7 billion were created in the likeness of God, and each has a direct link with our Creator. We are together finding the kingdom within us.
Many of those links are tenuous - but on a subconscious level at least, we are each guided by God. Some choose not to listen. Many do not know how to listen (and this includes nearly all of us at some stages in our lives). Listening to God is a skill that most are given as a seed only - and with a responsibility to water and weed and fertilise as we grow.
Perhaps some very committed people feel safer relying on clear and objective rules and find security there.
My Twitter friends may find food for thought in St Paul's comment in his second letter to the Corinthians 3:6 ...
God has made us competent as ministers of a new covenant—not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.
Thursday 22 October 2015
Glimpse: Hiding
If I can't see you, how can you possibly see me? The little girl runs behind the chair and sits down. Invisible.
- Where's my girl? Anyone see where she went?
- Is she under the table?
- No, not there. Behind the couch? No.
- Did she go into the kitchen? No.
- Edith - are you lost? where are you? She's gone ... can't find her anywhere.
- Edith?
A little head appears at the side of the chair.
- There she is. Where were you?
The head withdraws - gone again!
The game goes on (and on!)
Each time she disappears. Waits to be called. Reappears. Each time new - still believing I can't see her if she can't see me.
- Don't know where she is.
I sneak up to the chair. Look over the top. There she is ... sees me ... new game: run away from Grandad.
I follow her around a circuit of furniture. I stop and turn around. Catch her - lift her. Tickle time. She hadn't realised that the rules had changed, and if I turned round she would run into me.
We try again - this time I tell her when I turn back. One false step, but the second time she hears me, understands the new rules, stops, and turns when I do. I just can't catch her.
It is amazing to see a new person learning. Adult eyes see it all. We are amused, feel superior, pleased we have grown so much and aren't fooled the way a child is.
But really, have we learnt that much?
We still believe that if we can't see things, they don't exist.
We still run in the same direction (sometimes expecting different results!)
And too often, even when we are told we need to change direction, we just can't.
- Where's my girl? Anyone see where she went?
- Is she under the table?
- No, not there. Behind the couch? No.
- Did she go into the kitchen? No.
- Edith - are you lost? where are you? She's gone ... can't find her anywhere.
- Edith?
A little head appears at the side of the chair.
- There she is. Where were you?
The head withdraws - gone again!
The game goes on (and on!)
Each time she disappears. Waits to be called. Reappears. Each time new - still believing I can't see her if she can't see me.
- Don't know where she is.
I sneak up to the chair. Look over the top. There she is ... sees me ... new game: run away from Grandad.
I follow her around a circuit of furniture. I stop and turn around. Catch her - lift her. Tickle time. She hadn't realised that the rules had changed, and if I turned round she would run into me.
We try again - this time I tell her when I turn back. One false step, but the second time she hears me, understands the new rules, stops, and turns when I do. I just can't catch her.
It is amazing to see a new person learning. Adult eyes see it all. We are amused, feel superior, pleased we have grown so much and aren't fooled the way a child is.
But really, have we learnt that much?
We still believe that if we can't see things, they don't exist.
We still run in the same direction (sometimes expecting different results!)
And too often, even when we are told we need to change direction, we just can't.
Wednesday 14 October 2015
What would you call a female priest?
I love the Catholic Church, but sometimes (as happens in a lot of families), I despair!
I have been watching the "Synod of Bishops on the Family" discussions in Rome, and despite the best efforts of our best people, the Synod is being sidetracked too often. For an interested outsider like me, the idea is simple: the family is where we learn to love and forgive. That's it. The job of the Synod is therefore to find ways to help and support each family to love and forgive.
Instead, we are sidetracked into complicated mazes like whether divorced and re-married Catholics can receive communion. (My question - for what it's worth - would Jesus cut off support to people at the very time in their lives when they are feeling lost and vulnerable? Would Jesus cast people away when they made a mistake - assuming there might have been a mistake?)
Another sidetrack in the maze: homosexual parents. Would Jesus judge them on their sexual orientation or the quality of their love? the quality of the love they bring to their family? their ability to help children learn to love and to forgive?
And, again, the role of women in the Church! To me it is hugely ironic that the leaders of our parish families - yes our parishes are modelled on the family - are all male. We call them "Father".
In the early Church some of the holiest people went into the deserts of Egypt to be more alone with God.
The word that has come down to us when they were addressed is "Abba" (father). But there were women there too. They were called "Amma" (mother). These people were our mothers and fathers in the faith.
The family is precious to the Church partly because it is a model for the Trinity: three making a single unity. The Holy Family (Joseph, Mary, Jesus) is our model for the family. And yet we insist on male-only headship for our parish family. That worked well enough even as recently as the nineteenth century when the Roman/Victorian concept of paterfamilias was accepted without much question.
Society has moved on. The Church has moved on in so many other ways. The world is changing. Rapidly! Spirituality is changing in a huge way. God is no longer seen as male (or female). The Church will change on this - but sadly not in my lifetime. Even this synod is a "Synod of Bishops on the Family" - with a few family people as "auditors" (listeners, who can only speak when spoken to).
The lack of balance is part of the problem. No-one would consider saying that the bishops are not bright or educated, nor say that they are unconnected to their flocks - but their experience of day-to-day family life is up to half a century old. AND they are trained male academics, and too many too often argue from the head rather than the heart.
So pray for the Synod.
Pray that they stick to their knitting.
Pray that their focus stays on love and forgiveness.
And pray that the teachings to come out of the Synod will support all our families as they form the adults of the future to be more loving and more forgiving people.
Pray that they stick to their knitting.
Pray that their focus stays on love and forgiveness.
And pray that the teachings to come out of the Synod will support all our families as they form the adults of the future to be more loving and more forgiving people.
Wednesday 7 October 2015
Glimpse: Looking in, looking out
In my part of the world Spring is a short season, to be enjoyed before the equinox and the gales. I try to cycle every day, and have just returned from an hour biking in the wind.
The willows broke into leaf several weeks ago and have already matured past that fluorescent lime green - but they excited new life in a solitary bonsai willow, blasted trunk, perfect minimal zen shape, fighting to survive, but breaking late into leaf.
I started uphill and leaning into the wind. My head down, my gears down: it was hard work. That is enjoyable in a way - but the joy is in the work rather than the world around me. My focus is on the the body-length in front of me, the wind rumbling past my ears, senses limited to that tight bullet of awareness: the path coming up, the bike's gears, me.
But then there is the ride home: downhill and wind behind me. I sit up, a bigger sail for the wind. I see beyond myself and my own effort. The joy now is being part of creation. New lambs bouncing, or resting in preparation for bouncing. Glades of sunlight between huge dark totora, splashes of sunlit green on a canvas of black and brown and shaded leaves.
The willows broke into leaf several weeks ago and have already matured past that fluorescent lime green - but they excited new life in a solitary bonsai willow, blasted trunk, perfect minimal zen shape, fighting to survive, but breaking late into leaf.
The Monet magnolia flames are now being quenched by new leaves. But the oaks are just breaking into their tiny leaves - bronze shading the pale green - arthritic fingers of their branches still sharp, clawing at the sky.
A vivid kowhai - all golden flower on silhouetted branches - tiny leaves invisible.
A vivid kowhai - all golden flower on silhouetted branches - tiny leaves invisible.
