Colourful Dreamer

U2 2010 “One man betrayed with a kiss.” A line in a song Sung on a TV Heard so long ago. A small line that sparked A love Like a mole Going down excavation Higher now In the sky Elevation. A line sung again Crushed in and lifted Amongst the many who loved as well. Giving word to my hopes A song to my dreams. I know I have touched angel lips Felt the healing finger tips But I still haven’t found what I am looking for. Drawn back to the poetry Quickened by the fast paced edgy guitar Driven by bass and drum Made aware again Of the rhythm of my soul. I sing again “One man betrayed with a kiss.”

On Monday of next week I will be flying to Fiji with about 30 others from Aotearoa for Tikanga Youth Exchange and the launch of the launch of the Youth Yeah for the Diocese of Polynesia. All up 130 young people and leaders from 5 countries are expected in Suva for a week of learning about what it means to be a three Tikanga Anglican church, how we, led by God's Spirit have sought to incarnate the gospel in each culture that is part of our church, and yet seek to still be one together. Cool stuff. Anyhow, there will be live blogs, picture galleries put up each day, and interviews with speakers and participants posted each day. Check it out. Keep up to date. Pray for us.

DECLARATION OF THE CONFERENCE OF THE FOUR RELIGIOUS COMMUNITIES OF THE ANGLICAN CHURCH OF MELANESIA ON SOCIAL JUSTICE, HUMAN RIGHTS AND ADVOCACY Tabalia, West Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands, November 21-28, 2010 Beloved in Christ: From November 21 through 28, 2010, we, 152 members of the four religious communities of the Anglican Church of Melanesia, have met together at Tabalia, West Guadalcanal, the headquarters of the Melanesian Brotherhood, for prayer, biblical reflection, discussion and planning on issues of social justice, human rights and advocacy in Solomon Islands and beyond. We are members of the Community of the Sisters of Melanesia, the Society of St. Francis, the Community of the Sisters of the Church and the Melanesian Brotherhood. It is the first time in the history of the Anglican Church of Melanesia (ACOM) that the four religious communities have met together for such an event. We rejoice in the new friendship and cooperation that has emerged among us, breaking d...

To be fair, this article gives a little more detail than a NZ herald article I first read.   I do not oppose welfare reform per se, but I do oppose anything that reduces people to components of an economy, and that fails to acknowledge that nearly all those on welfare have been tax payers who deserve the care and support of the society in which they are a part. It should also acknowledge that most of the invalids and sickness beneficiaries would love to work again. Offering genuine help, rather than stigmatising, as some reports have done is the way ahead. I acknowledge that there are some people who have come to see their benefit as a right, and who have no aspiration to work for money. That is a problem, But most beneficiaries want to work, and should be treated with dignity and support. We are living through a recession at the moment. There are no jobs. So blaming beneficiaries for not working seems a little churlish at the moment. The proposals about Solo Mums do worry me. ...

Three cyclists die on our roads this weekend. I am sure that both the drivers will be filled with remorse. Huh. It is perilous riding on our roads because of the moronic driving of New Zealand drivers. It is amazing how many drivers insist on driving on the white line even when there happens to be a cyclist just on the other side of that line. Ride strong, the cyclist lobby group advises cyclists to ride on the road side of the white line. I did this on Monday last week, and it does force cars further out, and I then have the option of moving over. But why should I have to? I am sure if any of these drivers hit me they would bo very upset. Not as upset as me however. And they could avoid it by giving me space. But it is also the idiots who overtake and then drive right over to the white line that scare me witless. A car was within .5m of me going very fast on Monday overtaking on a corner. It was so close, and so unnecessary. Just a peice of really really bad driving. And then the...

On Friday we met with all the Bishops of this Province, which was a really good experience. The Archbishop, The Most Revd Carlos Touché-Porter, chaired the meeting the night before with the young people and translated for us. He expressed his gratitude that we had chosen Mexico for our meeting. He commented that several groups  had cancelled their time here due to the media reports about violence. He also said that since they had become and independent province in 1995 they had experienced a very real isolation. (Until that point they had been part of the TEC) The sentiment was echoed by the bishops on the Friday morning. They were all genuinely interested in what the Network does and how it could help their youth ministry. We then met with the Provincial Secretary who was really supportive and offered to help us make contact with several provinces in South America to develop our links with them. Some of us went out that night. I had an Indio beer in a glass with salt around the r...

On Thursday Douglas made us review what IAYN is doing and as a result we decided to develop a focus. We discovered quite by accident (thanks God for the internet) while looking for something else that this year, right now is the UN International Year of Youth. So to help Anglican young people engage with this year, and to pick up the theme that has been a focus of several of the other Anglican Networks, that of eradicating gender based violence. We began working on developing a resource called Ending Violence, which is basically one of the theological reflection processes I learnt as part of the Masters (the paper I did in 2004). On Thursday night we met with young people and young adults from Mexico City, all of whom are part of “the Happening” the youth version of Cursillo.  When Sally-Sue told them about this they were so enthusiastic. I was really taken by surprise. It helped me realise how institutional I can be. I kept thinking that the UN year “our year our voice” should/...

Wednesday we worked on our journal Buenos Nuevas (Good News) this was supposed to come out last year, but we lacked an article from Africa. We didn’t think it was politic in today’s environment to publish it without that.  So we now have that, and it is all go. So we worked that up, and also decided on what our next one would be about (young people and the bible). We also started work on the when and where of the next Provincial Youth Officers Gathering. We are hoping for Hong Kong next August (I can’t go as I am on holiday with Bonnie).   If that falls through we have been invited to South Africa, in which case it would be in October. It is just a lot more expensive for most people to get to SA. By lunch time I was beginning to feel better, which meant I could engage with the food a little more. Here they breakfast at 8.30 after morning prayer (which I didn’t quite make, either due to being asleep or working of various bits of work I agreed to do). This is a three course ...