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November 2014

different size windows

Unrelenting ‘Creativity’

In New Zealand there are not standard-size windows. When someone here breaks a window, a glazier comes, measures the window, cuts a larger piece of glass down to fit, and then installs this cut-down pane, throwing away the pieces cut off. There are not standard kitchens. When someone wants to update their kitchen, the new

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Earthed in Hope

Earthed in Hope: Dying, Death and Funerals – A Pakeha Anglican Perspective (paperback) Earthed in Hope (Kindle Edition) By Alister G. Hendery300 pages Māori, the indigenous people of Aotearoa New Zealand, have a very down-to-earth approach to death. The Anglican Church in Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia has been very open to being enriched from

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emotionally healthy spirituality

Emotionally Healthy Spirituality

An experienced priest, a friend whose wisdom I value a lot, recently pointed to a blog post, Healthy Leader, Healthy Church. Some people could too easily be put off by that post’s language and theology, but the central message is, I think, very important. Churches are, so often, places of emotional unhealthiness. And that includes

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Joseph and Jesus

Our Father (part 3)

You can imagine Jesus in his teenage years. He’s had his basic, solid education, and now it’s time to start learning his trade. Obviously, he’s his dad’s apprentice. Joseph is a good tradesman; they live less than an hour’s walk away from Sepphoris. There’s a massive city-rebuilding project underway there – much like we are

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Finding the Forgotten God

Finding The Forgotten God

Finding the Forgotten God – Credible Faith for a Secular Age by Ron Hay Paperback 238 pages Publisher: DayStar Books [Update 15 August 2015: Finding the Forgotten God won a $10,000 Ashton Wylie Charitable Trust Mind Body Spirit Literary Award. Congratulations, Ron! Here is an interview of Ron by Philip Matthews. There is now a

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nesting clergy dolls

A Bishop is not a Priest

In a recent blog post of his, Bishop Jim White quotes the rubric in the service to ordain a bishop in The Episcopal Church’s Book of Common Prayer (page 511): The bishop-elect is vested in a rochet or alb, without stole, tippet, or other vesture distinctive of ecclesiastical or academic rank or order. I cannot

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The Inclusive Bible

The Inclusive Bible: The First Egalitarian Translation This translation has had a couple of mentions here recently in comments, enough to pique my interest and purchase it. First the plusses. A lot of the translations in the NRSV that I wish had been done better have been dealt with quite well in this translation. For

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The whole church

Our Father (part 2)

As part of reflecting on the Lord’s Prayer, and on the word “Our” that begins it, here is the reflection on this in the Catechism of the Catholic Church: III. “Our” Father 2786 “Our” Father refers to God. the adjective, as used by us, does not express possession, but an entirely new relationship with God.

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