Wow it's finally happened!

Well it is about 5:30am here in a waking up Christchurch. I am in work as much because there is no way I am going back to sleep at this stage.

Today is my last day at work and as I sit here typing I feel tears wreaking my infrequently applied make up. I think it has hit home that I am leaving people who have become as family to me. In a couple of hours we will meet for a work farewell breakfast and as I sit here looking at my increasingly stripped down office I am aware that if I have learnt anything over this year of leavings it is that I am profoundly and deeply loved.

Not only by God but by my colleagues, my family, my friends. It is a humbling thing to experience as much because I suspect that over the year there have been others who loved me who I never allowed myself to acknowledge.

So here I am tissue in one hand listening to the Wellington Ukaleli Orchestra singing its a heartache preparing to leave.

In the next few days the packers come then next weekend we are all on our way to St Johns College. Tomorrow is my extended whanau (family) farewell, next Friday it is Shawn's family farewell with a couple of others in between.

So many farewells the cost of feeling the love I guess.

I give thanks to God who has moved so profoundly in our lives this week and continues to move.

Please pray for us in on our journey to the North Island

Megan

Realising your weird

Okay so recently my husband and I celebrated our wedding anniversary. He being a Southern boy raised on navy bases and trailer parks we decided to go all out and celebrated southern style which basically meant Cajun spiced chicken, pork and beans. We tried to outdo each other with gifts, he bought me Bourbon (in a can of course) and I got him a packet of pork scratchings as a dowry reminder.

We sat there hooting with laughter at each other. Something which I didn't even realise was particularly odd until I retold the story over morning tea at work the next day in response to their questions about how we celebrated our anniversary.

Note to self according to the horrified looks at work laughter was not supposed to be involved,we were supposed to go out to a sedate restaurant, there would be gifts, a chaste kiss and some restrained thinking of England.

Me I think I enjoyed the laughter myself.

Two weeks till we head off to the seminary. I wonder if they like chili dogs up there? Meg

Time is Ticking and Sleep is Lacking

Well time is ticking and sleep is lacking.

I am here today on 2 hours sleep. A combination of full moon, moving anxiety and general how do I get everything done. Positively I am now enrolled at University in what looks to be a very full on traveling time in the first semester (traveling to varsity daily) and a not so hectic traveling time in the second semester.

This of course does not include what is happening at classes wise at seminary. This year of study is as much about filling study prerequisites both theological and general education wise with next year there being more freedom of choice. So study looks at the moment like this.
Semester 1
THEO 103 Reading the Bible
BSTHEO 175 Introduction to Greek
THEO 100 Beginning Theology in Aotearoa New Zealand
POPHEATH Epidemics Past Present and Future

This health paper fulfills my requirements for general education and is so up my ally it is not funny. Call it non theology reward. As some of you know I have a few dark interests including criminal, forensic, and general psychiatry and the human response to epidemics and pandemics. With that in mind I think you agree that this course is me.

POPLHLTH 103G Epidemics: Past, Present and Possible
This course explores the concept of the epidemic – the emergence of diseases or conditions affecting many individuals at the same time. Examines epidemics caused by micro-organisms, environmental contaminants, lifestyle choices and self-harming behaviours. Covers infectious epidemics from black death to bird ‘flu, examines modern day
examples such as obesity, diseases of urbanisation and problem gambling, and explores the concept of social contagion, from nun-biting to alien abduction.

Course Objectives
• To demonstrate an understanding of the nature and cause of different types of epidemics.
• To have an awareness of the historical background of epidemics and an
understanding of contemporary epidemics in New Zealand and world-wide.
• To have a more detailed understanding of actions that might be taken by society to monitor, manage and prevent one modern epidemic.

