Sowing Seeds of Hope at Matariki
Mānawatia a Matariki – Let’s celebrate Matariki! This gift from Te Ao Māori invites us to remember those who have died, celebrate the present and our shared history , and plan for the future with whānau over kai (food), waiata (song), and tākaro (games). Sowing Seeds of Hope The Matariki themes of reaping and sowing beautifully mirror the parable of the extravagant and wasteful farmer in Matthew 13, who outrageously scatters the seeds of life across all types of soil. This story offers profound hope to a struggling church, asking us to reflect on what kind of soil we are and how we might cultivate our hearts and our world to receive these life-giving seeds. Grace in Our Humanity At times we are good soil; at other times, we are shallow, or even deceitful and conniving like Rebekah’s whānau in Genesis. That is simply what it means to be human. Yet, despite our flawed messiness, God relentlessly remains at work in every single kind of soil, transforming us and cultivating new g...