And bird-sound everywhere, the earlier steady roar of the wind a whisper now as I am blown along at the same speed, just the hum of my tyres through the light gravel of the cycle path - and the invisible birds.
Further away are the hills, shadows and sun accentuating the anatomical nature of landscape: bodies sprawled in lazy postures, backs and bums, ribs and hips, spine and shoulders jumbled together in an orgy of shiney green and shadow.
Real joy: after my hard work and inward focus biking into the wind (and up hill!), the grace of sudden revelation: creation in bright light, pollination and quickening, wind-waves in the grass, even the hills alive with the bliss of new birth.
Saturday 3 October 2015
Glimpse: Walking alone
The little girl in dark pink and pale green won't hold my hand. Out for a walk - traffic close enough to make grandad anxious. Just over a year old, but already making her own way in the world!
Who will she become? What will be my influence? Unanswerable questions.
She is a mix of genes (a quarter mine), so far unknown gifts from her Creator, and the unknowable effects of every single contact and experience of every single day of her life. Her parents and the environment they create have a huge influence, and many of the most influential contacts and effects have already happened. But there are so many more to come.
As she gets older, each will dilute or moderate earlier contacts - and she has still to meet many of the key people in her life, still to live through suffering and tragedy, to face disappointment, still to discover that her plans are not the only plans.
I rush to keep up, pick her up to cross to the park, let her down again.
I try to walk holding her hand - now more for my comfort than her safety! She will have none of it, rushing off to chase shadows, make friends with seagulls, find ducks to feed - all in a world of her own imagining.
I know my place; even at (nearly) one and half she needs to know that she can make her way alone. (And I do notice the occasional gratifying glimpse back to make sure she is not too alone.)
She's a lucky little girl - parents who love her and spoil her (just a little), a loving community of friends with babies of their own, plenty of stimulation and attention, clean water and enough to eat, a warm and safe place to live, and (maybe with some little influence) four grandparents who think she is the most wonderful little girl ever born.
So, she rushes off over the playing fields, a spirited bundle of apparent independence and gifted with huge potential. I follow, keeping watch, almost overwhelmed contemplating the persons she might become and the worlds she might live and love in.
Who will she become? What will be my influence? Unanswerable questions.
She is a mix of genes (a quarter mine), so far unknown gifts from her Creator, and the unknowable effects of every single contact and experience of every single day of her life. Her parents and the environment they create have a huge influence, and many of the most influential contacts and effects have already happened. But there are so many more to come.
As she gets older, each will dilute or moderate earlier contacts - and she has still to meet many of the key people in her life, still to live through suffering and tragedy, to face disappointment, still to discover that her plans are not the only plans.
I rush to keep up, pick her up to cross to the park, let her down again.
I try to walk holding her hand - now more for my comfort than her safety! She will have none of it, rushing off to chase shadows, make friends with seagulls, find ducks to feed - all in a world of her own imagining.
I know my place; even at (nearly) one and half she needs to know that she can make her way alone. (And I do notice the occasional gratifying glimpse back to make sure she is not too alone.)
She's a lucky little girl - parents who love her and spoil her (just a little), a loving community of friends with babies of their own, plenty of stimulation and attention, clean water and enough to eat, a warm and safe place to live, and (maybe with some little influence) four grandparents who think she is the most wonderful little girl ever born.
So, she rushes off over the playing fields, a spirited bundle of apparent independence and gifted with huge potential. I follow, keeping watch, almost overwhelmed contemplating the persons she might become and the worlds she might live and love in.
Friday 2 October 2015
Yet another gun abuse
No-one wants to criticise people in a different place, but we are all saddened and upset when we hear more innocent people killed by disturbed people with guns. I'm sure Americans wish they had an answer. I wish I did.
The easy part of the answer is their easy access to guns - but that is not the main part of the problem. Guns do not fire themselves.
Too many people in America - in New Zealand - and in the world, lack either the empathy to feel for the innocent victims in cinemas, schools, sitting in their homes, shopping at the market - or lack an understanding of who they are hurting and killing. Or both.
People in America and Syria and the Horn of Africa and Palestine and in our own country - and in so many other communities in so many parts of the world - still allow ourselves to see people as objects rather than people, as inferior and of no value, as enemies. Innocent people are killed. Children abused or murdered.
It is a clear sign that humanity has still to grow up, to understand the extension of the golden rule: what we do to another, we do to ourselves. Our religions have always known that. Jesus told us about the Way, the Truth, and the Life - and that we reap what we sow. We all talk about karma.
Around the time of Isaiah about 2600 years ago a mystic in China wrote in the Tao Te Ching
I'm a bit of a science fiction fan and last week I bought Andy Weir's The Martian to read before I go to see Sir Ridley Scott's film. I bought the book - and at the same time as an impulse buy I bought Andy Weir's short story The Egg as an Audible file for $2 (to let my phone read it to me). It's only 10 minutes - but it is a brilliant story about how we relate to other people. I won't spoil it in case you want to read it (great buy for $2!) - but it does present an original take on our role in the universe and our connection to everyone else.
Jesus and Paul brought the same concept to Christianity. It is a theme in many other religions. I am convinced that this is who we are! People who use guns against people (or bombs or fists or even just lack kindness) clearly do not believe this.
The world needs a better compass - we do not have a clear or rational sense of direction. Too many people are adrift, not seeing their connections with others; not looking for goodness or virtue; living without any clear understanding of who they are or where they are going. They seem to have no idea of the purpose of their lives.
The irony is that in many of the world's trouble-spots people in power also claim to have a superior understanding of the Way. They clearly don't: their actions demonstrate that their prejudices, egos, self-centeredness, and personal ambition have dominated any relationship their God has tried to offer them. They try to use God to further personal ambitions.
What can we do? Practically, not enough - other than to add our voice when we can, and support the victims.
But if we believe that the spirit endures and is the better, stronger part of us - then we must add our spirit to the growth and flowering of humanity. Pray. Read. Meditate. Love. Forgive.
Sounds ineffectual? But imagine if we all did it. Even in human terms we would have such influence. But when enough of us open ourselves to God, to peace, and to love, we will transform humanity!
The easy part of the answer is their easy access to guns - but that is not the main part of the problem. Guns do not fire themselves.
Too many people in America - in New Zealand - and in the world, lack either the empathy to feel for the innocent victims in cinemas, schools, sitting in their homes, shopping at the market - or lack an understanding of who they are hurting and killing. Or both.
People in America and Syria and the Horn of Africa and Palestine and in our own country - and in so many other communities in so many parts of the world - still allow ourselves to see people as objects rather than people, as inferior and of no value, as enemies. Innocent people are killed. Children abused or murdered.
It is a clear sign that humanity has still to grow up, to understand the extension of the golden rule: what we do to another, we do to ourselves. Our religions have always known that. Jesus told us about the Way, the Truth, and the Life - and that we reap what we sow. We all talk about karma.
Around the time of Isaiah about 2600 years ago a mystic in China wrote in the Tao Te Ching
When a country is in harmony with the Tao (the Way),(He actually wrote about farm horses becoming warhorses - but you get the point!)
the factories make trucks and tractors.
When a country goes counter to the Tao (Way),
warheads are stockpiled outside the cities.