What are epidemics?
• Introduction: Black death, Roman goblets and medieval nunneries
• Geography’s contribution to epidemiology
• Immunology: defending against disease

Infectious epidemics past
• Historical context
• Piercing memories
• 1918 Influenza epidemic

Infectious epidemics present
• Vaccine controversies
• If I was a vaccine preventable disease I think I would choose to be whooping cough
• Home Grown Solutions: Control of group B Meningococcal Epidemic in NZ
• Tuberculosis

Infectious epidemics into the future
• Possible pandemics
• Ebola and SARs
• History denied is history repeated
• Bioterrorism

Epidemics of chronic disease: Gluttony, indolence and melancholy?
• The obesity epidemic
• Type II diabetes
• The rise and fall and rise of the coronary heart disease epidemic
• Rise of chronic disease in Maori
• Smoking – a modern epidemic that is protracted, severe and legally sanctioned
• Depression: all you ever wanted to know
Addictions
• Rise & fall of various addictions
• Recreational drugs
• An epidemic of gambling

Environmental epidemics
• Sun exposure
• Road crashes
• Epidemics of urbanisation
• Falls in the elderly

Social contagion
• Nun-biting, mass anxiety hysteria and merphos poisoning in Auckland?
• Demons, aliens & Satanists

Conclusion
Bringing together the strands: historical, contemporary & possible future contexts in NZ &
Internationally

So there you go! I have for some time been interested in the Church response to crisis and am most interested in planning for how we as a church may respond to the next big health crisis.

Not much more to write I am afraid mind too sleep deprived

Blessings
Megan

Blessings to the High Low Places

I know I know your thinking you never write you never call and here you are in the last few days posting like a woman unleashed. It is as much I suppose about a search for meaning, context and understanding.

As I write today I am again in work (I know it is a Saturday) I have icon class soon yet here I am just getting the last service sheets together for tomorrows recreated Christingle come Nativity service I have got together.

Okay todays context, outside of my window I am watching the rain bucket down on Christmas Shopers. On the headphones is a bazar mix of old Mary Mary renditions of 'Shackles" and all blessings be to Spanky who yesterday introduced me to Sufjan Stevens Holy Holy Holy. And yes I think you could do much worse than hook into YouTube and have a listen http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R-liS9e2IY8 .

And Christchurch being Christchurch we have sadly another murder of a young woman . I used to resist saying another prostitute is murdered because the sensationalism of her occupation made the reality of her humanity invisable. So between the creation of Nativity services I have been searching the net to see if there is a photo of her incase she is one of the sex workers I say hello to in the morning on my way to work. I recall the memorial of Suzie Sutherland of the letter her parents sent that was read out to this church full of prostitues, dealers, pimps, street people, her lovers and her friends. How many of them will be gathering again for Ngatai's funeral?

Seems a sad yet appropriate context to introduce my last meditation for Advent. Today if the rain would not wash it away I would write in chalk on the pathments of Manchester Street. To you who work on these streets please please be take care of yourselves you are important. You are loved.

I am here again Lord.
No matter how much I tell myself this year it will be different I still find myself on this night frequenting these High low places.

Not that you ever try to stop me, “We all have our way of sitting Shiva with those who wait for the light” you say.
For me it is to be pulled to the edge places.
To bear witness to humanities yearning for the new dawn.
When I was younger I frequented the Great Cathedrals of the world, circled spires and lay across great arches. At other times I would find myself in the belfries of humble worship, in houses no bigger than the stable in which Christ came forth clothed in a woman’s blood.

Be it a mega church or humble house - as on this night as in the very first night, I come to watch over the prayers of those drawn to the light.
To see their prayers as smoke curl from their lips carried high into the arms of the creator.

On this night I come down low, hover over those in prayer and finally settle next to a pillar I watch as the everyday drama of prayer- humanities hymns to the silence unfold.

Few see me, the occassional babe in arms - fingers reaching out - faces alight, the old blind priest still going after all these years.
He pauses beside me “So unearthly thing” he says “Have you come today to take me to my creator?”.
I smile it is the same question he asks of me every year “Not tonight old man”, he is after all not mine to take.
“This night I come to hear the prayers of the faithful and the lost”, he humphs and shuffles along.

