Cold feet. It is a feeling mostly associated with blushing brides on their wedding days, not young men about to realize the calling of a lifetime, but in a way, I think this may be the most apt description for how I am feeling now, just a week out from my ordination to the diaconate.
If you were to ask me at the beginning of the year how I felt about my calling to ordained ministry, my answer would have been as quick as a bullet and I would have been 100% confident, now just 7 days away from ordination I am not so quick to answer. From the first time I felt a calling to ordained ministry I have always felt a sense of calm and relaxation in the call, perhaps it was because I was so young, or perhaps it was because it was still over 5 years before there was even the possibility of being ordained (in this province no one under the age of 23 can be ordained.) now, just a week before ordination and a mere few days before I join with the other 3 ordinands and go into retreat, I find my mind and heart reflecting, and indeed fluttering at the thought of what is to take place on the 11th of December.
Reflecting back on the last few years and the journey both Sharlene and I have taken in the church I feel humbled and amazed at both the people we have been privileged enough to work with and the experiences we have both had, together and on our own. From holding a Kuia’s (elderly lady) hand as we said prayers by her bedside, and returning the following week to bury her. To trips to Fiji and to Pine Ridge and the people of RedShirt, South Dakota, these experiences and everything in between have impacted on me hugely and have gone a long way to shape me, my ministry and my outlook, and it is to these experiences and the huge amount of people that my mind now turns to, one week away from ordination.
Although come 1pm on the 11th it will be my head upon which the bishop lays his hands, and it will be my voice responding to his questions I know that none of this would have been possible without the help, inspiration, mentoring and friendship of a whole host of people, not to mention the various experiences I have been lucky enough to have. It is because of that that I am able to respond to the calling to serve God in ordained ministry and it is because of that that come the 11th, my heart and mind, while still fluttering, will be secure and relaxed in the calling I have received, the calling I often talk about, the calling to love and to serve, only now I will serving as a Deacon in the Church of God.
For those of you who live locally, I extend a warm invitation to share with the church, the ordinands and our families this Sunday, the 11th of December at 1pm at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, Khyber Pass Road as Brendon Wilkinson, Wayne and Jody Ashby and myself are ordained to the Diaconate.
Perhaps one of the most prevalent themes of the Gospel story is that of justice. Not just a superficial, forced type of justice, but a justice that permeates everything we do, a justice that is lived out and a justice that causes change. It is for that reason that Christ quoted from the scroll of the Prophet Isaiah and said,
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour.”
“We are the 99%.” This slogan has become somewhat of a house hold term over the last month. It is, of course is the catch phrase of the Occupy movement that is currently spreading all over the world. Beginning in America, Occupy has spread from South Africa to Japan, to the Czech Republic to Brazil, the Occupy movement is truly a worldwide event, and since the 15th of October Occupy has made itself at home in New Zealand.
According to their Facebook page, Occupy Aotearoa New Zealand exists as “…an expression of solidarity with the people occupying Wall Street as well as many of the other occupations around the world. We support the assertion that endless corporate greed compromises the political system and holds too much influence over our everyday lives. We stand for a truly democratic society of freedom, equality, justice and equity.” At first glance I was, at least in principal supportive of the Occupy Movement, but as the days and weeks have progressed I find myself less and less in support of Occupy. For me as an indigenous person, I find it very hard to reconcile the Occupy cause with that of my own people and indeed, that of native people the world over. Occupy’s slogan is largely based on the disparity between those who have the majority of the worlds wealth and their influence. It is largely regarded as fact that 1% of the world’s population control 40% of the world’s wealth, and in the eyes of Occupy that also means power. So far, so good, I have no issues with that as a basic issue that should be brought to light. My reservations come in on a more fundamental level, that being the baseline foundation of the movement and their mode of protest.