I'm a bit of a science fiction fan and last week I bought Andy Weir's The Martian to read before I go to see Sir Ridley Scott's film. I bought the book - and at the same time as an impulse buy I bought Andy Weir's short story The Egg as an Audible file for $2 (to let my phone read it to me). It's only 10 minutes - but it is a brilliant story about how we relate to other people. I won't spoil it in case you want to read it (great buy for $2!) - but it does present an original take on our role in the universe and our connection to everyone else.
Jesus and Paul brought the same concept to Christianity. It is a theme in many other religions. I am convinced that this is who we are! People who use guns against people (or bombs or fists or even just lack kindness) clearly do not believe this.
The world needs a better compass - we do not have a clear or rational sense of direction. Too many people are adrift, not seeing their connections with others; not looking for goodness or virtue; living without any clear understanding of who they are or where they are going. They seem to have no idea of the purpose of their lives.
The irony is that in many of the world's trouble-spots people in power also claim to have a superior understanding of the Way. They clearly don't: their actions demonstrate that their prejudices, egos, self-centeredness, and personal ambition have dominated any relationship their God has tried to offer them. They try to use God to further personal ambitions.
What can we do? Practically, not enough - other than to add our voice when we can, and support the victims.
But if we believe that the spirit endures and is the better, stronger part of us - then we must add our spirit to the growth and flowering of humanity. Pray. Read. Meditate. Love. Forgive.
Sounds ineffectual? But imagine if we all did it. Even in human terms we would have such influence. But when enough of us open ourselves to God, to peace, and to love, we will transform humanity!
Saturday 26 September 2015
We are each priest prophet king
A couple of weeks ago I wrote about why we need to take charge of the Church's teaching that we each are priest, prophet and king. In Lumen Gentium the Church reinforced St Paul's teaching that we share these roles through our unity as part of the body of Christ. Paul VI wrote that
So what does "priest, prophet, king" look like when I see it?
When Martin Luther made the "priesthood of all believers" one of his three central insights, he was not inventing the concept: he was demanding that the old idea be renewed. The tired Catholic Church of the time had let it slide - and perhaps Protestantism has found it a little hard as well.
Working in business, communications, politics, parenting or any other role, is priestly because it allows us to connect our beliefs to our everyday actions, giving us purpose in our work and equipping us to serve others and make a difference in the world.
With this revolutionary mindset toward all areas of life, we come boldly into God's presence, confident in our relationship with our Creator, prophetic about injustice, and agents of forgiveness in our jobs, schools, families and communities.
These are expectations for each us, regardless of our denomination or church attendance. As people created by God, we are called to the fullness of life - for ourselves - and for our brothers and sisters.
the faithful are by baptism made one body with Christ ... they are in their own way made sharers in the priestly, prophetical, and kingly functions of Christ.I was brought up in a Church which left all of that the the clergy - but it is a sign of the growing maturity of the Church in our time that unordained people are taking responsibility for their own growth as spiritual people - and accepting the roles given to us by Jesus, and reinforced (in word if not always in practice) for 2000 years.
So what does "priest, prophet, king" look like when I see it?
When Martin Luther made the "priesthood of all believers" one of his three central insights, he was not inventing the concept: he was demanding that the old idea be renewed. The tired Catholic Church of the time had let it slide - and perhaps Protestantism has found it a little hard as well.
Working in business, communications, politics, parenting or any other role, is priestly because it allows us to connect our beliefs to our everyday actions, giving us purpose in our work and equipping us to serve others and make a difference in the world.
Peter calls us “living stones, being built up as a church for a holy priesthood.” He goes on to say, “We are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession that we may proclaim the excellences of Him who has called us out of darkness into His marvellous light.” (1 Peter 2)
I’m not an expert, but it seems to me that gives us direction and expectation:
- In Jesus’ time, only the high priest could enter into the Holy of Holies, but Jesus gave us all a direct line to God. When I was growing up, real prayer was priests’ work. However more and more over the last 30 years I have seen ordinary Christians like myself taking responsibility for more than formulaic prayer. Meditation and contemplation have moved out of the monasteries and into the daily lives of people: Christian and non-Christian.
- Our sacrifices are not the bulls, goats and doves of Jesus’ time, but sacrifices such as prayer, praise, thanksgiving, repentance, justice, kindness, blessings and love. Peter says we are a holy priesthood in order to “offer up spiritual sacrifices wholly acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.”
- We are to be modern-day prophets. As a “royal priesthood,” Peter tells us one of our responsibilities is to “declare the wonderful deeds of him who called you out of darkness into his marvellous light.” We are expected to be prophetic (in our words and actions) about things we see that are unjust, and leading reconciliation in our work, our families, schools, and communities.
- So we must work for change, shining God’s love in a dark and troubled world. Many of us think being king is a political role - and it is - but Jesus also emphasised the shepherding role of a good king. Our job here is to work for unity of all God's people - and to look after the people at the margins of our society: the refugees, the outcast, the ill, the disturbed, the imprisoned.
With this revolutionary mindset toward all areas of life, we come boldly into God's presence, confident in our relationship with our Creator, prophetic about injustice, and agents of forgiveness in our jobs, schools, families and communities.
These are expectations for each us, regardless of our denomination or church attendance. As people created by God, we are called to the fullness of life - for ourselves - and for our brothers and sisters.
Wednesday 23 September 2015
Carpe Diem
Unbelievable!
Daylight saving already.
Procrastination is a very human thing: we all (to some degree) put off the hard things, or the unpleasant things, or the repetitive things. We are all aware (to some extent) that we are putting our lives on hold.
We all have times when we are too tired, or too unmotivated to "do" something - and we allow the tv, or the internet, or the pub, or going to the mall, or some other time-filler, take some of the time we have available in our lives.
Jesus' advice was to be childlike in our attitude to life - see the newness and wonder all around us - be part of it - live life! seize the day!
Creator God, we pray that each of us learns to see you in the sunlight on new foliage, the laughter of babies, the sudden flight of birds, the perfect moment of dance (or of a planned move), in the wonder-filled and surprising instants of your creation, and in the smile of a stranger.
Daylight saving already.
Where has the time gone?
School holidays - then the final term and exams. Soon we'll be counting down to Christmas.
Time passes so quickly, so it is really important that we make good use of the time we have. We get plenty of advice on that ...
- In The Sound and the Fury Nobel laureate William Faulkner wrote of a father's wisdom: "Clocks slay time. He said time is dead as long as it is being clicked off by little wheels; only when the clock stops does time come to life.”
- There is a little saying that we often hear at funerals: It's not the years in your life that matters; it's the life in your years!
- The Scots have a saying that I seem to remember from one of the Wisdom books in the Jewish bible too: be happy while you're living, for you're a long time dead.
- As a teacher I remember hearing (and saying too) "last week of term" with a real sense of relief. Each time I heard myself say it, I tried to moderate the comment with another one from my childhood: "Stop wishing your life away!"
Procrastination is a very human thing: we all (to some degree) put off the hard things, or the unpleasant things, or the repetitive things. We are all aware (to some extent) that we are putting our lives on hold.
We all have times when we are too tired, or too unmotivated to "do" something - and we allow the tv, or the internet, or the pub, or going to the mall, or some other time-filler, take some of the time we have available in our lives.
Jesus' advice was to be childlike in our attitude to life - see the newness and wonder all around us - be part of it - live life! seize the day!
Creator God, we pray that each of us learns to see you in the sunlight on new foliage, the laughter of babies, the sudden flight of birds, the perfect moment of dance (or of a planned move), in the wonder-filled and surprising instants of your creation, and in the smile of a stranger.