Tonight there are prayers both sublime and rediculous.
To the side sits a woman hands clasps tight she prays for patience, that her fear for the future not be spat out at her husband recently laid off. In the front sits the old man begging to be taken, so he may be reuntited with his beloved wife gone long before.
For the out of place woman with three toned hair the prayer is for a friend found facedown in the river, while the eight year old one seat back practices looking unimpressed as she prays that tomorrow she wont be made to sit next to her aunt that dribbles at dinner.
As the numbers gather there voices build

Lord make me pretty,
Stop me from drinking,
Give me pajamas with feet in them,
Help my son in prison,
Give us enough money for presents for the Children,
God I hope it was quick,
Take away my grandsons asthma,
Give us the contract at work,
Don’t let my husband find out what I have done,
Give me one more day I know I can win back the rent,
Take my daughters cancer away,
Let me know if you exsist,
Tell me is this all there is?
Help me tell my mother I am pregnant again,
Make the news happy today,
Find my boy a job,
Remind me why I stay,
Just take all this away,
What should I make for Christmas dinner,
Im so tired,
Just do something,
Thank you…

That stops me

Thank you! It is not just the words but the intent that pulls me close,
so heart felt, so full... ripe.

Ah but the intent... that spins me back to the night in the stable when we kept vigil. For that moment when our bodies shuddered at the cries of birthing , and we angels in the rafters clung together praying with the same need heard again here tonight.
Please let the child king would be born with breath.

The Birthing Prayer of Mary rang in our ears as she called out...
"May it be your will, Adonai my God and God of my ancestors, that you will ease these pains for me,
Make me strong,
increase the strength of my baby boy.
Ease my birth,
Birth me to motherhood Abba as I birth our babe,
Bring him out into the air without harm.
Make him be of good fortune bought into this life,
Fill him with peace,
Make him healthly and grow him to be an honourable man, as is the father you have provided on earth,
May my child find grace in Your eyes and in the eyes of all your creations.
May this child's life fulfill the verse:
"God sets the childless woman among her household as a happy mother of children. Hallelujah."
May my husband and I raise this child to serve You.
May we merit to teach this child your holy Torah,
to have peace and comfort, honour and rest.
Guard us, my baby and I, that we will not come to harm.
May You strengthen my courage, my strength, and my might, as it says:
"My Lord, my life-breath is revived.
You have restored me to health and revived me." Amen."

And then in the midst of this panting prayer there came the moment when
tears and prayers were released and fulfilled. When pain before us was transformed into sobs, then gulps, to gasps…and then all three at once all overarched with such sweet delight and thanks that we could not help but call out to the world in glory and light up the sky.

Not that they noticed. For them it was not the wonder that woke the neighbour and turned wise men towards Bethlehem, it was the miracle of a babe taken in his fathers arms and held up to Yahweh in blessing.
It was the tiny curled fist and the widest yawn that transfixed a mothers eyes, calling each movement to the attention of his earthly father.

And to the world a King was born that night, the fulfillment of joy and prophecy.

Thousands of years past and here in a down town church I am reminded of that moment in a prayer of thanks by a lone woman in prayer.

The baby in her belly is a gift unexpected, joy personified.
Perfect even in its imprerfection?
But they know this already, she still clasps the brochure in her hand, down syndrome…

Yet even in this reality her prayer turns not to ‘please God fix my baby’,
but to thanks for the gift of life inside her.

Many will walk away from a baby not perfect in their sight even though all are perfect in the sight of their creator.

Some will stare at one who does not look like the others.
Others will see sorrow and punishment for Gods perfect gift seen through the eyes as imperfection.

But in this place, on this day, in the midst the prayers of demanding
The pleases,
And the shoulds,
And the makes,
And the whys,
And the help,
And the do God,
And the don’t.
In humanities imperfection, the timeless miracle continues to unfold, seen once more in the face of a new babe in arms reminder of the coming of a new day.

As witnessed by an angel on this night and in a woman consumed by the thankfulness and blessed by the love of God

Blessings Megan

To the Outskirts of Bethlehem

Today looking out of my office window on the forth floor the rain splashes down (my favourite weather) and I am listening to a nostalgia trip with Faith No More's rendition of Easy, Jeff Buckley's version of Hallelujah and the Wellington International Ukulele Orchestra.

Yesterday I posted one of the meditations from my Advent Series. One of things I have thought about is what it was like for Mary and Joseph on the way to Bethlehem. What they said to each other, how well they knew each other. Any way the follow piece came from those ponderings.

I try not to say too much - to be annoying.
After all we don’t know each other that well… not as husband and wife.

Although in someway he has always been around, be it fixing our roof, or laughing out loud with the other men at a wedding feast.
Not ours though.

When the match was made I would peak from behind the curtain to see what he ate, how he prayed and provided, to imprint on my heart what it was that made him smile.