My people, our people have been occupied, formally at least, since 1840 and so when a movement springs up in New Zealand proclaiming the occupation of the country until we see a return to democracy and equality, I am sure you can understand why I would be a touch hesitant to stand in solidarity with the said movement. Our people have been fighting for the last 170 odd years for our very existence as Māori. Not for financial gain or in protest at a financial deficient, no, our needs are far more fundamental than financial. We have been fighting for our language, our histories, our culture, our land. We have been fighting for our very lives. All of those things that make us who we are, we have been fighting for. As an indigenous person in Aotearoa New Zealand I feel marginalised, sidelined and ignored as a result of the Occupy Movement.
At a very fundamental level, the Occupy movement is effectively an import. We imported the slogan, we imported the mode of protest, and we even imported the chants. In doing so, the organisers of Occupy Aotearoa New Zealand have introduced yet another tool of colonisation to this country.
While the protesters march down Queen Street, Māori are making up more than 50% of the Prison population. While the protestors are pitching their tents in Aotea Square, over 50% of Māori are living in the 3 highest deprivation deciles. While the protestors occupy Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch and Dunedin, Māori are still fighting for rights to our Ancestral Lands.
I have said it before in my blog posts and I will say it again, as Christians our calling to love and to serve means that we should be concerned with injustice in whatever form it takes and wherever it occurs. A part of that responsibility is to ensure that our response to injustice doesn’t cause more hurt and pain and therefore simply perpetuate the cycle that injustice creates. This is where I feel Occupy Aotearoa has come up short. I must confess, like I said earlier, at first I thought Occupy was great. Finally, a response to corporate greed and power, but when I looked beyond the surface and reflected on the implications of the protest, especially on indigenous people I began to realise that this protest doesn’t in fact, empower the already weak. It doesn’t liberate the marginalised or release the captives. It doesn’t restore sight to the blind or let the oppressed go free. What it does do is highlight just how off the radar and unimportant issues of justice, especially justice for Māori, is in Aotearoa New Zealand, even among those who fight for better equality and justice. Perhaps if nothing else, that realisation for me is a worthwhile outcome of the Occupy Movement.
My Name is Christopher Huriwai, I am indigenous and I am the occupied.
I don’t usually post or present my sermons online or anywhere else other than in the Church or for the congregation they were written for, but I have decided to post my most recent sermon here. Given that the topic for this particular sermon is of such a wide reaching nature I thought it would be nice to share it. I will share the transcript below but for those of you who don’t have the time to read it I will post the video of my sermon. If nothing else, the video at least shows what a beautiful Whare Karakia (Church) Te Karaiti is.
May the words of my mouth and the meditation of all our hearts be acceptable in thy sight O Lord my rock and my redeemer. AMEN.
“Jesus said to him, ‘Not seven times, but, I tell you, seventy-seventimes.”
Our reading this morning continues the theme, and subject of this part of Matthew’s Gospel, namely that of living in community. Our gospel reading last week gave us ways in which we can resolve conflict within the community and within the Church and this week we continue that theme with a teaching on forgiveness.
Peter asks Jesus, ‘If someone sins against me how many times should I forgive them?’ Being Peter, he thinks he knows the answer and proposes 7. Here Jesus rebukes him and says, not seven, but seventy seven. Jesus then goes on to illustrate his point through the parable of the unforgiving servant.
Jesus’ command to not forgive someone 7 times, but 77 isn’t a literal command but rather says to us that we should always offer and be prepared to offer forgiveness. Not once, or twice or even seven times, but as many times as is necessary for that forgiveness to be taken. This means that as followers of Christ we are called to always be ready to offer forgiveness. We are called to always have our hands stretched out in forgiveness in the real hope that someone will accept it.
Every generation has it’s ‘news flash’ moments. Events that happen in our lifetimes that, no matter how old or young we are we can remember where we were and what we were doing. For my Dad, it was the landing on the moon. He had just left Primary School and was in 3rd form at high school in Gisborne. For my Mum, it was in 1977, she was 21 and Elvis Presley had just passed away. For me it was when I was 13, in 3rd form at Cashmere High School. I had PE for my first period this particular day and when I was getting changed my friend said to me, ‘have you heard? Someone has just bombed America.’
