I had a strange conversation a few months ago. I was lying back in a chair, naked from the waste down, holding a nappy over my bits while I waited for the skin under my bits to go numb enough from liquid nitrogen or some such thing, so that they could inject the local anesthetic and then punch a couple of holes through to the prostate. All in all a fun experience. And while I waited the nurse made small talk and asked what I did. "I'm retired", I replied. "Oh, what are you planning to do now you are retired? any travel?" "Turns out not" I said, "It seems I'm just keeping my dairy open for dealing with health things." And I am still keeping my dairy open and still dealing with them. This journey began last year. I was already dealing with two other things, including a lump in my parotid gland which has been slowly growing there for about 3 years. When I got back from being overseas on sabbatical my doctor called me in to talk about that an...
Sun City Campsite in the morning Day three began with me feeling a little off but those omelettes were still there. And then as I got ready the “a little off” became more serious, and my day of needing to know where the toilet was began. Sadly. We set off for the long drive back up to Amman. We stopped at the Hejaz Railway Train of Wadi Rum . This took us back to the Arab Revolt of WWI and Prince Faisal and Lawrence of Arabia. A significant part of their guerrilla campaign was the constant attacks of the railway line that seriously disrupted communication and Ottoman troop movements. The refurbished locomotive and carriages are there to help tourists experience something of that story. It was very cool to see it. After a few hours we stopped for lunch at a place Michel described as offering the best food we would have in Jordan. I had pita bread and a tiny wee bit of meat. Not a lot of anything. At one stop we learnt about the Mosaic of Jordan. We first encountered this in ...
On Sunday I was asked to take the service and preach at St Peters Anglican Church at Mount Maunganui. For our church here in Aotearoa-New Zealand it was Te Pouhere Sunday, where we celebrate our church constitution. And it is Matariki - the Māori New Year. Here are the notes from my sermon where I try to hold them together to see how Matariki might help us celebrate who God calls us to be in this land at this time. Celebrating a Constitution on Matariki! Mount Maunganui – Te Pouhere Sunday 2025 Readings : Hebrew Scripture: Isa 42:10-20 Epistle: 2 Corinthians 5:14-19 Gospel: Luke 6:46-49 What I want to say: Have a conversation about Te Pouhere and why we might celebrate it reflect on Matariki and what that might invite...
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