Reflecting on our Edinburgh experience.

The Discovery in Dundee. Robert Falcon Scotts Antarctic ship. 

Craigmiller Castle. I got lost in the woods exploring this. 

My son is an expert barbecue cook. The shed we built in the background. 

Leon my grandson. Great lively little man.

Arthurs Seat, the hill near the centre of Edinburgh. I got to climb it twice.

I sang little Xavier to sleep. (I am not good at "selfies") 

Walking in the Pentland Hills. How many feet have crossed this style to wear that stone down?

We walked about 20k, got lost, got wet, but had a great day. 

An apartment block in Singapore with the family washing on bamboo poles out the window.

It is a long way..
Last Thursday, after a drive on clogged roadways, we farewelled our son at Edinburgh airport, and began our journey home to NZ. It is a long journey, made longer by various incidents on the way. We boarded the plane at Edinburgh, but because they had weather hassles down London way, the plane sat on the tarmac for about three quarters of an hour. At Heathrow we found our outgoing terminal and entertained ourselves until we could board the plane for Singapore. Again because of bad weather approaching, the plane sat on the tarmac for an hour or so. By the time we arrived at Singapore we had been on the plane for nearly 15 hours. We stayed a night there, and then flew the nine hours to Christchurch, NZ. Our Christchurch based son and grandson had coffee with us at the airport, and we soon boarded our final three quarter hour flight to our home town of Dunedin. Our daughter and son-in-law picked us up and brought us home, with food purchased so that we could have our evening meal together. I fell asleep while talking after the meal, and this week have been incredibly tired, falling asleep in my chair easily. It simply is a long, long journey from Edinburgh, Scotland, to Dunedin, New Zealand.
Edinburgh city..
This has been our third visit to Edinburgh, though our first was only a day touristy visit. Edinburgh has become a second "home" to us and we quite confidently master the bus service and explore parts of town. But, being colonials, living in very different circumstances, it is quite hard to adapt. Here are some quick observations.