Just as my mother did before her wedding, I would look to his callused hands to see how soft they became when he cradled a child.
These are the things a woman in my village look for in a man.

Now though in this place - at this time, I am no longer sure of this stoic man who walks beside me.
Away from my mothers arms I am unsure how angry he may really be,
Yet no harsh words has he aimed in my direction.
No doubt has he cast on my claims out loud.
And for that gracious God …
I am most grateful in your choice of husband for me.

Last night we camped along the road side with some of his cousins, I heard them joke about how lucky he was to have such a pretty young wife.
But then I guess they don’t know what the rest of his family think of me.

Today I find myself even more grateful for the presence of my silent saviour. For without his care of me, and belief in our sacred charge, my fate would be that of the women we pass on our way.

The outcast, the lost, and the dead.

He has saved my life, - and aside from being kind of old, I know I am in the safest place possible out here on the road to Bethlehem, and away from the rising ire of those who once held me dear.

He says little - speaks more encouragement to the donkey on which I sit than to me!
At first I tried to make conversation, but what is there to say that can encompass that which is both too big and so small.

In the every day do I say “Excuse me husband but my butt has cramp and I am wondering if you can have a look at my toes and tell me if they indeed exist it has been so long since we met”

I sigh, and for a brief moment my stone faced husband smiles “My Miriam who would have ever thought I had married such a quiet wife, if you keep this up I will be the envy of all the men of Nazareth!”
We laugh for a moment and as night comes it is with relief and affection that I let such strong hands lift me down. Such a man you have given me to father our son on earth dear Lord.

Camping on the outskirts of Bethlehem surrounded by the cooking fires of fellow travellers we pull back the tent flap so the stars and the moon may shine down upon us, Joseph knows the stars by name.

Peace at last.
On the edge of sleep feel his hand on my belly “Sleep Miriam mine, God has gifted me you both to care for, and tonight at least all is well in the world.

Blessings on the Journey

Megan

I like this place on the hill

Here is the meditation I wrote that was published in the Advent Christmas resource Hands of Light. I was imaging what it was like to sit on a hill and watch the story of Joseph and Mary unfold.

I like this place here on the hill.
This crevice in the rock carved out by thee and me has been my shelter from heat and rain all the days of my life.
From here I can see all my sheep.

My people in the village try to beg me to come down in winter,
but more than a night by the fire and I am restless for my place in the rock.
You gave it to me so that I may watch over them.
So I may provide meat for worship and feast days,
so I may witness dramas and miracles.

It is not lonely up here on the hillside,
both people and sheep I know and address by name.
But when it comes to conversation, it is the sheep that make more sense to me.

For two cycles of the moon there has been trickery swirling over the sleeping folk below. Yahweh’s work it is sure, strange and wondrous dabblings true - the outcome uncertain.

What is known to us all, is that soft moments
between the house of Joachim and the house of Joseph
have become sharp and distant.
My father always told me
“When women pass each other without pause for conversation,
turn and run for the hills for the very earth itself may split open and swallow you up!”

Three times this night I have watched Joseph-the-tree, gentle up to the door of his betrothed only to walk away without seeking entrance, shoulders bowed.
On such nights the sounds of a prayer so soft, so full of aching, that only the angels themselves could decipher the words is whispered against the rock.

Few may know the reason for such pain,
but not one person in the neighborhood sleeps undisturbed,
as prayers rich with questions too raw to be spoken loudly,
make their way through the night.

Yes there is trouble in the houses of Joachim and Joseph,
and that means trouble for us all.

In light of this it takes a long time before Joseph-the-tree makes his way up the track to my place in the rock. A man without stealth or guile, he stumbles and grunts, announcing his presence before he appears at my fire.
I sooth my now restless sheep “It is just Joseph-the-tree disturbing your sleep. Rest all will be well with the world”.
There is anger in his eyes at my words,
yet split open it gives way to the sorrow I have witnessed bend this upright man.

Such conversations as with sheep are demeaned by speaking,
and so we sit and watch over the restlessness of those below.

When such emotions do form into speech, they sit in his mouth for a long time.
“But I still love her”

It is said.

