Dr Billy Graham, often called one of the most influential Christian leaders of the 21st Century, died on 21st February. He was a powerful influence on my life in the 1950’s and 60’s, and not in a good way. His evangelical preaching filled stadiums worldwide including New Zealand in 1959 but by the time of […]
ANZAC Trumps Easter in Battle of the Gods
All of them are dead. The bones of Jesus buried deep in Palestine and Kiwi soldiers in Turkey. Although we post-moderns might like to believe we don’t venerate relics, there’s an annual resurrection attempt every Easter and Anzac Day. Two festivals that usually jostle for space in New Zealand but this year have collided head-on. […]
Dirty laundry leads to Easter grave turning
My Mum always said we shouldn’t wash our dirty linen in public. Secrets, lies, and doubts about anything, particularly the godstuff, were for the privacy of our own kitchen and closed down before they got too heretical. What mattered was unquestioning faith, cleanliness, and order, evidenced by the clean washing fluttering on the line. No rotary […]
Crumbling Christianity good news for Kiwis
Joy to the world, the angels at Statistics New Zealand are singing a new song . Anglicans and Protestants are on the eve of destruction. We’ve got about 20 years left. By 2054, (my 100th birthday!) Christianity, except for Roman Catholicism, will probably not exist in New Zealand either. The Catholics may buck the trend if their current adherence […]
Anzac Day Amnesia
Archibald Baxter is a hero to me. I remember him on every Anzac Day. It’s my way of saying that his story, marked by brutality and torture after he refused to fight in World War I, is a vital missing chapter in our collective memory. Perhaps it’s shame and embarrassment that stops us from talking […]
Easterpreneur
Jim’s Easterpreneur cartoon made me smile. For a split second, I thought I knew what it meant, momentarily forgetting that no creative work about the crucifixion is likely to be that easily tamed. Hoping for inspiration I carried it around in my diary but the wretched thing just kept slipping out of my grasp. Sometimes […]
Festivals transcend belief
Emilie Selden has an appealing naïvety. She’s educated in the art and philosophy of alchemy but has no clue about more mundane matters like the predatory bloke who’s after her fortune. She intrigued me when I met her on the road. On my long drive to work, I look for distractions. My neck aches, headaches hover […]
Easter contradictions with Ms Monroe
Michelle Williams is tantalizing in the movie, My Week with Marilyn. She ensures Ms Monroe is present, a disarming combination of innocent child and sensual siren. It’s not the sleek exterior that seduces; it’s the contradictions that open us up. Marilyn presents like a cut on the body. Skin burst open to soft pulpy flesh […]