Today is September 11 2011 – the tenth anniversary of 9/11 and in churches all over the world there is a debate going on. Church leaders, ministers and preachers are wondering what they should do. Should they acknowledge this day? Should they ignore it? Should they just have a prayer and then move on with the karakia? Whanau, here, this morning we do acknowledge what happened on this day 10 years ago. We remember those who died; the passengers on the planes, the workers at the World Trade Centre, the people at the Pentagon, all those who died, we remember them. And with their loved ones we also reflect on the past 10 years.
The readings we do each Sunday here at Te Karaiti and at all Anglican Churches across the world come from this book, the lectionary. I am not sure who puts it together and who chooses the readings, but the readings for this morning, especially the Gospel are very helpful as we remember and reflect on the events of 9/11 and how the world has changed, if at all because of what happened on this day 10 years ago.
For the last 10 years America and several other nations around the world have been involved in a ‘War on Terror.’ This War on Terror was America’s response to the attacks of 9/11. Our gospel this morning is helpful in reflecting on the War on Terror and America’s response to 9/11. Where did this response come from? What was the foundation for this reaction? In light of our reading it seems that America may have been touch brash in their response to 9/11. Our reading this morning calls us all to forgiveness. The hard part here is, if America didn’t respond in the way it did then would we be better or worse off here and now, 10 years on. To be honest, I don’t know, but what I do know is that forgiveness doesn’t invade a country, forgiveness doesn’t launch a war, forgiveness doesn’t imprison people without trial, forgiveness doesn’t kill.
What we need to remember about 9/11 is that it didn’t happen in isolation. America wasn’t the only place in the world to change forever that day, nor were they the only people who would feel the pains of terrorism and war, no, the War on Terror ensured that scores of other innocent people would also experience the horrors of war. It is 10 years on and the people of America are beginning to return to some sort of normality. The rebuilding and creation of a memorial at Ground Zero are going well with the latter all but completed, people are starting to move around New York with more ease and most people aren’t nearly as nervous about flying as they were 5 years ago. But what about in the Middle East and Afghanistan? What about those innocent people who live in the countries where this War on Terror is playing out? It is important that here and now, 10 years on we remember them, those who continue to suffer as their homes and lives are torn apart by the ongoing war on terror, just as much as we remember those who died on 11th September 2001.
The real hard part about preaching on a day like today isn’t that I am scared I might say the wrong things, it isn’t that I am worried I may offend some people, it isn’t even the fact that Matua Hone is sitting at the back giving my sermon a score out of 10. The real hard part is that while this day, 9/11, is a day of sadness and tragedy; we know that right outside our doors is a community that needs healing, a community that needs love, a community that needs forgiveness. While thousands upon thousands of people died in the events of 9/11, and while that is a tragedy of epic proportions, we need to remember that here, in Mangere and in communities all across Aotearoa and the world; people are suffering and dying needlessly every day. It was just last week that Matua Hone himself was in the Herald speaking out against issues of child poverty.
As Christians, it is part of our calling to condemn anything that brings about suffering, from child poverty to hopelessness to war and unnecessary death in any form it takes. By virtue of our calling we are commanded to preserve life and ensure that its innate dignity is protected. Today is a reminder to us that we need to continually use our voices to condemn the ongoing War on Terror. America’s response to answer violence with violence was, simply put, the wrong one. Here this morning, our Gospel reading and our calling to follow Christ tells us how to respond to situations like these. We are called to respond from a place of love, a place of concern and perhaps most importantly, a place of forgiveness. True forgiveness demands that we don’t attach conditions or ultimatums, but rather offer freedom and wholeness. True forgiveness comes without any strings attached and is offered fully. Even when it seems that our offer of forgiveness is declined or goes unanswered we must respond to Jesus’ command to forgive seventy times seven if need be.
And so I leave you with those thoughts in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. AMEN.
Suicide. The mere mention of the word is enough to stir our emotions, our memories and even move some of us to anger. It is no surprise then that the MP for Te Waiariki, Te Ururoa Flavell sparked such controversy with his recent column on suicide. You can read it here, but basically what the esteemed member of parliament said was that we shouldn’t celebrate the lives of those who commit suicide, instead we should bury them at the entrance of the cemetery (where people would walk over them) so their deaths will be condemned by the people.
