April fool's jokes have not made any appearances in our house this year. It turns out it was just another working day really. One worked at recovering from a late night out. One went to work in Auckland city. One paid pastor went to work doing two Sunday morning services and playing the piano at one of them too. And one unpaid pastor and mum continued keeping the rest of us in food and various kinds of attire.
And Jessie the dog had a daytime and nighttime walk!
At church the first anniversary of our arrival in the city of sails was marked with flowers and chocolates which were gratefully received. Amazing how quickly the year has gone. I guess we are pretty settled, with three of five in a seemingly sorted employment and/or career path.
The interesting parts of the day included Palm Sunday at church (a lovely family did bring some Palms)and the peculiar end to New Zealand's daylight saving spell. Clocks went back an hour, and we all slept longer in theory. Naturally there were some casualties in terms of arrival times. There seemed to be lots of early people and some who arrived in-between things.
The question of the long term vision of the "parish" remains fascinating. We are slowly investigating the nature of being missional (the whole church being called to reach out into the community in love and service - the hands on aspect of being good news when you proclaim it). I was reading tonight something that I wrote in 1994. Years away and many years on I could read the same message and it would make sense - names and places would have to be changed (perhaps to contextualize the conversation - there are no innocent people involved to be protected). In short the church is still not doing what I suggested was its raison d'etre 18 years ago. So I can only conclude that the problem is not the idea but the how - the way we are meant to be church in the world requires major change. Should we fail to make this adjustment (adaptation is the better word) and it may well be that we (our local church) will continue to be stable and declining with the latter simply winning the race.
My predecessor is said to have hankered after the community life he knew before - and I am told was very happy to return to a rural New Zealand. "Loving communities" feature in our mission statement. What that means and how to "build" them is perhaps a process of mutual discovery between pastor and people! :-)
So no one tried to fool us. Palm(er) Sunday has come and gone.Being back on the piano was really great - there is a sense that I really belong there. So many have been asking me just recently (voices from my past) about this business of me leading worship at the piano. It was really easy with the amazing musicians on vocals and guitar!
New Zealand was once described as "lurching from one problem to another". The insular nature of things (a geographical and psychological reality) makes local politics quite frustrating. And television interviewers are quite rude on the whole. It makes for peculiar viewing but hey - there is less corruption than our motherland and crime is relatively minimal (although violent crime has increased in our six years here). And we are a happy blend here on the north shore of voracious eaters of koeksusters and biltong and other South African goodies, together with a wide range of European and Asian expats and their yummy dishes! All the more reason to walk the dog more often and at greater pace.
Our volcanoes are behaving. The earthquakes in Christchurch seem to have waned in number, but the rebuilding issues there are so terribly slow and disheartening to the locals. Our millions of sheep seem happily oblivious of their ultimate international destinies, and our cows have to contend with their penalties on account of global warming and their methanic flatulence.
Tomorrow is Monday. I shared (by way of being interviewed) at our men's breakfast that while I do take this day as sabbath, more people apparently die on Mondays. So far we have not had too many such days of sudden loss or final surrender. Our faithful folk in their 80s and 90s are such treasures. As are our wonderful children and young people who generate such energy and joy. We pray that all may be safe as this new month progresses.
The forty-plus days of Lent are progressing well too and the challenge of personal prayer and group study have reminded us quite emphatically that God's love message in Christ is not a mere text message or truncated tweet. It is a bold act of service, love and sacrifice in the one aptly termed the "man for others". As we come to this very special week of Easter, may the enormity of his love touch your life.
April showers of blessing refresh you greatly!
No comments:
Post a Comment