• There are some lovely open spaces and parks in Edinburgh, but the density of the living is something we needed to get used to. My son lives in a house that is a modern version of Coronation Street type houses. The house is warm, compact with a small backyard and attached to the neighbouring houses. At night we could hear the neighbour's phone ringing and some of their movements. In NZ we live ten minutes drive from the centre of our city, on an acre of land, with bush around us. Most people here still live in houses with eighth to a quarter of acre of land. Driving into town for the first time upon our return, we wondered where everyone was. The crowded lifestyle of Edinburgh, the footpaths, the traffic takes a bit of getting used to, though I recognise that most people throughout the world would live in similar circumstances. We stopped off at Singapore and their apartment buildings go high into the sky.  I love the openness of Dunedin, New Zealand. 
• I simply LOVE the history in Edinburgh. My brother and his wife came through Edinburgh while we were there and we were their tour guides for a day. I wandered around pointing to plaques on doorways, buildings and footpaths which told of the history of the place. Later I felt guilty, because I probably bored them to tears. But the history of the UK fascinates me and inspires me. For example; I read in a little museum on Cannongate in Edinburgh, of a time when only 32 of the elite Edinburgh could vote for Members of Parliament. The rest of the population were not qualified to vote. If you questioned this or protested this you were harshly treated by the judicial system of the day. But people did! And they kept challenging it in spite of the punishments and set backs, until a more just system prevailed. It is here in the UK that the society that we enjoy today, the rights we have and the freedoms we take for granted were forged. Because they stood for that which is right and fair, we today have heaps of rights, freedoms and understandings that we take for granted. We stand on their shoulders. I love the "peoples' stories" that are told in the buildings and streets of Edinburgh. In NZ we do not have such a long standing history.
• I was sad that there seemed to be a higher proportion of the population who are addicted to smoking than in NZ. At the bus stops the tops of the rubbish bins, and falling on to the pathways beside them, there are countless cigarette butts. I thought it may well be because of the area we lived in, but up town, outside office buildings, at bus stops there seemed to be a bigger proportion of the population that smoked. It was sad to see.
• Traveling on the city buses is an education. You hear the quite loud conversations in the scots accent. Often there seemed to be an undergirding anger, particularly in men's conversation. I think the whole situation in Europe has an impact on how people feel.  But there were delightful interludes, great little conversations with complete strangers that were pleasant surprises. In Dunbar I sat on a bar which was designed to lock your bikes to, and an older man slid alongside. "D'y'mind if I share y'seat? Growing old is a bugger!" he said, and we began a conversation, in which I learned he had worked at the Royal Mail all his life. We went into a cafe in Dalkeith, and were welcomed with, "Come in me'darlins, take a seat, what canna get ye?" We began chatting with this waitress, then her boss and others in the cafe joined in. The boss let us off 30p when we were searching for the right change, and an hour later, when we had new supplies of coins, I went in and repaid the debt. There was laughter, and lots of chit chat, with lunch time patrons wondering what was going on. They farewelled me with warmth and best wishes. In Dundee I sat on a seat in a pedestrian area of the town waiting for my shopping wife. A woman with an elderly man on her arm came along and told him to sit. "I'll be five minutes." she said. He laughed and shook his head. I joked, "I'll time you!"  So he and I were sitting there watching the world go by, waiting for our women folk, and chatting every now and then. When this woman returned, twenty minutes later, I joked that it wasn't five minutes. I then got an explanation. "The bairns are gettin' christened. Its up (somewhere I did not know) so we have't'be dressed right. So I'been shoppin' for that."  There were these delightful interludes that made us feel more at home. 
• One thing that happened a few times, was that we were asked, "Are you from down-under?" as people recognised our accent. "Yes, New Zealand." "Well at least y'r not Australian, thank God!" Aussies do seem to have a PR problem in Scotland.
• We attend the Augustine United Reformed Church while there and really enjoyed the ethos. It promotes a progressive christianity which we feel at home in, and is open to the LGBTQ community, and indeed has a group within it who call themselves "The Tribe." On our last Sunday there the man leading the service announced that "Jo will bring us our scripture reading." This mature person got up who was dressed and made up as a woman (tastefully) but was obviously "trans" in the way she walked. As she read her voice was more like that of a man. But she read with real passion, expression and significance. It was important to her. We had easily accepted openly gay people participating (we could tell by the partners they sat with) but this was a new experience. But the feeling I got from this experience was one of liberation. It was not a big deal. Here were people, some who were senior longstanding church goers, who simply accepted her as a person. They smiled in approval at the end of her reading, because she had done it so well. And somehow it made me feel safe. A thing went off in my inner being that said, "It is OK to be completely yourself in this Church." I felt liberated. I wish I could transplant that ethos! 
• We so appreciated being able to spend time with the family. Daniel is our third child. We adopted him as a baby, and he is now a big Maori/Samoan man. He is a thoughtful and responsible husband and father. You need to know that for us, he is as much "our son" as any other child in our family. We hurt when he hurts, we are happy when he is happy, we are proud when he or his children do well, we worry with him when he is worried and we feel that partnership in life that parents feel with their kids. Dan and his wife Magda looked after us in their house for nearly all of our visit, (May 3rd until June 23rd) and their house is not that big. It is not always easy as adults, having parents visit for a long time, but they were great toward us. We so appreciated their hospitality, and I loved playing with my two grandchildren and working with my son on DIY projects. Saying goodbye at the airport was excruciating, it could be that we never get to see them in person again.

Taking up the reigns of life again...

While in Edinburgh I kept in touch with Night Shelter business via email on an ipad. This first week back I have had meetings, done chores, made phone calls and written emails related to the Night Shelter. I have gone back to my three chaplaincies and caught up on what has happened.  Busyness seems inevitable, and I am already thinking up new projects.  I am hopeful that with a new operations director appointed at the shelter, life will not be quite as hectic. 

I enjoyed my holiday with family, and enjoyed Edinburgh, but I love being back in New Zealand. I am a "Kiwi" through and through.

Blogging from Edinburgh - or trying.