Friday 18 September 2015
Glimpse: Seeing
- What are you looking for? Can I help?
- Just looking.
A handsome young man, maybe 3 years old, continued his task wandering the hightide line, picking up shells and wave-worn driftwood, examining, discarding - except for the few interesting treasures saved into his yellow plastic bucket.
What made a knotty piece of wood interesting, what distinguished one sand-carved shell from another was never explained. It was intuition alone. A list of criteria is an adult concept and entirely useless, superfluous, irrelevant.
Later, in the shade of a very old rata, he picked each treasure out and arranged it on the sand. He was clearly seeing values and beauty that tired eyes missed. Some pieces had lost the beauty of the beach and were touched once and left. But others still held their mystery or their clever shaping, and were picked up, shown to adults (who mostly missed their perfection of colour, form and craftsmanship, but still said the right words).
I noticed that my few contributions found their way to the lower levels of the arrangement.
What had he seen that more experienced eyes skipped over?
When do we stop seeing individual items and start to see collective nouns?
How can we regain our sense of wonder in the tiny marvels of creation?
- Just looking.
A handsome young man, maybe 3 years old, continued his task wandering the hightide line, picking up shells and wave-worn driftwood, examining, discarding - except for the few interesting treasures saved into his yellow plastic bucket.
What made a knotty piece of wood interesting, what distinguished one sand-carved shell from another was never explained. It was intuition alone. A list of criteria is an adult concept and entirely useless, superfluous, irrelevant.
Later, in the shade of a very old rata, he picked each treasure out and arranged it on the sand. He was clearly seeing values and beauty that tired eyes missed. Some pieces had lost the beauty of the beach and were touched once and left. But others still held their mystery or their clever shaping, and were picked up, shown to adults (who mostly missed their perfection of colour, form and craftsmanship, but still said the right words).
I noticed that my few contributions found their way to the lower levels of the arrangement.
What had he seen that more experienced eyes skipped over?
When do we stop seeing individual items and start to see collective nouns?
How can we regain our sense of wonder in the tiny marvels of creation?
Wednesday 16 September 2015
Thank you
Last weekend a large group of staff, parents, parish priests, and board members past and present, joined my wife Suellen, two of my children Jessica and Sara, and myself to celebrate my retirement from teaching.
I had not been looking forward to the the event - because it clearly ended my career of over 40 years in teaching.
But it was a wonderful and humbling night. The event was a formal dinner and everyone dressed for the occasion. There were many highlights with past staff joining present staff and partners, (some came quite some distance - thank you Leonie and my Jess.)
MP Nick Smith was there looking very dapper and I was able to thank him for his assistance over the years.
Cardinal John sent a very flattering message with his Vicar for Education Jenny Gordon, and a wonderful certificate marking my career of 35 years in Catholic education.
With Robert Booth's help we remembered the "old days" of 15 years ago with humour, embarrassment and some nostalgia.
Jessica Le Bas read a stunning poem composed for the occasion and former dux, and our newest staff-member Roman Birch, sang a song he had composed (his latest album was released this week!)
More than 50 of our students sent messages of thanks and acknowledgement - and that included a number who had found secondary education a difficult process - but who had got through and are now thriving! That was moving and uplifting.
Long-serving Board Chair Alan Hinton and Hostel Trust Chair Phil Donaldson spoke movingly of our progress as a school and hostel (as well as sharing a message from our patron Sir Pat Goodman), and Lewis Boyles also made sure we remembered past students who have died, and their legacy for the school.
The staff made significant presentations - and the Board also presented me with the challenge of making a pilgrimage across northern Spain: the 700km Camino (Way) to Santiago de Compostela. The city is one of the chief shrines of Christendom, built in the ninth century around the supposed tomb of the apostle James.
It was a wonderful way to mark the end of my career - and I sincerely thank Denis, Shona, Kyle and Rebekah, Simon Pimm (driving the car of our very first Head of Arts, Rebecca) and the other organisers - and everyone who came or sent messages.
This is all new for me - but it was very moving, very affirming, and sent me on my way with a huge wave of friendship and love. Thank you.
I had not been looking forward to the the event - because it clearly ended my career of over 40 years in teaching.
But it was a wonderful and humbling night. The event was a formal dinner and everyone dressed for the occasion. There were many highlights with past staff joining present staff and partners, (some came quite some distance - thank you Leonie and my Jess.)
MP Nick Smith was there looking very dapper and I was able to thank him for his assistance over the years.
Cardinal John sent a very flattering message with his Vicar for Education Jenny Gordon, and a wonderful certificate marking my career of 35 years in Catholic education.
With Robert Booth's help we remembered the "old days" of 15 years ago with humour, embarrassment and some nostalgia.
Jessica Le Bas read a stunning poem composed for the occasion and former dux, and our newest staff-member Roman Birch, sang a song he had composed (his latest album was released this week!)
Long-serving Board Chair Alan Hinton and Hostel Trust Chair Phil Donaldson spoke movingly of our progress as a school and hostel (as well as sharing a message from our patron Sir Pat Goodman), and Lewis Boyles also made sure we remembered past students who have died, and their legacy for the school.
The staff made significant presentations - and the Board also presented me with the challenge of making a pilgrimage across northern Spain: the 700km Camino (Way) to Santiago de Compostela. The city is one of the chief shrines of Christendom, built in the ninth century around the supposed tomb of the apostle James.
It was a wonderful way to mark the end of my career - and I sincerely thank Denis, Shona, Kyle and Rebekah, Simon Pimm (driving the car of our very first Head of Arts, Rebecca) and the other organisers - and everyone who came or sent messages.
This is all new for me - but it was very moving, very affirming, and sent me on my way with a huge wave of friendship and love. Thank you.
Wednesday 9 September 2015
Watch your thoughts
Your beliefs become your thoughts,
Your thoughts become your words,
Your words become your actions,
Your actions become your habits,
Your habits become your values,
Your values become your destiny.
― Mahatma Gandhi
This quote from one of the most influential thinkers of the twentieth century contains ideas that we all need to consider. And Gandhi was not all that original - a quick search on Google gives similar ideas in Paul's letter to Titus, Eleanor Roosevelt, Proverbs, Soren Kierkegaard, Marcus Aurelius among others.
It is obviously part of shared human wisdom, but because it relates to things very close to who we are and how we live, most of us find it too hard.
Each idea on its own can be examined and most of us would probably understand it and agree (at least to some extent). However, the six steps as a whole paint a picture that is too big, too significant, or too hard - or maybe seems to tell us that our destiny is out of our hands, so why bother?
We are all immersed in a set of assumptions and beliefs from our parents, our society, and media that comment on every aspect of our lives.
I think most of us listen to, read, and watch media that we like and agree with. We become annoyed by media that challenges our assumptions and beliefs. Our often unexamined beliefs do become our thoughts.
We say those things, often assuming that others have the same thoughts and beliefs. (Often they do, especially if they were brought up in the same culture and society.)
Our actions usually reflect our beliefs. We despise hypocrites who say one thing but do another - so acting on our conscience is a good thing. (The Church would say that we must act on our "informed" and challenged conscience - and we often forget that step!)
As we get older our actions do fall into patterns (mostly comfortable patterns) we can think of as habits of action, to go along with our (mostly comfortable) habits of thinking.