So that is what Yahweh has been up to!
‘But I still love her’
In the defeat is shown the way forward, there is still love.
Who in rightness with God, can not find in his heart, forgiveness for one so blessed.

As we sit I recall to Joseph how it was when I was first called up here to care for the flock.
It was not the life I had planned, yet “the needs of all were important” said my grandfather “sacrifices had to be made”.
I spoke of how I had rebelled and in anger struck out at these dumb creatures. This was a story new to Joseph; to him I had never been anything but old and bent.

“There was one sheep in particular that goaded me. A ewe stubborn and wild. She was one of my uncle’s prized animals. Prized or not, all I saw was a stubborn sheep that ran me all over these hills for no better reason than she thought I needed the exercise. When a storm would come she would force me out into the rain to search for her, when wild beasties came close she would run towards them until I was sure she wanted nothing more than to see me dead!”. That raised a smile.

“As my feet got harder and my legs stronger I would look down at you all below less and less with envy. Here I saw things in a new way. I could see who spoke to whom, or who didn’t … I saw the young women of the village laugh together as I never could see when I was amongst it all ... I saw the spirit weave in and out of our lives … and I saw how the villages would wave up to me- there faces reassured that they and the flock were cared for and watched over.”

“The sheep were, well, still sheep, yet more and more I realised how we would come to depend on each other. They warned me, as much as I protected them. Not just my life revolved around their well being, but all our lives.”

“Then one night, on a night very similar to this I returned from the village to discover that that pesky ewe had once more gone missing. It had taken me longer to return than usual as the path I normally took had slipped away. Already I knew that this would be where I would find her. Sure enough as I got closer I saw her she trotted faster and faster in the opposite direction.

I knew the path that she was heading toward was no more, if I chased after her she would fall to her death. Yet if I did nothing it still may happen. What was I to do? After all this sheep had caused me much pain since I had come to care for her”.

Joseph poked at the fire as I paused for effect.

“But you know I could not let her die, in her own way she had become a part of my day... if she died, I may have an easier life, but the whole flock would be diminished”.

“Well what could you do? You’ve said you couldn’t chase after her!”

“Nothing so I fell to my knees and I called to her- angrily at first and then gently...”

“Pesky sheep” I said
“Stop! Come to me,
if you go down there you will die and there are those who will miss you…
if you run that way you will fall down the hill and uncle will be mad…
and I will become lazy…
we need you pesky sheep…
your flock needs you…
I need you!”

“And she came back?”

“No not at first,
she made me wait so long I thought she had died.
And I am not afraid to say that I sat in that sheep track and I sobbed like a babe…
I sobbed for what I had hoped for that was not to be …
for the sense of responsibility that caring for these blasted sheep placed upon me…
and for the fear that sat inside me daily that I could not carry it...
most of all I sobbed for a stubborn sheep
that had yet to tell me her name.”

“But she came back …tell me she didn’t die!”

“Yes she came back and I held her tightly and I cried into her fleece”

“And she loved you and let you lead her back?”

“No she ate my breakfast and walked back with me following behind.
Trust my friend takes time to develop”.

The fire crackled as Joseph-the-tree stood and looked out in the night.
“Go to she who is most blessed tree man, you have a journey before you I think”.

All night I stayed awake watching the village as it fell into a peaceful sleep.

Just before dawn Joseph and Mary, the daughter of Joachim headed out with a donkey towards Bethlehem. From my crevice in the rock I saw them pause and wave. I waved back. On this morning all was well with the world.

A mix of here and there

All prayers greatly accepted today. I wait, still not accepted into varsity as institutions quibble over acceptance of marks for courses. This is no easy place to sit in the middle of waiting. I have done all I can but at the last post I feel not pipped but more than a little bound.

The season has hit me, the grief and the joy. Today I am asked to pray for a mother whose baby girl is born with a heart defect and dies. Such grief for a family who had looked so forward to a first baby at Christmas. So much investment, so many prayers now seen as lying fallow.

Then a young girl eight months pregnant is bought to my attention as a father in law demands her marriage now because although she is a sinner the baby deserves to be born 'clean'. I think of her and look over at my Nativity icon on my noticeboard. Some things never change Mary.

As I come to terms with being a hoarder and having to pack up house I can not help but look at the place I have grown up in. Christchurch the dark city of New Zealand home of pilgrims and prostitutes.