Churches no more!

As we have moved around Edinburgh and around other towns we have visited, we have seen sometimes elaborate, big church buildings that are no longer churches. In Dunbar's Main Street there is a sad looking building with boarded up windows and warning signs not to enter. In Dundee, by the port in a back alley, there is an old stone "Seaman's Chapel" that obviously hasn't been used for decades. Around Edinburgh they are sometimes empty edifices, but often a theatre, a night club, a hostel or put to use in some other way. All these were once busy places of worship.

Why are there so many people leaving the Church in Western Society? It is interesting that with the rise of Donald Trump, and the very right wing parties in Europe, some commentators are saying that we have a "spiritual" problem, that there is a lack of moral compass in the west now. They are saying there is a loss of empathy, a wider view of humanity and compassion. But, facing this need, the Churches in general, are not holding onto their people. Of course there is the evangelical/charismatic mega churches who seem to be booming, but even here there are reports of an "open back door" where people enjoy the experience awhile, but move on. One commentator has said that these conservative groups are the "death throws, the final gasps for breath, of a dying institution." I tend to think there is truth in that.

I wonder if the "gospel" we have been proclaiming is essentially true? People were attracted to Jesus by the inner authority, intrinsic truth they recognised in the things he was saying. I wonder whether in the nature of the institution, and the dogma of the "gospel message" that intrinsic truth has been distorted, or lost? 

I wonder what attempts have honestly been made to examine the institution? Have we asked the important questions, or have we been just desperately trying to "man the pumps" without radically rethinking what a twentieth, or twenty first century spirituality would look like? 

I also think that those who have been seeking deeper answers to these questions have often been burned out, or marched out, because of a reluctance for change. Does this also point to a failure to be converted to the eternal essence that people found in Jesus, and maybe just adherence to the dogma about Jesus and the institution? As I have had time to wander, walk and think, I suspect it is this inner essence that is missing, that people actually long for and respond to. I will do more thinking and probably burble some more on this.

Working toward growth.

We travelled by car from Edinburgh to Inverness, then on to Loch Ness, and back to Edinburgh the other day. I was in the middle in the back seat and had my baby grandson in his seat/cradle gadget next to me. We mistakingly think that babies sit around doing nothing, but not this kid. All through the hours of this trip he was working. He is six months old, but you could see him waving his hands about, and watching them, learning how to operate this body of his. . He would reach for things out of his reach, then squirm and twist until they could be grasped. then they had to be angled into his mouth to explore what they were. Then for a while he waved his feet in the air, twisting them this way and that. He reached for them and brought a toe down to his mouth. So it went on. He was busy, so busy he had to take a nap for awhile. Then it was back to work, trying out various sounds with his voice. Watching for a reaction. He was doing some personal work toward growth as a person. He was busy shaping what he will become in the future.
I have been reading newly purchased theology books, I began to think, "Why?" I do not preach regularly any more. I am not running a Church? These books fire me up with new thoughts and enthusiasms, but where and how do I express these? There is a point in just doing stuff for personal growth. Just as baby Xavier is busy extending his abilities, so should I, while I can, still be shaping myself as a human being, so that  I can express who I am in whatever form that takes. I need to still be a baby, growing, thinking and developing. That is the essence of life.

How we love to be "strutters!"... But..?

Eating lunch in a subways, I watched a couple of lunchtime meetings by young estimated mid to late thirties gentlemen in suits. They were intent in discussion with an obvious older "boss" who it looked like they were trying to impress. Each meeting in time finished and the young men "strutted" through the restaurant looking very pleased with themselves, shook hands with their colleagues outside and left, looking very important. I reflected that when I was their age I must have looked like that! I went to meetings, sometimes flying around the country and even overseas. We "young guns" talked strategy, planning, programmes, restructures and future. We often threw the old out for the new, and worked for change. We thought we were movers and shakers, important people.
Very soon, it seems like in the blink of an eye, you are the old ones. The changes, restructures and programmes did not really change much, just gave us the illusion of doing something important. They  have been long forgotten and thrown out by a new group of "strutters" and movers and shakers who thought they knew better. We-who-once-were-young are thought to be past our used-by date and, just when we have gathered a bit of wisdom, are on the sidelines watching.