We really believe in what we are doing - that hypocrisy thing again - but again we face the challenge of the "informed" conscience. How often do we truly examine and deliberately inform what we think, believe, and value? I find that I assume those things are right, so don't need to be further informed!
Over the last few years I have written often about meditation. Some readers who have followed my development in newsletters and now in these blogs may have wondered - or thought of it as one of John's eccentricities. However, working with generation after generation of young people (while steadily getting older yourself), forces educators to challenge their own assumptions.
Young people are always changing, doing things differently - not better or worse - just differently. My assumptions and answers had to be based on understanding and empathy - and going through that process forced me to see that my old thoughts, beliefs and assumptions were attempting to drive my actions. I even had to challenge my values to ensure they were not, in fact, prejudices! They sometimes were.
Our journey to becoming the people we were created to be - people created by God, not media - is a long one. We are surrounded by very human assumptions - but we need to examine them and choose the right ones.
One of the hardest things we must examine are our thoughts. These are so influenced by our unexamined assumptions and beliefs, the messages of the world, the media, our perceived self-interest, and by our society and upbringing. This is a VERY difficult task. Meditation provides a series of techniques to become aware of our thoughts and control them.
The alternative is to let them control us. That rarely has a happy outcome.
When I retired from teaching I wrote in my blog of the time that I had things to do for my own salvation - and over the last few weeks I have had the time to reflect on my destiny - my values and actions, my thoughts and beliefs. I have come to see that I have a long way to go!
We are each on an individual journey where we choose our own paths. We are supported by our families and people we love, and by the church communities we choose - but in the end we are born one at a time, live our own lives, and return to God one at a time. We cannot sleepwalk to the fullness of God; we won't get there as the fulfilled person God imagined if we just walk everyone else's well-trodden path.
If life is about becoming the people we were created to be - if it is about salvation - if our destiny is indeed God - then we must find time and take responsibility for guarding our thoughts and assumptions. That is where the journey begins - and that is where all the obstacles on the path are to be found!
Proverbs 4, 23-27
Above all else, guard your heart,
for everything you do flows from it.
Keep your mouth free of perversity;
keep corrupt talk far from your lips.
Let your eyes look straight ahead;
fix your gaze directly before you.
Give careful thought to the paths for your feet
and be steadfast in all your ways.
Do not turn to the right or the left;
keep your foot from evil.
Your thoughts become your words,
Your words become your actions,
Your actions become your habits,
Your habits become your values,
Your values become your destiny.
― Mahatma Gandhi
This quote from one of the most influential thinkers of the twentieth century contains ideas that we all need to consider. And Gandhi was not all that original - a quick search on Google gives similar ideas in Paul's letter to Titus, Eleanor Roosevelt, Proverbs, Soren Kierkegaard, Marcus Aurelius among others.
It is obviously part of shared human wisdom, but because it relates to things very close to who we are and how we live, most of us find it too hard.
Each idea on its own can be examined and most of us would probably understand it and agree (at least to some extent). However, the six steps as a whole paint a picture that is too big, too significant, or too hard - or maybe seems to tell us that our destiny is out of our hands, so why bother?
We are all immersed in a set of assumptions and beliefs from our parents, our society, and media that comment on every aspect of our lives.
I think most of us listen to, read, and watch media that we like and agree with. We become annoyed by media that challenges our assumptions and beliefs. Our often unexamined beliefs do become our thoughts.
We say those things, often assuming that others have the same thoughts and beliefs. (Often they do, especially if they were brought up in the same culture and society.)
Our actions usually reflect our beliefs. We despise hypocrites who say one thing but do another - so acting on our conscience is a good thing. (The Church would say that we must act on our "informed" and challenged conscience - and we often forget that step!)
As we get older our actions do fall into patterns (mostly comfortable patterns) we can think of as habits of action, to go along with our (mostly comfortable) habits of thinking.
We really believe in what we are doing - that hypocrisy thing again - but again we face the challenge of the "informed" conscience. How often do we truly examine and deliberately inform what we think, believe, and value? I find that I assume those things are right, so don't need to be further informed!
Over the last few years I have written often about meditation. Some readers who have followed my development in newsletters and now in these blogs may have wondered - or thought of it as one of John's eccentricities. However, working with generation after generation of young people (while steadily getting older yourself), forces educators to challenge their own assumptions.
Young people are always changing, doing things differently - not better or worse - just differently. My assumptions and answers had to be based on understanding and empathy - and going through that process forced me to see that my old thoughts, beliefs and assumptions were attempting to drive my actions. I even had to challenge my values to ensure they were not, in fact, prejudices! They sometimes were.
Our journey to becoming the people we were created to be - people created by God, not media - is a long one. We are surrounded by very human assumptions - but we need to examine them and choose the right ones.
One of the hardest things we must examine are our thoughts. These are so influenced by our unexamined assumptions and beliefs, the messages of the world, the media, our perceived self-interest, and by our society and upbringing. This is a VERY difficult task. Meditation provides a series of techniques to become aware of our thoughts and control them.
The alternative is to let them control us. That rarely has a happy outcome.
When I retired from teaching I wrote in my blog of the time that I had things to do for my own salvation - and over the last few weeks I have had the time to reflect on my destiny - my values and actions, my thoughts and beliefs. I have come to see that I have a long way to go!
We are each on an individual journey where we choose our own paths. We are supported by our families and people we love, and by the church communities we choose - but in the end we are born one at a time, live our own lives, and return to God one at a time. We cannot sleepwalk to the fullness of God; we won't get there as the fulfilled person God imagined if we just walk everyone else's well-trodden path.
If life is about becoming the people we were created to be - if it is about salvation - if our destiny is indeed God - then we must find time and take responsibility for guarding our thoughts and assumptions. That is where the journey begins - and that is where all the obstacles on the path are to be found!
Proverbs 4, 23-27
Above all else, guard your heart,
for everything you do flows from it.
Keep your mouth free of perversity;
keep corrupt talk far from your lips.
Let your eyes look straight ahead;
fix your gaze directly before you.
Give careful thought to the paths for your feet
and be steadfast in all your ways.
Do not turn to the right or the left;
keep your foot from evil.
Wednesday 2 September 2015
Bless you!
When my children were little I often came home from a meeting or an event after they were in bed and asleep. I always crept into their rooms, put my hand gently on their heads, and blessed them.
Parents and grandparents often do this.
As a teacher I often said "God bless you" when someone did something helpful for me.
Parents and grandparents often do this.
As a teacher I often said "God bless you" when someone did something helpful for me.
I also said "Good on you" a lot - not the kiwi goodonya - but three distinct words praying for good for the person. The kiwi greeting kia ora is another way of praying good on a person: it means "be well" or "be healthy" in an holistic sense: "I pray that you are well in your body, your mind, your spirit, and in your relationships."
In Lumen Gentium Paul VI and the Second Vatican Council tried to clarify and renew the role of the people in the Church.
In Lumen Gentium Paul VI and the Second Vatican Council tried to clarify and renew the role of the people in the Church.
The term laity is here understood to mean all the faithful except those in holy orders and those in the state of religious life specially approved by the Church. These faithful are by baptism made one body with Christ and are constituted among the People of God; they are in their own way made sharers in the priestly, prophetical, and kingly functions of Christ; and they carry out for their own part the mission of the whole Christian people in the Church and in the world.