As Falvell says, this is a hardline stance, but he is proposing it because he has seen firsthand the trauma and grief caused by suicide, and in his words “What else can we do?”
Like most people I have been touched by suicide, while my whanau and I have been lucky enough to not have a suicide in the immediate family, the effects of suicide are such that even when it occurs in the extended family or even a loose circle of acquaintances, everyone feels it s horrible presence no matter how distant. Perhaps that is one of the reasons why Flavell’s article caused such a reaction.
Like everything, I think it is important to look to our faith when dealing with issues, especially issues like suicide that seem to have no reason, but hurt so much. One piece of scripture that comes to mind whenever I think of suicide is from Matthew 11:28
“Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
This passage sums up to me what I believe would be God’s response to any person who is convinced that their burden is so heavy, and they are so weary that the only way to be free from it is to end their lives. As I type these words I am very aware of the dangers of glorifying suicide, and please know that that is certainly not my intention. These words are not a way of legitimising suicide but rather a response to it. The real power in these words from Matthew’s gospel are in the fact that they are a calling to all of us to place our burdens on Jesus and free ourselves from the weight and tiredness that comes with those burdens. Through doing so, and responding to those words from Matthew, we free ourselves from those dark corners of our lives where some of us are sometimes moved to consider, and in the worse cases commit suicide. I believe our God is a god of love and while God would much rather see us live our lives and live them fully in him I cannot for a second fathom that God wouldn’t be waiting to receive any victim of suicide with open arms and offer them the paradise they were so tragically denied during their lives, that paradise that we are all entitled to.
From this perspective I must disagree with Flavell. I do not think that it is right for us, or anyone else to deny a grieving family a Tangi (funeral) or to bury a victim of suicide outside of the urupa (cemetery) by themselves. They were so alone in their lives, why would we condemn them to remain alone (even if only their mortal remains) in death? Even more than that, I am moved by my faith to respond to suicide in a way that is inspired by, and lives out the love of God as revealed to us in his son Jesus Christ.
I was (pleasantly) surprised last week when I was speaking to my mother and she asked me if I had heard that the Church of England had given the OK for Gay clergy, not only to be ordained, but to exercise episcopal ministry. I must say while my initial thought was full of doubt I still had the slightest hope in me that what she told me was true and that there had been a breakthrough. Sadly, my doubt was confirmed.
In a paper released last Monday the Church of England stated their position on Gay clergy in relation to the Equality Act. The main thrust of the paper is that Gay clergy will be allowed to hold any office in the church, including episcopal, if they are celibate. This paper maintains that there should be no discrimination based on orientation, but that it is the behavior that goes with the orientation that mattered.
While this is (arguably) a step in the right direction, one can’t help but feel that this is a final step and not an initial one. This paper effectively says that it is OK to be Gay as long as you don’t act on your inherent, God given sexuality. Not only is this an injustice against our LGBT brothers and sisters, it is a blatant injustice against the love of God. Any couple, heterosexual, homosexual or otherwise will testify to the intimacy, love, transformation and transcendence that occurs when making love. It is quite possibly the most intimate time and space that we share with another human being. It is the human response to love that we should all be able to express irrespective of sexual orientation, so to deny that expression of that intimacy, that love, to anyone is a grave injustice.
This paper is falling back on secular law as a scape goat to facilitate and empower a position of prejudice. This paper relies on the law that says marriage is to be between and woman and a man only. So what if a LGBT couple, who are legally married in another country go to minister in England? Will they be able to exercise their sexuality while one of them is also in active ministry? This (using the law to justify prejudice) is a tactic that is all to familiar around the communion. It has even been used here in the Church in Aotearoa- New Zealand and Polynesia.