Just before we began our trip to the UK my wife bumped into a family in the supermarket car park. The mother was with her two youngest children, now 20 years old and late twenties. We had not had contact for some time.  They all greeted my wife with warm hugs and spoke of their life, and the career paths they were on, and where they were at. All were doing well. Twenty years ago that mum lay on our couch in the foetal position for three days. She was in a mess. We spent a lot of time over a few years, caring, supporting, helping as she worked her way through to some measure of stability.  Now they are in a better state of being and lovingly hug my wife. ..... I would like to say to the young strutters of today, the sharing of love, the working for the wholeness of all, the loving in the journey of life are the long lasting satisfactions and fulfilment of life. The apostle Paul said in effect,  you can be and do all things, but if you do not have love you are just a noisy gong. Sometimes I have liked being a noisy gong, but from the perspective of old age, reality is  found in the loving.

A few pics for friends and family.

Blogger uncooperative.
It seems that it is not only my iPad that has caused problems, but according to a bloggers' forum other people are having problems with blogger. I will attempt to put a few photos up of family and

Edinburgh.

From left, Jean (my wife) grandson Leon, son Daniel, his wife Magda and the little hand is baby Xavier.

Useless ipad

I have taken an iPad on holiday with me. It seemed a good idea given that it is so much lighter than my lap top and I need to keep in touch with night shelter stuff in Dunedin. Never again. In my attempts to blog it is useless.  Very disappointed. It will not allow photos, editing is difficult and setting the document up with headings etc is impossible. So I guess I will not be blogging for a while.
Over and out.

Another "OE".

I am now in Edinburgh, on the other side of the world from Dunedin, New Zealand. I am very tired. I think it is jet lag but my wife says that "for weeks, no months, no years you have been going like hell, and now you are forced to stop." Early on Tuesday morning we boarded a plane in Dunedin, NZ and flew about an hour to Christchurch. An hour or so later we boarded a bigger plane, and after over ten hours flying we arrived at Changi, Singpore's airport. We spent two days looking around this city and at nearly midnight boarded an even bigger plane and took off for London's Heathrow airport. It took us thirteen hours to arrive there with the plane tracking up almost to Moscow, over Berlin and Amsterdam, landing at Heathrow a little earlier than the expected time of arrival, at around 6 a.m. UK time. At around 1:15 p.m. we took the final hour long flight to Edinburgh. We were happy to finish the journey.
Amazing!
At one time on my first flight I decided I had to go to the rest room, and it was while I was washing my hands that I was filled with admiration. I could dial up the heat of the water then open the tap. It was pretty good technology, but what amazed me was that the plane was carrying enough water for its hundreds of passengers to flush the toilet, and wash their hands perhaps two or three times over! That's a lot of water, volume and weight to carry. The next flight on a bigger plane had me thinking with more amazement. It was an Airbus, had an upstairs portion and was ten seats plus two aisles wide. As I sat in this massive machine, with its hundreds of passengers I marvelled at the technology. Here was a machine that could carry all this stuff and enough fuel for well over thirteen hours, nonstop! As well as this they had enough food and drink on board to feed us two meals, plus some extras. We also had a selection of food so there was more than enough. It was only not much more than 110 years ago that the Wright brothers first flew a plane - a contraption of rods, material and bolts that flew for a very short period of time - just a matter of seconds. M (Of course if you are a New Zealander you would claim that a Richard Pearce flew a similar contraption earlier than them about 100 Miles north of my home town.)    My point is that from those early beginnings until now there has been an amazing and speedy development of the aeroplane. Now I can travel in a massive machine, travelling for hours on end, entertaining me, feeding me, allowing me to sleep and accompany hundreds of others, but covering the distance in a relatively quick amount of time. (Though the pains in my posterior would want it to be even faster!) The human race is amazing? The development and evolution of such technology boggles my mind! We are clever animals!