These words were an important part of my upbringing in the Church. Whenever I said anything hinting at criticism of the Church, I was met with the quick reply "But you are the Church".
And I am!
I am created by God in the image of God.
I am part of the "one body with Christ", one of the "People of God".
I am a sharer in the "priestly, prophetical and kingly functions of Christ".
And I have a duty to pass that on - to share that blessing around. It is important that we can finish letters and conversations with "God bless you", take a lead in blessing the food we eat, and acknowledge God's presence in those we have contact with.
Parents seem to know that instinctively.
We bestow sacraments and graces on our children almost automatically. We wash them clean - sometimes with total immersion - and sometimes with just a quick wipe!
We forgive them and restore them to the full love of the family when they make mistakes. We heal them with a kiss or a quick rub or a heartfelt hug when they are hurt.
We feed them and help them grow with love and healthy food and drink.
We are quick to confirm our love, and their place in the family community.
Our children are part of our marriage - they were when the two became a trinity - and they are when they come crawling into our beds on stormy nights, when they are frightened, or when they feel unwell.
And we bless them, and others in our lives - a really important part of our humanity as we share the priestly, prophetical, and kingly functions of Christ.
Wednesday 26 August 2015
Controlling your left brain
If we want to have any control of our constant left-brain resentments and angers, our mental movies and replays, we need to develop skills and confidence through regular practice. Last week I mentioned some of the methods I use, and I have been asked to explain what I do to quieten my left brain and leave room for grace.
I try to fit in at least one 20 minute slot each day - but my choice depends on where I am and how tired I am. For instance if it is 2am and I am trying to get to sleep I use the Jesus prayer - and I use the beads by my bed to give my fingers something to do (I find the physical involvement helps my concentration).
Here are four simple methods I use - and you can also use - to develop skill in turning your left brain down when you need to for your own peace of mind (literally), or to develop a better relationship with our Creator. And they are just techniques: they work when my faith is strong - but they also work when I doubt or am feeling negative.
I.
The Jesus prayer (or you could use the rosary, or any repeated brief prayer).
I first came across the Jesus prayer in J. D. Salinger's Franny and Zooey (about two kids of a talented but eccentric Catholic family) when I was at St Bede's in the 60's!
The Jesus prayer is a repeated brief prayer that allows us to deaden our left brain and be open to God. An anonymous Russian Orthodox pilgrim from the nineteenth century uses and explores the prayer in The Way of a Pilgrim.
The Jesus prayer is a repeated brief prayer that allows us to deaden our left brain and be open to God. An anonymous Russian Orthodox pilgrim from the nineteenth century uses and explores the prayer in The Way of a Pilgrim.
The pilgrim's inner journey begins when he becomes obsessed with the words of Paul (I Thessalonians 5:17) to "pray without ceasing." He visits churches and monasteries to try and understand how to follow this clear instruction.
His travels lead him to a starets (a spiritual teacher) who teaches him the Jesus prayer - "Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me" - to be repeated all day(!) as the pilgrim walked, until it became part of him and echoed his heartbeat. I have adapted the words to fit my personal experience of Jesus.
2.
Focus on my breathing ... so I can clearly see when my left brain sends in resentments, jealousies, mind movies, re-runs of my day. See "We have two minds" - from an earlier post.
3.
Centering prayer.
This form of prayer requires a quiet place (best to be the same place each day). Begin by asking God's help - and then concentrate on your focus word. You need to deliberately empty your mind, and then insert a simple focus word such as "God" or "Love". As left brain thoughts come (and they will!) gently note them, then gently push them away and return to your chosen word.
4.
Use this line from Psalm 46: "Be still and know that I am God". Begin by breaking down this line - and then stay with "Be" for five minutes (or up to 20 minutes). As left brain thoughts come (and they will!) gently note them, then gently push them away and return to just "being" with God - and God "being" with me.
Be still and know that I am GodThere are other ways professional meditators (in the Catholic tradition this includes religious orders such as Trappists and Carmelites) calm their left brains using techniques such as chant and silence. But the four above are simple, and they seem to work for people with complex and demanding lives, and without the support network of a monastery. People like us.
Be still and know that I am
Be still and know
Be still
Be
Why bother?
That's the big question. I believe that we are each created deliberately by God - but we are placed in a busy world full of distractions, and we each need to work out ways to find our selves, our purpose, and our relationship with our Creator. These techniques take less than 20 minutes a day, and they work.
Friday 21 August 2015
Routine
A few weeks ago I retired and in just that small time I have learned a lot about the power of routine.
I have learnt that I need to develop a new daily routine - and if I don't do that, I will drift through days, accomplish very little, and frustrate myself.
I have quite deliberately given up all my old routines, but not yet developed new ones. My body clock no longer gets me up at 5.40 every morning, but because I am now waking when my body has had enough sleep I am awaking at different times. That means my start-up routines are non-existent.
One routine I have lost over the last month is morning prayer.
Some years ago I became very interested in the Orthodox Church as an organisation which has held onto more early Christian practices than other Churches. There are things that happen in their liturgies for instance, that I really like.
One of the things that distinguishes the Orthodox Church is formalised routine prayer for lay people. I picked up that practice, developed it for myself, and still formally pray twice a day. It is not the Catholic Divine Office, but I can see common ancestry.
Well, I did pray twice a day - but when we lose our routine we lose the regularity in all sorts of things.
And it is important. We are surrounded by influences that tell us we are primarily individuals living in a material world, that MY individual happiness, wealth, security, style and presumptions are really important, and definitely far more important than anyone else's - that I am an island - and that only the things we can see and touch exist.
I do not believe any of that - but everything around me keeps telling me I am wrong. If I am not careful I find myself drifting into grudges, resentments, worries about appearances and comfort, and a primary concern for personal financial security.
One way to keep my feet on the ground is to maintain regular contact with God and the spiritual world, and there are many ways to do that. Three that I use are daily reading, meditation, and morning and evening prayer. Other people use daily Mass, rosary, or social justice and other support groups.
When I led St Peter's College and Garin College I was regularly told we were very "lucky" as a school. Good things happened for us. That was true and I always agreed when people said that.
But I smiled too. "Luck" implies that life is random and there is no way to predict what will happen. That just isn't true. Good things happen far more often when people pray for them - and in both schools I know that individuals and small groups of people regularly prayed for the students and staff. I certainly did.
So, as I move into the next phase of my life, I am working to establish new routines. And one that is more important than others is my slot for morning prayer - if only to keep myself truly aware of the presence of God within me, and God's creation all around me.
I have learnt that I need to develop a new daily routine - and if I don't do that, I will drift through days, accomplish very little, and frustrate myself.
I have quite deliberately given up all my old routines, but not yet developed new ones. My body clock no longer gets me up at 5.40 every morning, but because I am now waking when my body has had enough sleep I am awaking at different times. That means my start-up routines are non-existent.
One routine I have lost over the last month is morning prayer.
Some years ago I became very interested in the Orthodox Church as an organisation which has held onto more early Christian practices than other Churches. There are things that happen in their liturgies for instance, that I really like.
One of the things that distinguishes the Orthodox Church is formalised routine prayer for lay people. I picked up that practice, developed it for myself, and still formally pray twice a day. It is not the Catholic Divine Office, but I can see common ancestry.
Well, I did pray twice a day - but when we lose our routine we lose the regularity in all sorts of things.