The canons of the church in Aotearoa- New Zealand and Polynesia are clear; a requirement of ordination is Chastity. Chastity in the canons of this province is defined as “the right ordering of sexual relationships.” This statement is also explained in the Standing Resolutions where it says “the right ordering of sexual relationships is within marriage, if single then the person is to remain celibate.” Where does this leave our LGBT whanau? Where does this leave the church? It places our LGBT brothers and sisters in a very unfair position, either remain celibate and respond to your calling to ordained ministry or deny your calling to ordained ministry but live the fullness of who God created you to be. That is an unfair position to say the least, and to say the most, it is oppression of the worst kind.
It is easy to see now, how the church is using secular law to empower their prejudice. After all it isn’t the church’s fault that it is illegal for same-sex couples to be married, is it? Well, I have a radical idea, instead of waiting for the law to change how about we change the canons? Why not simply insert civil-unions into our existing canons so that the right ordering of sexual relationships is between the married and those in civil-unions? Of course that would be too easy…
The Church of England has not taken a step forward, all this paper does is rub salt into an already very sore wound and until we, as a church are ready to step out in faith and make a prophetic (as opposed to this pathetic) statement affirming the God given sexuality and sexual nature of all human kind than we are still no closer to fully living out the gospel of Christ, the gospel of love.
Tonight I attended the 27th annual HIV/AIDS Candlelight Memorial Service at S. Matthew-in-the-City here in Auckland. While we know that HIV/AIDS is not a disease unique to the gay community, the emphasis of the memorial was definitely on the impact that HIV/AIDS has had on the wider gay community here in New Zealand and abroad. As I sat there in this beautiful (Anglican) Church in the middle of New Zealand’s largest city, my mind began to tick over. I thought and reflected on many things, from the church’s action, or inaction in regards to the Homosexuality “issue” to the church’s unwillingness to make a definitive and prophetic statement on the “issue” of ordaining openly LGBT people. As I mulled over these ideas my mind turned to the upcoming Common Life Missions Conference that is to be held here in New Zealand in the coming week. While I have my own ideas on mission (mainly that of missioning to our own people before going overseas) it was not to those ideas that I instinctively turned, instead it was to the keynote speaker of the conference, the Most Reverend Ben Kwashi, Archbishop of Jos.
++Kwashi is probably most famous for the attacks that were carried out on him and his family during the religious unrest in Nigeria. He is also known as a motivational and electric preacher, evangelist and anti-gay cleric. This, to say the least, is cause for concern for myself and I hope the wider church in Aotearoa- New Zealand and Polynesia. As ++Kwashi is the keynote speaker he is not here as a tourist, or visitor but as a (Arch)Bishop of the Anglican Church on an official visit. While this may all seem benign and he is simply here to inspire the conference with his powerful voice and electric charisma I genuinely think Anglicans across Aotearoa should be concerned for the message this sends to the international community and, probably more importantly to our LGBT brothers and sisters here in New Zealand. Our reception, and invitation no less to ++Kwashi sends the message that we support him, his diocese and by implication the church in Nigeria. Their views on Homosexuality and their lack of prophetic witness especially in light of the recent, sexuality fuelled violence in Nigeria is reason enough for us to maintain our distance from the Nigerian Church. So to invite a bishop of the church of Nigeria to Aotearoa- New Zealand flies in the face of what I thought it meant to be Anglican in these islands.
Some time ago the presiding bishop of TEC, Katherine Jefferts-Schori visited New Zealand. Not on an official visit, not to speak at a Missions conference, not on an official invite but as a “private citizen.” It even went so far that in one diocese of the Church in New Zealand she was forbidden from not only preaching (to which she was invited to do so by the Dean) but from entering the cathedral at all! While I can think of one reason(I wonder if the Nigerian Church’s stance towards TEC had anything to do with it?) for her not being here in an official capacity the fact that ++Kwashi is being shown more hospitality than the presiding bishop of TEC was even offered also sends a bad sign to the church in Aotearoa. It says that we are willing to fall into line for the biggest bully on the playground (Nigeria is the second largest province in the Anglican Communion) rather than prophetically support those on the margins. In short, we are willing to sell our soul to be popular with the right people.
