Winter in the North

3pm 28th May - Paihia Beach enjoying 18 degrees of sunshine while South Otago drenched and the South Island is blanketed in snow.

It ain't always so but we really need to tell church people about our parish's two-bedroom flats at winter rates of only $70. Every "paid" guest-night subsidises a free night of "time out" for a family under stress.

This innovative mission project was made possible in 1998 with the sale of the church house when we decided for Local Shared Ministry instead of a paid minister.

Preach on the Trinity? Who? Me?

When Ann, one of the lay worship leaders in our Local Shared Ministry congregation, happened to mention that she was having trouble preparing her sermon for Trinity Sunday my immediate response was “Much better you than me…” I encouraged her not to feel bound to deal with so difficult a topic in the context of our little congregation.

In the event she tackled the Trinity. She blew us away us with the depth of her research, yet without boring or confusing us. She introduced us to the issues that gave rise to the Nicene Creed – and then got us to recite it! She pointed out the difficulties for present-day Christians – and she did it all in the context of our own lives which themselves are full of mystery and need tolerance in relationships.

The liturgy was themed around names of God. Prayers and really apposite hymns helped us reflect on what we understood of God and two short discussion periods sharpened our involvement in the topic.

I am sure she had some help from Andre Le Roux’s brilliant on-line resource “Ten Minutes on a Tuesday” but she integrated his material into her own life experience. She infused the service – and her congregation - with that mystery that is God. It was a sacred hour. Thank you, Ann.

Back to work?

It’s more than seven weeks since my “half-knee” replacement and I’m much more cheerful than I was a month ago.
The recovery process has been slow and quite uncomfortable sometimes. And it’s involved a lot of simple medication. But it’s been helped by a few days on Waiheke Island, a visit from our friend Joan Carter from Dunedin, and the last ten days with Bev’s sister Joyce in Upper Hutt. And we had a great time with our Murder Mystery Dinner in our old family church at Waiwhetu.
Back home this week, one of the first things I had better do is get in touch with the local Hospital Physio Dept and get a clearance to do some normal things including driving. Actually, over the two thousand kilometres, I’ve found that driving is more comfortable than most other things involving my right knee…
Even in the terrible weather of the last couple of days the trip back up-country has been a pleasure. We are fortunate to live in such a beautiful land. And especially to be back home in this part of it.
Now, tomorrow, back to work!

Licensed to Swill?

I am really intrigued by Chris Ogilvie’s letter to the LISTENER Apr 24 2010. In the context of all the publicity about the Law Commission’s recommendations to Parliament, he suggested that if we wished to engage in consuming the “Class B Drug” alcohol, we should have to meet certain conditions to obtain a licence to drink. Fully ID’d, the licence could have conditions attached it and it could be withdrawn if used inappropriately. It seems to make quite a lot of sense.
But perhaps my enthusiasm for the idea is affected by my current drug-induced journey through post knee replacement surgery. The knee has been coming along but the brain is turning to mush. Television seems to have deteriorated, old videos look really worn, beautifully prepared food seems less interesting than usual. Even the physio nurse – who’s hardly seen me – said I’m probably pretty grumpy. And Bev didn’t deny it.
All that because a few days ago I became aware of some internal resistance to the ingenious little metal and plastic bits in my knee. It’s enough to make you want to pop down to the bread section in the supermarket and pick up a bottle or two of a Class B drug…

Our Last Tree Fern – RIP

The last of our eight tree ferns died while I was away for surgery. Happily, the smaller Silver Ferns are not affected, but all our big ones have now gone.

A response from the Department of Conservation suggests that the dying-off of Northland’s Mamaku tree ferns may be related to the disease that killed most of Northland’s mature Cabbage Trees about twenty years ago. Some people are researching reports on that event to see what can be learned.

Evidently both species are susceptible to some kind of deadly virus, especially when they are under stress. That’s why the great valleys of Mamaku are surviving but the small groups on the forest fringe and along the roads are dying off at a horrific rate in the current drought. You can see them everywhere.

It would seem that nothing can be done but it’s really sad to see these magnificent specimens reduced to bare trunks. I suppose what’s most interesting to me is that nobody seems to have noticed the wholesale change taking place along the roads we travel day by day.

I wonder if I also fail to see the death and dis-ease in the human presence among which I move daily? Has my own indisposition due to surgery made me more sensitive about the condition of others or has it merely concentrated my attention even more on myself? H’m…

A week of it!

Update on the surgery:

It was a busy week. We spent most of Wednesday at Whangarei for pre-op procedures and "joint camp" and returned to stay at the staff hostel (Maunu Hilton") on Thursday night for a 7am report to surgical admissions. I was taken through to theatre by about 9am and, having only a spinal tap anaesthetic, was able to take in most of what was going on. Back in Recovery at 10.30 and up to the ward by afternoon. All very smoothly managed.

