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• Memoria

  The Rev. Dr. Hilary Oxford Smith 2 November 2013

  Who are the ones whose names, faces and stories live in your heart...who have loved you for you, stood alongside you, shaped you, nudged you into exploration and new understanding, challenged you to grow, shown you how to live in love? more»

  

• Tom Vaughan's Legacy

  The Rev. Canon Mark Pryce 26 October 2013

  Those before me knew
  how to stroke the steep sodden hills of Wales
  just enough to yield a little milk each day
  and sufficient mutton for stewing. more»
  Poetry

• Ruffling Feathers

  The Rev. Dr. Hilary Oxford Smith 1 October 2013

  Isn't it time though to break up the holy huddles that can exist in our faiths and churches and cast aside the religious internal obsessions which have little or no relevance to the rest of society and the world? Only then do we have the hope of finding a way forward. more»

  

• And Then There Were Two! Another Woman on our Bench of Bishops

  The Rev. Erice Fairbrother 26 September 2013

  Thus far, none of our women Bishop's were born, or brought up in New Zealand, Aotearoa, or Polynesia. It raises questions for us as women in theological education and mentoring. For instance, why are our own women consistently overlooked? more»

• Blackbird Singing in the Dead of Night

  The Rev. Dr. Hilary Oxford Smith 28 August 2013

  It is just before dawn as I begin to write. Outside my bedroom window, a yellow-eyed blackbird sings in the fading of the night. Another blackbird sings on the soundtrack of a song written by Paul McCartney, in response to the struggle of African American people for their civil rights, some 45 years ago, more»

  

• Encounters of embodiment

  The Rev. Dr. Hilary Oxford Smith 24 July 2013

  As we walk the earth for a short time of belonging, windswept and untamed environments bring us deeper, through imagination, into the mystery of why we are here and the memory of time. more»

  

• The heavens are telling the glory of God

  The Rev. Dr. Hilary Oxford Smith 22 June 2013

  Redemption will come about when the spirituality of political, economic, religious and cultural institutions, their interests, pathologies and fears are confronted, so that the total entity is transformed.
  
  more»

  

• Song of the sea

  The Rev. Dr. Hilary Oxford Smith 7 June 2013

  At a time in my life when I was deeply sorrowful, it was the ocean and the seashore, which became the places and source of my healing. A journey with Hilary, Columba and Maui along Cloudy Bay. more»

  

• Unexpected Gift

  The Rev. Gayanne Frater 26 May 2013

  You simply notice one sweet day that you are at peace ... more»

  
  Poetry

• The canticle of the bees

  The Rev. Dr. Hilary Oxford Smith 10 May 2013

  Forget angels! It's honeybees, around for at least 150 million years, that were sometimes thought of as the messengers between heaven and earth. more»

  

• An advantageous place

  The Rev. John Fairbrother 2 May 2013

  Marriage equality provides the Anglican church with an advantageous place in public discourse as it is no longer burdened with being a moral guardian of difference based on gender. more»

  

• Paradise

  The Rev. Dr. Hilary Oxford Smith 8 April 2013

  As dawn breaks on Easter Day, the clarion call of the cockerel on the Otago Peninsula will reconnect us to the heart of Being. more»

  

• The Gifting of Gossamer

  The Rev. Dr. Hilary Oxford Smith 6 March 2013

  There was a dandelion clock in our garden on Sunday. Only one. A delicate timepiece. Hints of a dancing theology? more»

  

• A fragrant pilgrimage

  The Rev. Dr. Hilary Oxford Smith 15 February 2013

  Tender petals will open in The Vatican Gardens in April, heralding a new beginning at Easter. Resurrection flowers. more»

  

• Whisky, haggis, love an' a' that

  The Rev. Dr. Hilary Oxford Smith 25 January 2013

  It was for the promise of a sixpence that I recited Burns' epic masterpiece, Tam O' Shanter. Hilary Smith celebrates the birthday of the bard. more»

  

• Unfolding

  The Rev. Dr. Hilary Oxford Smith 10 January 2013

  Summer tales
  of Magi.
  Full moon's whiteness
  on an unknown path. more»

  
  Poetry

• A poem for Christmas, innit?

  Rachel Mann 25 December 2012

  Here a mouth opens,
  thirsty to receive.
  The girl stares down at it,
  as if at a puzzle, shocked if this is the answer,
  stares in terror and wonder at what she has done. more»

  
  Poetry

• Magnificat Moments

  The Rev. Dr. Hilary Oxford Smith 18 December 2012

  Tradition and ritual, a love that never dies, sharing food with friends, creative courage, a mother and her child and a freedom of the spirit. Magnificat moments. Christmas stories. more»

  

• Christmas in Fiji

  Sue Halapua 15 December 2012

  In the morning, Christmas morning, the frangipani tree with star shaped flowers blooms so brightly. It seems as if heaven's stars are caught in its branches. more»

  

• Clara's got talent for waiting

  The Rev. John Fairbrother 8 December 2012

  On national television and before a live audience Clara van Wel stirred the gloss of competitive celebrity, revealing unnervingly simple questions about meaning, belonging, acceptance and love. more»

  

• Eclipse

  The Rev. Canon Dr. James M. McPherson 4 December 2012

  The Moon
  assails
  the Sun;
  a chill
  deathly more»
  Poetry

• New life out of death reveals grim realities

  Susan Smith 30 November 2012

  'I am with you always' doesn't mean Jesus will be with a particular church in Syria, France or New Zealand. Susan Smith suggests instead that the Spirit blows where she wills. Coming to grips with that new life can mean facing grim realities. more»

  

• Gardening the loose ends of Advent

  The Rev. Dr. Hilary Oxford Smith 27 November 2012

  As Hilary begins to write Christmas cards she remembers that nothing in the garden is finished. Pathways and streams diverge and interconnect, no beginnings, no endings. Like the gospels, full of loose ends, unfinished business and unanswered questions. more»

  

• Threatened but still in favour of women bishops

  The Rev. John Fairbrother 25 November 2012

  I was ordained at the end of 1984. On reflection this seems to have been at the end of the male dominated Anglican Church in this country. For my ordained life the experience has been marked by a deepening feminisation of the Church. For a bloke this has not been without discomfort, even a sense of threat. more»

  

• Acuity

  The Rev. Canon Dr. James M. McPherson 20 November 2012

  two wonders of
  acuity, a third
  surpassing both:
  in an instant judge more»
  Poetry
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Topics

• Poetry [72]
• Reflection [32]
• Meditation [28]
• Advent [16]
• Love [10]
• Church [9]
• Christmastide [8]
• Lent [6]
• Pentecost [6]
• Advent Poetry [5]
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Authors

• The Rev. Dr. Hilary Oxford Smith [48]
• The Rev. John Fairbrother [26]
• The Rev. Canon Dr. James M. McPherson [21]
• Tess Ashton [15]
• The Rev. Maren Tirabassi [12]
• Ana Lisa de Jong [12]
• The Rev. Gayanne Frater [9]
• Susan Smith [8]
• Jan Richardson [5]
• Dr. Julie Thorpe [5]
• All authors »