And it is important. We are surrounded by influences that tell us we are primarily individuals living in a material world, that MY individual happiness, wealth, security, style and presumptions are really important, and definitely far more important than anyone else's - that I am an island - and that only the things we can see and touch exist.
I do not believe any of that - but everything around me keeps telling me I am wrong. If I am not careful I find myself drifting into grudges, resentments, worries about appearances and comfort, and a primary concern for personal financial security.
One way to keep my feet on the ground is to maintain regular contact with God and the spiritual world, and there are many ways to do that. Three that I use are daily reading, meditation, and morning and evening prayer. Other people use daily Mass, rosary, or social justice and other support groups.
When I led St Peter's College and Garin College I was regularly told we were very "lucky" as a school. Good things happened for us. That was true and I always agreed when people said that.
But I smiled too. "Luck" implies that life is random and there is no way to predict what will happen. That just isn't true. Good things happen far more often when people pray for them - and in both schools I know that individuals and small groups of people regularly prayed for the students and staff. I certainly did.
So, as I move into the next phase of my life, I am working to establish new routines. And one that is more important than others is my slot for morning prayer - if only to keep myself truly aware of the presence of God within me, and God's creation all around me.
Wednesday 12 August 2015
The mother of Jesus
On Saturday the Catholic Church in New Zealand celebrates the feast day of its patron saint and national day for New Zealand on the great Feast of Mary, the Assumption. Depending on your point of view, that choice of patron was courageously myopic or inspired. The early Church held Mary in very high esteem - but since the Reformation Catholics have often overstated her role or downplayed it, and many do not "get" the Assumption.
Mary was important during Jesus' life, and after his death Mary became even more a touchstone. It was a crazy time: the ruthless Roman authorities found the Christians challenging, and the Jewish leaders found their intensity and refusal to compromise difficult. On top of that, everyone was trying to make sense of what had just happened. Paul was soon speaking authoritatively - but often in seeming contradiction to the understanding of those who had known Jesus.
In that environment there were two solid teachers everyone trusted: James the Just, bishop of Jerusalem and the first leader of the Christians - recorded as the brother of Jesus - and Mary. Sadly for us, both were people-people and pray-ers, rather than writers, and we have just one sermon from James recorded as his letter - and nothing from Mary. But there are many many surviving references to show the high esteem in which they both were held.
Mary's body seems to have disappeared after her death and a tradition grew up that as the one woman in all history chosen to carry the little boy we now know as the Christ, she was such a holy person that God lifted her body to heaven.
We know so little of Mary.
We know she enjoyed "God's favour". She accepted God's call. She was "full of grace", "blessed", and "the Lord was with" her. Mary was a woman of deep prayer: proclaiming the greatness of God from her "soul" and rejoicing in her "spirit". She is the model of humility. She was there (standing silently) in the difficult times. We can't be sure of much else.
Perhaps we see her values in the actions of her son: his care for women (particularly those on the margins - indeed all those on the margins), his gentleness, perhaps his anger at hypocrisy and double standards and people treating others badly, his passion for God (and maybe his anger when God was taken for granted or minimised).
Probably because we know so little, many people see in Mary what they want to see.
So the Church in New Zealand chose Mary as our patron, and this particular Marian feast, as our national day. Why?
As a people (like all peoples) we fail too often - but Mary's perseverance in the face of difficulties should be a constant reminder that being there, standing solidly with those in pain, refusing to buy into the conventional self-serving values of the world around us is always important - and may be the only thing we can do.
Mary was important during Jesus' life, and after his death Mary became even more a touchstone. It was a crazy time: the ruthless Roman authorities found the Christians challenging, and the Jewish leaders found their intensity and refusal to compromise difficult. On top of that, everyone was trying to make sense of what had just happened. Paul was soon speaking authoritatively - but often in seeming contradiction to the understanding of those who had known Jesus.
People like us were trying to understand the bits of the teachings we might have heard in the light of things we had previously believed - and there was no established church to explain it all or pull it all together.
In that environment there were two solid teachers everyone trusted: James the Just, bishop of Jerusalem and the first leader of the Christians - recorded as the brother of Jesus - and Mary. Sadly for us, both were people-people and pray-ers, rather than writers, and we have just one sermon from James recorded as his letter - and nothing from Mary. But there are many many surviving references to show the high esteem in which they both were held.
Mary's body seems to have disappeared after her death and a tradition grew up that as the one woman in all history chosen to carry the little boy we now know as the Christ, she was such a holy person that God lifted her body to heaven.
We know so little of Mary.
We know she enjoyed "God's favour". She accepted God's call. She was "full of grace", "blessed", and "the Lord was with" her. Mary was a woman of deep prayer: proclaiming the greatness of God from her "soul" and rejoicing in her "spirit". She is the model of humility. She was there (standing silently) in the difficult times. We can't be sure of much else.
Perhaps we see her values in the actions of her son: his care for women (particularly those on the margins - indeed all those on the margins), his gentleness, perhaps his anger at hypocrisy and double standards and people treating others badly, his passion for God (and maybe his anger when God was taken for granted or minimised).
Probably because we know so little, many people see in Mary what they want to see.
- She is the model for contemplatives who need to empty themselves to be able fill themselves with God.
- Feminist Christians see her strengths and independence.
- Mothers pray for her intercession (she is the one who said "My child, why have you done this to us?" the cry of every loving parent who has been let down).
- For many religious orders she is the model for their vows of poverty, chastity and obedience.
- The only saint I can remember invoking as a teacher was Mary - when I had to tell classmates that one of our students had died. I remember the words I used: "let us ask Mary for her prayer and support - if anyone knew the pain of a child dying, it was Mary." I then led them in the Hail Mary.
So the Church in New Zealand chose Mary as our patron, and this particular Marian feast, as our national day. Why?
For me it is because we too seek God's favour: we are blessed with wonderful people and a land where the Creator's hand is so apparent - we are brimming over with potential!
As well, we are a humble people.
We are often stunning when it comes to supporting people in need. We are idealistic, peace-makers and peace-keepers.
We are often stunning when it comes to supporting people in need. We are idealistic, peace-makers and peace-keepers.
I believe that although we are not a "religious" people, kiwis are a spirit-filled people - idealists constantly searching for beauty and peace and goodness.
As a people (like all peoples) we fail too often - but Mary's perseverance in the face of difficulties should be a constant reminder that being there, standing solidly with those in pain, refusing to buy into the conventional self-serving values of the world around us is always important - and may be the only thing we can do.
Finally, the choice of this feast was also a conscious act of hope for our people: after our earthly life, we look to a next life. As the prayer for the feast says: "All-powerful and ever-living God: you raised the sinless Virgin Mary, mother of your Son, body and soul, to the glory of heaven. May we see heaven as our final goal and come to share her glory."
My prayer is that we may each see heaven as our final goal and come to share her glory.
Wednesday 5 August 2015
The next step on the journey
Philosophers and psychologists and dramatists have enjoyed breaking our lives down into neat phases or stages - each with a set of characteristics - and each with a major goal we need to accomplish before we can move on successfully.
Certainly when I look back at my life I can see
I have been very moved by - and grateful for - the many very generous words from parents and teachers and students this week after I announced my need to move on from Garin College. I am really sad to be leaving your wonderfully talented and caring students, your very involved and talented teachers, and you: the most supportive and positive group of parents I have worked with.