Even if we were to ignore the issues I have already raised there are still several other reasons why I think it is absolutely ridiculous for ++Kwashi, or any bishop from Nigeria for that matter, to be received here in an official capacity. In 2005 the Nigerian Church reworded its constitution to redefine its view of the Anglican Communion. It no longer recognises provinces who are in Communion with Canterbury as part of the Anglican Communion but rather “all Anglican Churches, Dioceses and Provinces that hold and maintain the ‘Historic Faith, Doctrine, Sacrament and Discipline of the one Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church.” What does this statement even mean? From my reading of this part of their constitution it would mean that the Province of Aotearoa- New Zealand and Polynesia aren’t even a part of the Anglican Communion according to the Nigerian Church. Why then are we even entertaining the remotest idea of receiving a bishop from the Church of Nigeria here in an official capacity? Not only is the Nigerian church redefining what it means to be Anglican, they are themselves contradicting the Anglican tradition that they profess to be so fervently defending. In 2006 the Reverend Martyn Minns was elected by the Church of Nigeria as the Missionary bishop for the Convocation of Anglicans in North America. Minns was consecrated in Abuja, Nigeria and installed as Missionary Bishop in 2007. That consecration and installation alone is a more schismatic act than anything ever done by TEC or any LGBGT clergy and yet we, the Church in Aotearoa- New Zealand and Polynesia are content to invite ++Kwashi not only to attend the conference but be the keynote speaker, the mind boggles.
I was expecting a few things when i decided to attend the candlelight service tonight; a predominantly LGBT congregation, a reflective mood and a good service, and I was right. What I wasn’t expecting however was the type of reflection that occurred. I wasn’t expecting to be challenged, I wasn’t expecting to be thinking about the state of the worldwide communion and I certainly wasn’t expecting to write a blog post when I got home. So I thank God for the time and the opportunity to reflect and remember. Not only about the horrors of HIV/AIDS but also to reflect on the challenges that face the wider church and all of us that call it home.
As I write this I am mindful of those who are affected by this horrible disease, both the sufferers and their loved ones. But mostly my mind turns to those who fought their battle with courage and strength and who are now at rest. Eternal rest grant unto them O LORD, and let light perpetual shine upon them. May the souls of the faithful departed rest in peace, and rise in glory.
As I look at my Facebook homepage and my Twitter feeds I see updates from my friends and family, people who I thought I knew well…I was wrong. Several of the updates are just cut and pastes from news reports or URLs that lead to a video report of the hottest news off the press, I am of course talking about the killing of Osama Bin Laden. Among those status updates however, are ones rejoicing in the killing of Bin Laden, some even giving thanks to God for his death, they are the updates that I weep about.
President Obama, in his address to the nation and the world repeatedly talks of the American Army’s mission to kill or capture Bin Laden, Obama says “And so shortly after taking office, I directed Leon Panetta, the director of the CIA, to make the killing or capture of bin Laden the top priority of our war against Al-Qaeda…” This statement in itself is enough to cause anyone to pause, and I think it hits home more when it is written in black and white than recited from the comfort of the White House. This statement shows an inherent inconsideration for life, an attitude that I, as a Christian cannot accept. I think most Christians would testify to the sanctity of life, and even Obama himself refers to this sanctity in his address. How is it then, that this sanctity can be violated in a way that can only be described as sacrilegious, and yet the world rejoices? Osama Bin Laden is a bad man, fact. Does that mean that we are free to kill him? What makes us different to Bin Laden? How is the killing (not to mention the collateral damage) any different to the atrocities that he himself perpetrated? Simply put, there isn’t a difference. Our difference was our deeply held conviction that all humankind are created in the image of God and because of that every human life is inherently sacred. This isn’t a claim that only Christians can make, scripture doesn’t tell us that only the people we like are created in the image of God. It doesn’t say that only people who are the same colour as us are created in the image of God. It says that all are created in the image of God, and that includes Osama Bin Laden. How then can we rejoice in his death? How can any Christian, anywhere possibly rejoice in the death and brutal killing of any fellow human being? Now, I know some would say, and some have blogged that Bin Laden’s death was justice. Justice for 9/11, justice for all of those who have died in the fight against terrorism. Osama met his end in a violent and extreme way and he deserved it. I am sorry but as soon as we begin to be as flippant with the value of life as those who take it away in the first place we are no longer witnessing to Christ crucified and risen. We begin to move away from what it means to be followers of Christ. When we begin to rejoice in the death of another person then we move away from Christ full stop. There is no grey area on this issue, Christians everywhere should be condemning this attitude that has reared its ugly head in the fall out of Osama’s death.
