My friend Maria and I spend the afternoon in the garden. The broadbeans are spent, it’s the end of their season and we sort the remaining pods for food and seeds to dry. We hold the end and the beginning of life in our hands.
kororia/glory #advent2020
The light shines in the darkness and the darkness does not overcome it. We pray for the changing things, and the things that stay the same. We pray for the uncertain things, and the ones we’re sure of, the known and the unknown. We pray for the paradox. So we are not alone when we’re alone.
karakia/prayer #advent2020
whanaungatanga/fellowship #advent2020
There are there 4 themes of Advent: peace, hope, love, joy… it occurred to me today how grateful I am that those things aren’t around all the time. They’re not single-use gifts or something we put on a shelf and admire. They are practices, they are feelings. The word ‘advent’ means coming. This is a time of year where maybe we’re cleaning our house and making food to say: “Come in, come in” to hope… to love.
Maybe these are gifts you have to give. Maybe these are gifts you desperately want to receive. We cannot promise that you’ll have them all the time, but we can promise that they keep coming.
hanga anō/rebuild #advent2020
Whenua, in te reo, means land and is the same word for the placenta. That which nourishes. That which we come from, that to which we return.
It is a tradition to plant the placenta and umbilical cord beneath a tree, in a special place, in the place you come from. You are intimately connected to the land. The tree grows as you grow. The landscape is changed because of your presence in the world, because you put something into the land that nourishes it and then the land produces the food that nourishes you in turn.
You will always be connected to this place.
We are children of Papatūānuku, the Earth Mother. How often, when faced with a decision and uncertain what to do, do we go home, connect with where we come from, listen to and learn from the land to get perspective and clarity?
What remains when land and sky are gone? What endures? Listen to the story you were born into.
Whenua/earth #advent2020
The Māori creation story begins with nothingness. ( Te Kore).
It is a long dark night. (Te Pō)
From here two of our Māori gods Ranginui, the Sky Father, and Papatūānuku, the Earth Mother, emerge.
Rangi and Papa lay together in a tight embrace. They held each other so tightly that no light could get through and the world was in darkness, and their children are born between them.
For a long time, the children exist in a dark cramped uncomfortable space. They talk of the “potential”, the speck of light seen beyond. What could be beyond?
The brothers made a decision and tried to separate their mātua. Finally, it was Tāne who lay on his back with his legs facing up. With total focus and strength, he pushed and pushed. Ranginui and Papatūānuku didn’t want to be separated from each other or their tamariki. In this crucial time of separation, te wehenga, the tamariki spoke with respect to their parents while helping. Rangi and Papa wept for each other rather than being angry with their tamariki. The separation of the parents by the children resulted in the movement from darkness to the world of light (Te Ao- Mārama) and humans flourished on the Earth. However, Rangi still mourns the loss of Papa and drops tears which become dew and Papa’s sighs go up to the sky, which become mist.
In the end, the brothers became Māori Gods, guardians, or atua of particular domains.
In the cycles of our own, day in and year out, little births and deaths – what does the knowledge of our bigger creation narrative offer?
There is life beyond the darkness that seems to be all we can see. We can make a decision that things will be different, and choose to act before the new Way is visible.
We are strong, in our minds and our bodies. We are agents in bringing about our own becoming and shaping our lives into what we want them to be.
The old ways cease to be, but we learn new ways of relating to one other and ourselves.
Whakapakari/strengthen #advent2020
You are neither all light nor all dark. You are neither perfect nor entirely imperfect. You are seen. You are beloved. #beloved #kairangi #adventwords2019
The Christmas card seems macabre. Australia is burning. There is a lump of coal in our stocking. We are meant to be grateful for the light but smoke covers the horizon. There are flowers here which only bloom in smoke. #message #hekupupanui #adventwords2019
Sometimes there can be no restoration, however there can be appreciation of the new form in its own right #restore #whakahoki #adventwords2019
Today was the day to cut the lawn, weed, clean the esky and camp chairs, plan shade… the role of hosting isn’t that restful and yet, to potter at home is a kind of rest, to talk through our plans is a kind of rest, to have an easy meal with a cold drink binge watching The Witcher is another kind of rest. And it feels good. #rest #okioki #adventwords2019
itellyouarise 