And I wonder...

I wonder if the darkness that is this city
Will sit in my blood when I have left this place
If the fierce light of late night scuffles will rise in my eyes
As it has in so many others when pressed against a wall

There is a price to pay for living in a feral place
A payment made at birth
This darkness so familiar so a part of us
Once clearly seen, we can but spend the rest of our lives
trying to outrun it.

Today I put in my resignation for work, next week I will go to the Blue Christmass and weep. Then fortified it will be onward into the light.

Blessings Megan

Its a Heartache

A very short post. An old friend of mine was on a film shoot in Wellington and sent me this link to the shoot. Turn up the music and enjoy the sounds of 'The Wellington International Orchestra'

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GqynAAYdLW8

May you be filled with smiles

Shalom

Megan

A new place

As I wait for my supervisees to arrive for my next meeting I find a moment to catch up on my trip to Auckland this week where I attended the Womens Studies Centre Council meeting. This was my first real hands on experience of the three tikanga church. As the meeting was held at college it gave me the opportunity to see where I will spend the next three years living/worshipping/studying at St Johns College.

It was lovely to meet up with people I had not seen for some time. Staying with a friend who indulged my tourist need to see the city at night. And then on another soft evening to I head off with a fellow Christchurch student currently in Seminary to St Helliers bay, where we sat overlooking the harbour eating fresh fish and catching each other up with college life.

The college itself was beautiful to the extent where I became a total tourist out with the camera every time I saw a lizard or a parrot in the garden.

Aside from the Womens Studies Committee this was a chance for me to meet with the interim Dean to discuss college. Me being me I had an interesting moment of Meganisms when I found myself answering his question of "are you multilingual" with "Oh yes I speak anglo-catholic and evangelical!". Long pause follows...

The Women's Studies Committee was my first real opportunity to experience the three tikanga church in action. For those of you either not Anglican or from overseas here in Aotearoa New Zealand we have three ArchBishops who jointly represent the church whilst individually representing the Maori, Polynesian and Pakeha strands of the church.

It struck me as I type here today that my response to the multilingual question the day before was not as silly as it sounded. The WSC meeting allowed me to see how although there are words in common that culturally we all came at issuses with different understandings. This was particulary noticable for me in the women from different pacific countries. In some areas workshops with words like leadership and empowerment were fine to use in a title, where for others they were a total no go. For some people you went directly to individuals if you wanted them to get information, in others any information must go through an intermedery such as the Mothers Union or the AAW. I can see that there are many different languages and nuances for me to learn over the next few years.

A fractured day

Well an interesting time at present..although as I say this there have been few really uninteresting times when I think about it. Lets see since the last post...
I have been falling in love again with the DVD 'Searching for the Wrong Eyed Jesus' this week and listening to a mixture of Beck (a birthday gift) a little childhood nostalgia with some Gordan Lightfoot, and finally much to the annoyance of all around me a mix of disco classics and Christmas music...sigh what a troubled child I must be.

The sorting has begun on what to take to Seminary, oh I wish I hadn't been such a hoarder! I finished my meditation for the Advent publication coming out shortly. In the end I did a meditation based on a shepherd who watches over the houses of Mary and Jesus just after the Annunciation. I have begun tossing around the concept of a book with a theologian friend of mine where she would write a teaching piece to a particular Biblical story and I would write a meditation.

Today I had coffee with a friend of mine with a brain tumor we spoke about another couple of young women with terminal cancer one who died yesterday and one for whom each day is a gift to us all. We talked about grief and hope about intervention and leaving. About how she wasn't scared of dying she just didn't want to leave people filled with grief. We talked planning funerals and having fun. And her joy that her friend who had just died was baptised a couple of weeks ago.
A gift in what has otherwise been a fractured day.

Tomorrow I am up at St Johns College for a meeting on the Women's Studies Centre and to meet with the Dean to talk about next year.

God thank you for the pain and the joy, the laughter and tears and for living in a place where the hard thing is having such an abundance that we throw things away.

Expectations on Ordination Training - Oh My!

Well my local ordination training group met the other night in what was a rather full on session on training for the future. I would have to say that the bar training wise has certainly been raised!