To rejoice in the death of another person, save that of rejoicing in the hope of the resurrection, is to do a disservice to our calling and is an act of contempt to the cross of Christ. Bin Laden’s death, in the great scheme of things is an almost non-issue. All it has done is given America and other countries justification for what has been 10 years of pain, loss, grief and death. His death will no doubt re-energise what is an already unjust war (not that there is such a thing as a just war.) Bin Laden’s death isn’t something to rejoice about, but to weep about. His death has just bought the world another 10 years of possible pain and inevitable suffering. And even more than the fact that people are rejoicing in death, I weep because of that.
The last few months have been an amazing experience. First of all the opportunity to take time out each day, read, reflect and share with my fellow postulants is an amazing gift and one that I am only too grateful to receive.
Over the last few months I have read on various subjects from the founding of our order, to St. Dominic himself, to Blessed Jordan of Saxony to a sermon preached in the 1200s and most recently reading the devotional book, 15 Days of Prayer with St Dominic. My Postulant class and I have also been lucky enough to be guided through somewhat of a retreat in prayer by Br. Tom Hudson, OPA. Br. Tom took us through the 9 Ways of Prayer of St. Dominic. Using and reflecting on 2 ways of prayer a week, we were guided through the 9 Ways over a month of reflection and practice.
Each week I have been challenged, and each week I feel I have grown. As I read throughout the history of the Order, its early adherents and writings from third parties, my sense of calling from God to the Anglican Order of Preachers is reinforced week by week. A very special part of this calling is the fact that it doesn’t happen in isolation. Although we are spread across the face of the earth, the intimate sense I feel whenever I receive an email from someone in the order, or whenever I log on to the Postulant blog is amazing.
As I continue to travel this road with Christ, and Dominic, I give thanks to God for this very rare opportunity, and the calling he has placed on my heart to fulfil that calling with the Anglican Order of Preachers. I thank each and every person who has contributed to, and helped me along the way, the journey isn’t over, and if truth be told it never is. This calling demands the commitment of a life long journey of reflection, prayer and study, I am only a few months in, but I am loving every moment of it.
As I sit on the flight back to Auckland from Christchurch I can’t help but reflect on the goings ons of the last couple of weeks. It has been just shy of 3 weeks since Christchurch, the place I was brought up, was rocked by an earthquake killing more than 150 people and injuring scores more.
I must confess, I am not one of those brave New Zealanders that jumped on a plane straight away to come to Christchurch and help in the rescue and recovery effort, nor am I one of those who came to Christchurch to help out with food or water, or offering an open ear and warm hug. No, my reasons for coming to Christchurch were purely selfish, I came to help out my family. My family home was hit rather hard by the quake on the 22/02/2011 and so I flew to Christchurch (at the request of my father) to help him try and patch up the house…it was a lost cause however and I now fear that the house may need to be demolished. It was while I was in Christchurch helping my family however, that the inevitable conversations happened. Some sad, some happy, some hopeful, others hopeless, and now, as I sit on my flight back to Auckland, back to running water and power. Back to perfectly intact buildings and a place where liquefaction might as well be a foreign word, my mind wonders.
The Dean of Christ Church Cathedral, the Very Reverend Peter Beck has become somewhat of an overnight national celebrity, and one of his remarks about the events of the 22/02/2011 has especially spoken to a lot of New Zealanders. When asked about his thoughts of the earthquake the Dean responded:
“God is not in the earthquake. The earthquake was not an act of God. The earthquake was the planet doing its thing the way the planet does. The act of God and the miracles has been the extraordinary way people have pulled together, reached out to one other. The act of God has been in the tears of people, in the weeping, in the lament. The act of God is in the compassion people are showing to one another. The act of God is in the courage people are showing.”
