Palm Sunday/AGM Sunday over.

Church AGM

I guess every Church has them, a church Annual General Meeting. You have to put together reports, budgets and then have the meeting. It is held after our church service and is the opportunity for anyone who wants to gripe. I am fortunate, mostly other people take responsibility for this meeting. I sit in the back row waiting to see if anyone has some real issues. I always get a bit strung out because I know there are many things around the church that I should be doing better. Anyway nobody griped about anything much. It was a reasonably positive meeting. I am glad it is over for another year.

Palm Sunday

I led the service today on the triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem. I recently read a good book by John Dominic Crossan. ("Jesus a Revolutionary Biography") While I may not agree with everything he says it helps me to read the gospels much more aware of the social setting in which Jesus lived and all the dynamics involved. This enables me to realise even more deeply the very radical nature of this teacher from Nazareth. It enables his actions and teaching to come even more alive and have a real edge to them. In the last paragraphs of his book Crossan shows how the picture of the historical Jesus changed into a very different "confessional Christ" in 300 years to the emperor Constantine. He raises the question of how the changes were accepted so readily and questioned so lightly. He asks the question: "Is it time now, or is it already too late, to conduct, religiously and theologically, ethically and morally, some basic cost accounting with Constantine?" The older I get the more concerned I get that the Church has so twisted the way of Jesus. I suspect it is easier if you are an academic like Crossan to write the books that disturb. It is very hard for those of us who are pastors within the Church and are called to try to un-twist the distortions and find genuine ways of expressing the way of Jesus in today's world. I tried a little with today's Palm Sunday service.

A murder at Warrington?

A few kilometres north of Dunedin there is a beach called Warrington. Its a nice place on a warm day for family picnics and relaxing. The body of a young man was found there this week, it appears as if he was bludgeoned to death. Three young men have been arrested for his death. I sometimes get pretty angry, but I don't know how you can bludgeon a young man to death? A wasted life... four wasted lives! How can life be treated so lightly? On Friday night at our drop-in centre I went outside (in the rain... grumble, grumble) to help a guy fix his motorbike. While we were talking I learned that one of our past Drop-in members had cancer and the prognosis is bad... the type that smoking causes. He has moved out of town now, but as long as I have known him he has been a heavy smoker. He has known that this causes trouble, he has been advised to give up frequently, but he has done nothing about it. Why does he take life so lightly? Life is precious, cherish it! I see so many people these days just existing. Maybe we don't go around killing people like they did in the wild west, or ancient civilisations where life seemed so cheap. But I see so many people living their own lives as if life is cheap. They have no purpose. They are not open to the beauty in life. They destroy precious relationships in life. They do not do constructive, positive and growth inducing things with their life. They do things that will harm the quality of their living. They basically throw their life, and sometimes the lives of their children, into the rubbish tin. It is extremely sad... we so often treat life so cheaply. Life really is a beautiful gift with so much potential for joy, satisfaction and fulfillment. .... treat it as precious...taste its flavours.... use it wisely and well.. give yourself to high causes, grow and live to the full..... God knows, it will soon be over.

Appreciated appreciations.

I have had three warm fuzzies this week which I appreciated.

• I record radio church services with my daughter from time to time. We are on a roster with other ministers. They are half-hour slots on the local community radio station, with music to fit. You do them and do not know who, if anyone, is listening. I went to a ministers' meeting on Tuesday. One of the ministers met me and said, "Congratulations on the best radio Church ever!" My last one was aired last Sunday and he had listened in. It was nice to know it was appreciated.
• I went to St John Ambulance on Friday and sat down and talked to a group of paramedics. While we were talking the team leader came in with a book in his hand. He handed it to me and said, "This is from Red Shift, just to let you know we appreciate what you do." It was a book of vouchers with a discount card. It enables you to get discounts at various places. If used properly, it will be worth a mint to Jean and I. I think they paid $50 for it. I was quite touched. I go over there and I talk. I seldom get involved in heavy counselling stuff, but mostly just listen to what is going on for them. But they obviously appreciate my presence there.
• Today after the annual meeting I was talking to a guy who joined the church in the last few years. We were chatting and got interrupted by a 90 year old guy who has been in the church for a lifetime. I have so much love and respect for this 90 year old. He is a great guy. He apologised for the interruption but he said, "I just want to say, thank you so much for another successful year of ministry. It is very much appreciated." I was a bit flustered and said, "Oh.. I hope it is alright?" He came back... "It is more than alright, it is excellent." My other friend then interrupted and said, "That's right! Its great! It's a real joy to come to church each Sunday. Isn't it?" (He had been an earthy hard shot truck driver! .. I love him too, he is so upfront and natural.) Again I appreciated the appreciation.

Photos:

- Warrington Beach area from the top of my mountain. Such a nice place tainted now with a murder.

- I went up Mount Cargill today. We have had a lot of rain in the last two days so walking up the tracks was a bit like walking up small creeks. A cold wind was blowing but it was still nice in the bush. I disturbed a Wood Pigeon. It flew to a branch about barely two metres from me. I "talked" to it. We stayed looking at each other for a minute or so before I moved on. He seemed to enjoy this weird human burbling away at him. A little special precious moment in life, to make contact with wild life.