I was reminded of when I was studying Gestalt Psychotherapy years ago and the saying of one of my teachers “There is a knife edge between fear and excitement”. I think most of us had elements of both, yet I am left with an overall feeling of excitement.

My understanding- which by the way was hurried and I am sure missed things, is for a graduate level knowledge of:
New and Old Testament
Basic Greek, Hebrew or both
Church History covering: Early Church, Middle Ages, Reformation, Anglican Communion – formation, Modern Church

Systematic Theology
Christology
Pneumatology
Sacramental Theology
Moral Theology and Christian Ethics
A sound knowledge and comfortable use of the Anglican Liturgies and NZ Prayer book
Age specific ministry i.e. children and young people

Three month internship full time in a parish before ordination.
1 CPE or chaplaincy experience
1 cross cultural experience overseas
Leadership skills both in being and raising up leaders was emphasized as was the importance of people skills.

Expectations upon us personally were also raised in the sense of:
Doing the daily offices – which is pretty much a given anyway
Having a regular time of meditation
Having regular spiritual direction
Regular church attendance and taking of sacraments
To live a life of careful stewardship of creation
Regular giving
Looking after the body God has given us – right eating drinking exercise and rest. As well as moral codes to live by.

As I said earlier I was nervous about the fact that in the head space I was in I may put my foot in it. And although I didn’t quite stuff it up, referring to the study of numerology as opposed to Pneumatology I hope was overlooked!

We did do some interesting Bible study with the Bishop and later some visualization on what came to mind when we thought of ourselves in ministry.

So although I will miss people here and the thought of having to pack a house of crap up is daunting from a study perspective I am so excited about the future and training for ministry.
Now all I need to do in the next fews days is finish my assignment on Isaiah and write a meditation for a publication being put together here for Advent. With a cup of tea in your hands prozac and a prayer anything is possible!

God Help Those Around Me

Today is a day when I am putting my foot in it. Nothing I say seems to come out the right way and I can see myself leaving a path of clumsy destruction in my wake. My bumbled apologies seem only to make things worse and I would seriously consider locking myself away in a dark room and sleeping if the majority of staff had not decided to take the day off and leave only one person to cover reception.

To be honest it’s probably not just today. My uncoordinated verbal bumbling has been going on for a few days coupled with a less than gracious attitude that has simmered beneath my tight smiling exterior for people who seem to annoy me for no other reason than they are breathing and I am a total wench at the moment when stressed.

This weekend we have the Diocesan Ordination Training. Bishop Victoria is coming this evening to speak to us for the first time as a group. I would rather be a little more in charge of myself at what is a pivotal meeting for us and our future. When all else fails I think it is perhaps best to resort to silence and a really big can of V.
Lord give me the patience,
The words,
The wisdom to shut up,
And blessings upon all I stumble over in the days ahead.

Meg stumbling about in the wind in search of sanctuary.

My Kingdom for some space

Well there is certainly a lot to think about at the moment. People around me have as much as possible adjusted to us moving to Auckland. I am aware of the little community builder in me that at such times thinks of what it will take to settle in comfortably there. Shawn has found a church for himself, being a part of the vineyard movement he is in Wimber heaven with 7 churches to choose from.

What sits with me at the moment is a desire to find a creative community either some where to paint or learn. Ideally I would like to find a fellow icon writer in Auckland. One of the painful sides of leaving Christchurch is that I will not be able to study under Father Acardy here who had agreed to teach me the traditional Russian way of icon writing. I have some grief over that as I saw in his work something extraordinary.

So I am trying to be patient and not jealous that he is talking about having a school here in Christchurch. If anyone knows of a teacher of icons in Auckland please please let me know.

Aside from that I now have a hectic study schedule (see below) which I hope will make sense as to why I have not written here for some time. Blessings

Megan
HS101 Assignment 3. Due Date: 15 October 25%
Write an essay of 2000 words: First, outline the historical background within which Second Isaiah ministers. Then, describe the major themes found in his writing (Isaiah 40‑5 5). Finally, what is his central message?

MM102 ASSIGNMENT Three DUE DATE: 28th October 20%
Completion of 2 worksheets which will be based on questions related directly to the course reader.