The positivity that characterises our school is something very special, maybe a consequence of the fact that we have been responsible together for creating a new school and have had the opportunity to create the sort of school we really want.
The blessing for me is that parents, students and staff have bought into a vision of a school created to live the values of Jesus: a community school based on love and acceptance, and growth.
Together we have created and fostered a school that believes that God did, in fact, create each one of us - and that each one of us is therefore unique, with a purpose no-one else has, and gifted to fulfil that purpose (even if we sometimes struggle to recognise our many gifts).
Of course we all lose confidence in that at times, and allow the world to tell us that we are ordinary. But like a great parish, the Garin community remains positive and idealistic and connected, and draws each of us back to the birthright of each member of our God's creation: love, the fullness of life - and the right and responsibility to add our unique contribution to the development of this community, our wider community, and even the whole of creation.
If each of us leaves our world a slightly better place, we will have fulfilled our purpose - and not one of us knows all the effect of our ripples. That is for God to plan and judge. We just need to acknowledge our right and duty to make the best ripples we can!
So, as I leave leadership at Garin College, I am not leaving our community. I still expect (and am expected) to contribute. I will continue adding to this blog (without the weekly reminder in the newsletter), but I am definitely moving past the need or passion to be a formal leader and hands-on builder.
I have things I need to do for my own salvation - and so, my happiness. I don't intend to keep those secret and personal: they will be chronicled in these blogs for anyone who cares to read them.
Certainly when I look back at my life I can see
- pre-school, at home mostly with my mother,
- childhood,
- adolescence,
- searching for purpose and vocation in young adulthood,
- maturity, as I focused on the paths to becoming the person I was created to be. (I think maturity started for me the day Suellen and I brought our first child home from the maternity hospital in Ashburton and I realised this tiny boy's life was in my hands!)
- personal mastery (where I became a very good teacher),
- contribution (where I learnt to lead other teachers, and learnt to build the sort of community I believed in).
I have been very moved by - and grateful for - the many very generous words from parents and teachers and students this week after I announced my need to move on from Garin College. I am really sad to be leaving your wonderfully talented and caring students, your very involved and talented teachers, and you: the most supportive and positive group of parents I have worked with.
The positivity that characterises our school is something very special, maybe a consequence of the fact that we have been responsible together for creating a new school and have had the opportunity to create the sort of school we really want.
The blessing for me is that parents, students and staff have bought into a vision of a school created to live the values of Jesus: a community school based on love and acceptance, and growth.
Together we have created and fostered a school that believes that God did, in fact, create each one of us - and that each one of us is therefore unique, with a purpose no-one else has, and gifted to fulfil that purpose (even if we sometimes struggle to recognise our many gifts).
Of course we all lose confidence in that at times, and allow the world to tell us that we are ordinary. But like a great parish, the Garin community remains positive and idealistic and connected, and draws each of us back to the birthright of each member of our God's creation: love, the fullness of life - and the right and responsibility to add our unique contribution to the development of this community, our wider community, and even the whole of creation.
If each of us leaves our world a slightly better place, we will have fulfilled our purpose - and not one of us knows all the effect of our ripples. That is for God to plan and judge. We just need to acknowledge our right and duty to make the best ripples we can!
So, as I leave leadership at Garin College, I am not leaving our community. I still expect (and am expected) to contribute. I will continue adding to this blog (without the weekly reminder in the newsletter), but I am definitely moving past the need or passion to be a formal leader and hands-on builder.
I have things I need to do for my own salvation - and so, my happiness. I don't intend to keep those secret and personal: they will be chronicled in these blogs for anyone who cares to read them.
Wednesday 1 July 2015
Aren't people wonderful?
Last night I was in the audience for the show-piece concert of our arts festival: Te Wairua o nga Mahi Toi, the Spirit of Creation in the Arts. And once again I was forcefully reminded of the wonderful gifts our students and teachers have been given.
When I think about it, I realise that I should not be surprised. I say often enough that God made us, and that God does not make junk: each one of us is wonderfully gifted. That makes me realise that every school in the country - every school in the world - has an equivalent range of talents available. If the students are given (and take) the opportunity to show them.
So not only was I proud of our students and teachers as I sat there; I was also proud to be a leader in an organisation that sets out to discover and display the gifts God has given each of us. Not every school is able to do that as well.
In some cases, schools focus on bringing out other talents. In some schools the focus is more narrow - on academic success, for instance. The nice thing about the excellence we saw at the concert is that these students are able to have their cake - and eat it! They are able to shine in performance - but their NCEA results also shine!
Earlier this week I was able to use the gifts of our students for something else entirely. Sadly, we had a couple of incidents of students bringing alcohol to school (and just a warning: they usually bring it from home). On the other hand, I was very proud of the way junior and senior students supported a student who had become very ill as a consequence.
To make sure everyone got the message about the risks, we asked a Drugs and Alcohol counsellor to talk to seniors about the dangers of alcohol, and I asked a group of our year 13s to talk to year 9 and 10. And they were great.
I went to the junior assembly, and their message was not to bring alcohol to school, and that there is no point in protecting your friends and keeping them from getting into trouble if they are seriously damaging themselves.
A growling at home or a suspension at school are nothing compared to drowning in vomit! Teacher and Ambulance Officer Kylie Beckers then showed students how to put someone into the recovery position if they might vomit. The message was forceful without being emotive or over the top.
The gifts on display that day were responsibility, communication, and compassionate leadership. And it was just great to see our seniors accepting the responsibility without any hesitation. This week I have had reaffirmed that the future of our school and our community is in good hands - the hands of gifted and responsible young adults ready to make their mark in the adult world.
When I think about it, I realise that I should not be surprised. I say often enough that God made us, and that God does not make junk: each one of us is wonderfully gifted. That makes me realise that every school in the country - every school in the world - has an equivalent range of talents available. If the students are given (and take) the opportunity to show them.
So not only was I proud of our students and teachers as I sat there; I was also proud to be a leader in an organisation that sets out to discover and display the gifts God has given each of us. Not every school is able to do that as well.
In some cases, schools focus on bringing out other talents. In some schools the focus is more narrow - on academic success, for instance. The nice thing about the excellence we saw at the concert is that these students are able to have their cake - and eat it! They are able to shine in performance - but their NCEA results also shine!
Earlier this week I was able to use the gifts of our students for something else entirely. Sadly, we had a couple of incidents of students bringing alcohol to school (and just a warning: they usually bring it from home). On the other hand, I was very proud of the way junior and senior students supported a student who had become very ill as a consequence.
To make sure everyone got the message about the risks, we asked a Drugs and Alcohol counsellor to talk to seniors about the dangers of alcohol, and I asked a group of our year 13s to talk to year 9 and 10. And they were great.
I went to the junior assembly, and their message was not to bring alcohol to school, and that there is no point in protecting your friends and keeping them from getting into trouble if they are seriously damaging themselves.
A growling at home or a suspension at school are nothing compared to drowning in vomit! Teacher and Ambulance Officer Kylie Beckers then showed students how to put someone into the recovery position if they might vomit. The message was forceful without being emotive or over the top.
The gifts on display that day were responsibility, communication, and compassionate leadership. And it was just great to see our seniors accepting the responsibility without any hesitation. This week I have had reaffirmed that the future of our school and our community is in good hands - the hands of gifted and responsible young adults ready to make their mark in the adult world.
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