Sande Ramage

a spirited crone exploring spirituality one word at a time

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Belief: a delicate balancing act
Festivals

Belief: a delicate balancing act

Posted on June 3, 2022June 4, 2022 by Sande Ramage

‘I just want to believe’, she said. The group went quiet. ‘Believe what’, I asked. ‘That the organisation will live up to its values’. There it was laid bare. The human desire for organisations to fix the world. To be…

Ukraine, Russia and the tension of opposites
Church

Ukraine, Russia and the tension of opposites

Posted on April 25, 2022April 28, 2022 by Sande Ramage

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine was hot news as I wandered into my favourite bookstore. Colleagues were offering opinions about President Putin’s actions, but other than thinking war is futile my understanding of the situation was limited. However, I was interested…

Funerals and our shared mortality
Death and Dying

Funerals and our shared mortality

Posted on January 24, 2022April 25, 2022 by Sande Ramage

The funeral had been everything hoped for, and more. The person honoured; hospitality shown. Words and music flowed. The one technical hitch wasn’t worth worrying about. But I felt done in. Ready to drop them from my repertoire. After 20…

In praise of Kali
Adoption

In praise of Kali

Posted on August 19, 2021August 28, 2021 by Sande Ramage

Kali the Labrador came into my life when she was ten months old. Appealing, exuberant, and unruly. We developed an inexplicable bond, living in silence but inter-dependent. When she left me nine years later, I felt untethered, adrift, grief stricken.…

Trusting the snake
Jungian themes

Trusting the snake

Posted on May 20, 2021May 20, 2021 by Sande Ramage

When Meghan and Harry headlined on Oprah about their struggles in the royal enclosure, it was like stepping into the Garden of Eden. The never-ending story of needing to grow into a new reality. Although the furore around the Duke…

Reality Bites: what use is the priest in contemporary New Zealand?
Church

Reality Bites: what use is the priest in contemporary New Zealand?

Posted on May 9, 2021May 9, 2021 by Sande Ramage

Many of us live in a world without recourse to a god who bounces in and out of history at will or on demand. We have to take it straight, with no hope of eventual paradise.  And salvation, if indeed…

Truth sets us free
Jungian themes

Truth sets us free

Posted on March 14, 2021March 14, 2021 by Sande Ramage

Going the extra mile was mandatory when I was an over-helper. It made me feel good. No longer. Years in pastoral care have trained me to do less rather than more. To encourage people to be experts in their own…

Secular priest: research or consecration?
Church

Secular priest: research or consecration?

Posted on January 31, 2021January 31, 2021 by Sande Ramage

Until I met Niki Harré I’d never heard of a secular priest. I was intrigued but also felt confused. The two terms, secular and priest, didn’t seem to fit. How could someone be a priest if there was no sacred…

Disruptive women re-forming tradition
Christmas

Disruptive women re-forming tradition

Posted on January 12, 2021January 12, 2021 by Sande Ramage

Mary McAleese, former President of Ireland and lifelong Catholic, is religiously disruptive. She says that people are tired of ‘old men trying to beat the drum of obedience, being obedient to teaching that is long past its sell-by date and…

Mary the Creatrix
Christmas

Mary the Creatrix

Posted on December 21, 2020December 21, 2020 by Sande Ramage

If I was producing a nativity play, I’d pick a young black American woman called Orpah to play Mary. You probably know her as Oprah Winfrey through her television talk shows, Oprah and Oprah Soul Sundays. Vanity Fair magazine said…

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  • We are overcome with desire, struggling with the congenital all-embracing ache that lies at the centre of human experience, the ultimate force that drives everything else. Ronald Rolheiser in Seeking Spirituality
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