The Art of Unpacking

Featured Posts

let’s get really radical

March 10, 2019 |

The generation that came after me tends to impress me more than the babyboomer one that went before me. Speaking very generally, and yet observing it repeatedly, their hearts seem to be turned towards the world more radically. For me it started when we hosted a young adults’ home group for almost a decade. Their questions. Their…

images that teach (5): the lid

February 21, 2024 /

A curious thing happens in our society today. A person who asserts that death is the end and that there is no heaven can still be heard longing that a loved one be ‘looking down from above’. For those with ears to hear, this kind of thing happens quite a lot. What is going on?…

is there a meaning in this (old) text?

February 6, 2024 /

Today is the day when New Zealanders give special attention to Te Tiriti O Waitangi (the Treaty of Waitangi), the text on which our nation is founded—and signed 184 years ago. But how is it that old texts convey meaning in today’s world? This is a question that is never too far away for interpreters…

not so with you

January 24, 2024 /

It is sickening. In recent years there have been these waves of stories about spiritual abuse in pastoral leaders. Yes, it is like a wave—building out there in the ocean over many years and then crashing down onto the beach, one after the other. The bigger waves (the ones we hear about) have tended to…

adding voices

January 20, 2024 /

I’ve been a big admirer of the Centre for Lifelong Learning at Carey Baptist College for some years. It is not too surprising because the pioneering energy for the Centre was provided by Mike Crudge, who was on the staff at Carey back in my time—and everything he did, he did with excellence. Over the…

recreated—and it feels so good

January 18, 2024 /

Yeah, you’re right. That doesn’t quite have the same ring to it, when compared with Peaches & Herbs singing, “Reunited and it feels so good”. Nevertheless it did feel so good, while on holiday near Whakatāne last week, to recreate a photo of my mother—from something like 40 years ago. She died last year, on…

incomparable

January 12, 2024 /

The author was new to me. The title didn’t grab me. It was first published 15 years ago without ever catching my eye. In the end I didn’t even buy the book. It arrived in my mailbox a couple of years ago, as a gift. Is it any wonder that it just sat on my…

jodhpur

January 5, 2024 /

Somewhere along the way I read about a survey of Indians in which Jodhpur was rated to be the most beautiful fort in their country. In a country, and a state, famous for its many forts—that is saying something. Just in passing can I also say that the potential database for such a survey is…

a church—some churches

December 23, 2023 /

Barby and I are making our first visit back to India since our rushed departure with the arrival of the pandemic in March 2020, almost four years ago. A Church We were keen to linger long enough in Bangalore to make it possible to visit the church we attended. We had loved our routine. Being…

beauty: bromo and beyond

December 19, 2023 /

The news came as a bit of a shock. We had just travelled for 24+ hours—from Thessaloniki, in Greece, to Malang, in Indonesia. After one night’s sleep, we were informed that the trip to Mt Bromo would begin at 12.15am the next morning so that we could catch the sunrise over one of Indonesia’s active…

at lydia’s place

December 10, 2023 /

I’m never too sure whether being in transit at an airport constitutes a visit to a country? What do you think? I guess Tom Hanks of Terminal (2004) fame might have an opinion on the matter… On one occasion I had a transit that settled a key transition in my life. It was on a…