NT101 ASSIGNMENT ONE – Part Two
DUE DATE: 10th November LESSONS 8‑14 15% Course Log

NT101 ASSIGNMENT FOUR DUE DATE 15th December 40%
For Sandra Schneider’s the challenge facing New Testament interpretation is to find a way(s) that "can ground a reading of the text that is unreservedly critical, on one hand, and that interacts meaningfully with the personal and communal spiritual life of the believing reader ..." (Sandra Schneider’s Revelatory Text, 13).[Select one of the following texts and show how a new reading or interpretation is possible when new critical questions are asked of the text from a particular perspective (hermeneutic). Show that you that understand the questions raised by the hermeneutic which you chose and then demonstrate your understanding by applying that hermeneutic to the scripture passage:
Either: A Liberation Hermeneutic: Luke 6:20‑26 (make brief reference to other linked texts/verses in Luke)
Or: A Feminist Hermeneutic: Matthew 15:21‑28 (make brief reference to other linked texts/verses in Matthew)
Or: An Earth Hermeneutic: Matthew 6:9‑14 (make brief reference to other linked texts/verses in Matthew)
Or: An Earth Hermeneutic: the use of heaven/earth imagery in a particular NewTestament book

HS101 Assignment 4 Due Date: 24th November 35%
This assignment is intended to help you get your head around what you have learned this year. It should be longer than the previous assignments, but its length depends on how much you want to say. You may structure it in any way you like, but follow the advice in the EIDTS Study & Writing Guide. You are expected to reference your quotations correctly.

In what way were the people of Israel different after the Exile?
Consider the following: religious institutions, literary concerns, political structure, attitude to other nations, social situation, role of prophets, attitude to women, self-consciousness, etc. Choose some of these issues and explain how things differed before and after the Exile.

MM102 ASSIGNMENT Four
DUE DATE: Dec 31st 2008 20%
Write a 1500 word Book Review on the Course Text by Cornfield, Margaret Zipse. (1998). Cultivating Wholeness. A Guide to Care and Counselling in Faith Communities. New York, Continuum.

MM102 ASSIGNMENT Five DUE DATE: 20th January 2009 25%
If you were writing a comprehensive theology of pastoral care giving, what biblical resources would you use and why? (This topic must be dealt with thematically, not by simply quoting endless passages from scripture) 1500 words

MM102 ASSIGNMENT Six DUE DATE: Feb 10th 2009 25%
In what ways could you give pastoral care during a rite of passage in your particular cultural context? What will be your pastoral theological understandings underbidding the provision of this care? 1500 words

An unsettled day

Yesterday something very disturbing happened. Well more disturbing than usual. A friend of mine who is a priest got home to find his house had been broken in to. What was really disturbing aside from the brake in, was the desercration of his crucifixes. Some had been smashed, some hung upside down, some had had things done to them and were flushed down the toilet. It was an odd break in, only a bottle was taken, the person who had broken in had however totally smashed his lap top in a frenzy. Everything else was left however i.e. cell phone etc.

It is the desecration of the crosses that has really unsettled me. My husband went to be with our friend as he waited for the police and to pray and do some clearing, and another priest came to bless the place later on that day. I have spent some time in prayer over this. Not just for my friend but for the person who did this. For the darkness they carry (be it psychological, spiritual addictive or all three) that would throw them into such a frenzy of hatred at the face of love.
God have mercy upon them; forgive them, and the face of love work deeply within them leading them to the light.

Moving to Auckland

Those of you who know me will know that I have been for some time struggling with the challenge of studying, working, community work, discernment process, being involved in church etc.

I have just heard that I have a scholarship starting in Feb 2009 to study for three years at St Johns College in Auckland. In truth I am in a little shock I think – not at the logistics of moving my house, my husband and my cat to Auckland, but in the leaving. We have had a lot of uncertainty in work and parish shifts this year and at this moment I am aware of the grief as well as excitement of leaving as well. I am sitting here not sure what to do with myself.

Telling my family was interesting. My mother was great although now I know she hasn’t stopped crying since my phone call. It is funny how even at my age the childhood desire to please can pop its head up when we least expect it.

So people whom I know there you go! Care parcels greatly appreciated. Please know that I will and am excited but when there has been such anxiety for so long to hear leaves me not sure how to respond. Pray for me
Blessings

Megan