A lot has been said about freedom as people block streets and camp in the grounds of parliament and Cranmer Square, thereby restricting the freedom of others.  A colleague of mine suggested that a better term to define the overall goals of the protesters would be ‘personal sovereignty’

However, having had an overload of David Attenborough on summer television I doubt that any primates have such a thing as ‘personal sovereignty.’ Certainly, we have seen aging alpha males defeated and sent to forage for a lonely subsistence in a hostile environment, excluded rather than free. Continue reading Freedom or Personal Sovereignty →

Deuteronomy 26:1-11 and Luke 4: 1-13. Lent 1C 2022

We’re at the beginning of Lent: a season which, I have to say, we don’t really know what to do with. Oh, we have special Bible studies (sometimes), some of us change the colours in our churches, and we have a few extra possible services that we may or may not use. Given the attendance at some of these, they are treated as optional extras. And we have a set of readings that take us through the 40 days – and with some of these we struggle to find our way into them for our time and place. Today’s readings, at first hearing, don’t seem to be related. One is a defining narrative for the understanding of the covenant between God and Israel. It’s the climax of the Exodus story. The other is familiar to anyone who has grown up in the Christian faith. So – where to start? At the beginning! Continue reading REMEMBERING JOURNEYS →

The Transfiguration, by Raphael

We’ve had some tricky readings lately and of course, I’ve no idea what you’ve made of them here, so who knows how my take on today’s gospel will sit with your last few weeks! Luke’s Gospel has taken us on a bumpy ride, and we are living through a chaotic time here and now, what with pandemic, climate change, and warmongering leaders. What, in the midst of all this, can we make of the Transfiguration story, which, on the face of it, was a transforming – and peaceful! – experience? Continue reading Mountain or plain? 27 February 2022 →

Genesis 45: 3-11, 15; Luke 6: 27-38;  Geoff King

It’s been a month since New Zealand moved to the highest ‘red light’ level of the latest COVID-19 response plan, and by now I imagine we are all getting well and truly used to scanning in everywhere we go, having our vaccine passes at the ready and dutifully wearing our masks.

But whilst I’m becoming accustomed to being masked up for most of my working week, I’m finding that other people wearing their masks has made parts of my job as a counsellor considerably more challenging,  particularly when meeting people for the very first time. Continue reading Epiphany 7 – Sunday 20 February 2022 →

If a person is humble dose that make them meek or are they meek if they are poor and oppressed. Certainly, their oppressors expect them to be humble.

Years ago, I asked a Samoan woman if she would serve on the Assembly Business Committee. Her response was indeed humble.  She just said: ‘Thank you.’

I was therefore delighted to read that after 14 years of service to Counties Manukau Health, with the last three-and-a-half as CEO, Margie Apa has been appointed Chief Executive of Health New Zealand. Continue reading The Beatitudes – Sunday 13 February 2022 →