Category / Spirituality

by canddaway

Welcome of small things

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Held safely within this tiny silo, with time and space to rest and reflect, it is no surprise that night dreams and day thoughts reveal to the conscious mind the significance and richness of hospitality – offered in sometimes the smallest and simplest of ways by this land and it’s people.

Another visit to the Cardboard Transitional Cathedral in Christchurch two days ago revealed the icon of welcome and generosity we have already met several times on this journey.

The questions this archetypal image poses for us may be something like:

  • in our very transitional pattern of existence just now, how can we live generously and with an open heart of hospitality towards others?
  • how attentive are we to receiving the profoundly simple generosity of life afresh each new day?
by canddaway

So much beauty

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Abel Tasman has been generous to us these last two days.

We have tramped the coastal path, rested on golden beaches listening to the sound of the waves, kayaked along the north coast of the National Park getting up close to fur seals, black oyster catchers and shags, and read in a hammock listening to the bird song of the many birds of the bush where we are staying.

These have been days of contemplation and activity. We have witnessed much of the beauty of this special place and feel the better for it.

 

by canddaway

Focus

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Sought out a beautiful mosaic labyrinth in Hutt Hospital’s grounds. The Maori words ‘Haere i roto i te wairua’ meaning ‘walk in the spirit’ were written nearby.

As I walked I found myself reflecting on the question of where to best focus energy – on health or on life?

by canddaway

Epiphany

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Where the Map Begins

This is not
any map you know.
Forget longitude.
Forget latitude.
Do not think
of distances
or of plotting
the most direct route.
Astrolabe, sextant, compass:
these will not help you here.

This is the map
that begins with a star.
This is the chart
that starts with fire,
with blazing,
with an ancient light
that has outlasted
generations, empires,
cultures, wars.

Look starward once,
then look away.
Close your eyes
and see how the map
begins to blossom
behind your lids,
how it constellates,
its lines stretching out
from where you stand.

You cannot see it all,
cannot divine the way
it will turn and spiral,
cannot perceive how
the road you walk
will lead you finally inside,
through the labyrinth
of your own heart
and belly
and lungs.

But step out,
and you will know
what the wise who traveled
this path before you
knew:
the treasure in this map
is buried not at journey’s end
but at its beginning.

(Jan Richardson: Painted Prayer Book)

 

by canddaway

Love not fear

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“In today’s world, hospitality and love are our most formidable weapons against hatred and extremism”

(Justin Wellby, Archbishop of Canterbury in his New Year message)

Maybe these words offer a courageous basis for societal response to the growing refugee crisis as well as an antidote to the fear and suspicion that Islamist extremism seeks to purport.