Anyone would agree that that was a good response, or at least as good as any response could have been considering the circumstances. Although it may have been a good response, was it good enough? The Christian church loves to talk about the idea of the “Creator God” or at least a God who ordered creation, so how does that theology go with the response given by the Dean? Scientifically speaking, the Dean is 100% correct. The earthquake was an example of the earth doing what the earth does. But if we believe in a creator God than we must also accept that God, however indirectly is responsible for this earthquake.
The big questions that come up at a time like this are not unique to the specific event or fallout of that event, they are rather a result of the human response to suffering. Long before the events of 22/02/2011 there have been (and continue to be) suffering on an alarmingly huge scale the world over, most of which is of our own making. The recent earthquake in Christchurch opened up an entire city’s eyes, and indeed an entire country’s eyes to suffering that happens on a daily basis around the world. This fact however, doesn’t make events like these any easier to handle, and it certainly doesn’t make it easy for churches and/or ministers to answer the big questions that come with these types of tragedies. I am not writing this in an attempt to offer an answer, to be honest I am still working through my own thoughts in regard to the earthquake. What i am offering though, is a change in how we approach situations like this, and suffering generally.
It is natural for us to try and place blame when we are faced by tragedies. It is a reaction that was built into our being when we were still infants. Something goes wrong, the reason is assessed, we find who was responsible, that person/thing is then held accountable and then we can carry on living. It is a natural part of how we live. But that process doesn’t always fit the situation. Insurance companies like to call events like the recent earthquake “an act of God.” When something goes wrong, from the unexpected death of a baby to a flood to an earthquake, people need answers, and when those answers can’t be found it is easy for us to blame God. It is this approach that we need to change. God’s shoulders are big enough to carry any burden or responsibility, but that doesn’t mean that that’s where the burden should be laid. We need to shift from a theology of “why” to a theology of “where?” In an attempt to avoid this post turning into a thesis I will go into what I mean by a theology of where in a later post. But to briefly explain, I think the Dean was halfway there. The Dean rightfully pointed out that God is in the aftermath, God was in the human response to this tragedy. But I think the Dean forgot that God was also in the earthquake. God was with those 160 people as they lost their lives to this disaster. God was with those who were buried for upwards of 6 hours. God was with the families and loved ones as they waited to hear the fate of their brothers, sisters, mums, dads, daughters and sons. God was in the earthquake.
Once again, I am not offering answers or a definitive statement on suffering in general or this tragedy in particular. At most I am thinking out loud and trying to come to grips with my own questions. I simply type these thoughts up and post them in the hope that they may help someone on their way to reaching a place where, although they may not be able to get all the answers, they are at least at peace with the questions.
Well, we are 3 days into lent and as I scan my Facebook page I see status updates from my friends asking what they should give up for lent. I am not a fan of the ‘give up’ sort of lent, instead I advocate a ‘take up’ sort of lent, it is far better to try to create a new habit than to temporarily give up a bad one.
For me this is going to be a Lenten season full of prayer and reflection. Not just the sort of flick the switch, auto pilot type of prayer and reflection, but a deliberate, present type of prayer and reflection. It is a habit that I hope to continue after Easter. This Lenten season also has extra significance for me, it is my first as a Dominican, or more correctly an aspiring Dominican. Throughout this Lenten season I will be exploring more fully, my call to the Anglican expression of Dominican Community. I will practice Dominics nine ways of prayer as well as work through 14 Days of Prayer with St. Dominic. It isn’t a journey I take alone, but through the wonder of the internet, blogging and emails I will be just one part of a class of Postulants and seasoned Dominicans exploring spirituality and what it means to be a servant of Christ in 2011.
I am a twenty-something theological student at the College of S. John the Evangelist Auckland, New Zealand. I have been married since 2008 and my wife and I have been living in Auckland since 2009. I was ordained in 2011 in the Anglican Church in Aotearoa -New Zealand and Polynesia.