Bev motored off to Auckland for the weekend and enjoyed the gathering with Home and Family Counselling and an evening at Christine's. By the time she was thinking about getting out of bed on Monday morning I had the word that I could go home.

There are a lot of appointments and hurdles to get through, of course, but we seem to have made a good start. And my surgeon suggests that we should be thinking about doing the other knee sooner rather than later...

We send our love to all who have been in touch.

Dave & Bev

I Kneed This

About a year ago I was accepted onto the urgent waiting list for a half-knee joint replacement. Last August I did the "pre-op" session at the Hospital, in expectation of an early admission.

A day or so ago I was phoned to ask if I could take up a cancelled spot on Friday. We were packed to leave for Auckland and Hamilton - where we were to direct our Murder Mystery Dinner - so I felt I had to decline.

On second thoughts I asked for half an hour to see if I could find someone to present the show with Bev. No such luck. But a call to the church office revealed that the ticket sales were poor and they were just about to suggest to me that we cancel.

It didn't take long to coordinate those cancellations and tomorrow I go down to do all the pre-op checks again. All being well, I'll be back in Whangarei for the "Right Knee Uncompartment" at 7am on Friday. (H'm, yes, must remember to mark the left one: "NOT THIS ONE!")

Bev will go on to our Auckland appointment and present our video of her reminiscences of her 1980s years with Home and Family Counselling and then, I am hoping, hurry back to wipe my feverish brow. As if we aren't enormously fortunate to get my surgery at public expense, we've just heard that Bev won the draw for her reminiscences and gets a free ticket to the celebrations.

The fragrance... filled the house...

What a time Bev and I had with the "fragrance that filled the house" last Sunday. We took a look at Andre Le Roux's "Ten Minutes on a Tuesday" on the story of the anointing of Jesus' feet at the home of Mary and Martha. His notes really got the juices flowing. And the aroma.

We emailed the congregation inviting them bring some scent or after-shave to Sunday service. When they arrived we'd already been heating aromatherapy oil for half an hour. We were all seated in a hollow square. After a time of sharing images and words and ideas about Mary's extravagant and sacrificial honouring of Jesus, people were invited to move into the centre space and offer a dab or squirt of scent on the hand of any other person.

It was designed to be a fairly solemn moment - we have been feeling some strains in the fellowship lately - but it soon became a lively and warm exchange of greetings of all kinds. People found all sorts of ways of honouring one another. I think one or two probably took the hand of every person present. Later we repeated the exercise with four or five locals and three visitors over the water at Russell. In both places it was a very special few minutes which we couldn't possibly have experienced while seated in pews in a big church.

On a very much lighter note, Ann suggested to me afterwards that the reason Mary had the stuff and could be so liberal with it was that she had obtained it for Lazarus and when Jesus brought him back to life she didn't need it any more! Of course!

Giant tree ferns - an indicator species?

In a recent dry hot summer two of our mature mamaku tree ferns died. The bank was bone dry so I piped grey water from the shower down to them but couldn’t save them. This summer three more of these 30-yr-olds are dying off, a frond at a time. I can’t seem to do anything for them.

For a couple of years I have become aware of tree ferns along the forest and road margins dying off in exactly the same way. Most had only a small head of green fronds to start with, and one by one these have died off. There are now hundreds of bare, dead trunks left standing like bizarre headstones throughout the north.

But the interesting thing is, nobody I speak to seems to have noticed the loss of these giant ferns. I have googled the problem and the only complainants seem to be people in the South Island who have garden specimens that are susceptible to frost.

Come on, DoC, what’s happening to our Northland Mamaku? What's happening to our world?

That Enabler Hat!

We completed the handing over of the Enabler hat yesterday.
A warm congregation attended at 4pm as District Superintendent Peter officiated at a special induction service to launch Rosalie Gwilliam as our parish’s Ministry Enabler. The liturgy was crisp and thoughtful, the singing robust and the sermon – longer than his usual, Peter admitted – directed our attention firmly to issues which we know require attention at present.
The questions asked of Rosalie and of us all helped us to re-think our own commitment as we move into a time of reduced income from giving and some uncertainty about the future. The finger food tea that followed was more than the entire congregation could polish off – perhaps an omen for the future!
Rosalie brings a huge amount of experience in the Methodist and Uniting traditions at district and national level as well as a lot of practical know-how in parish consultations and reviews. Her skills as a worship leader and parish administrator and pastor are going to be of great value to our ministry team as they coordinate the ministry of us all in this 19th year of Local Shared Ministry. Welcome aboard, Rosalie! Nobody can be as glad to see you in place as your predecessor!