a spirited crone exploring spirituality one word at a time
The movie Marianne and Leonard: Words of Love drew me in, twice. An engrossing but discomforting movie that highlights Cohen’s hurtful behaviour towards his muse and lover, Marianne Ihlen and her apparent willingness to be walked over like a beautiful…
When people tell me they’re not religious, I’m always interested in what they mean, exactly. Once the conversation unfolds, what I often find is that they have a religious instinct but have given up the religion of their youth because…
A resounding hallelujah ended the Easter singing marathon I’d promised myself. As I staggered out exhausted into the night, I was musing over what had arisen in me. No question, there was great joy through being immersed in music. Quickly…
I wrote this prayer, or cry of the human heart, for an interfaith gathering at the Cathedral of the Holy Spirit in Palmerston North and the MidCentral DHB vigil. Chant, sing or say it with great passion! O God of…
People remember where they were when Martin Luther King and John Kennedy were shot. From here on in, Kiwis will know where they were on the 15th March 2019. The day a man opened fire in two sacred spaces killing 49 of our Muslim…
Ashes to ashes, dust to dust makes real sense at the end of someone’s life. People get it. Somehow, without saying much, the words shout out the truth of mortality. It’s a popular phrase at funerals, especially when separated out…
This Shrove Tuesday I’m gathering up the leftovers from three years in the spiritual wilderness and seeing what I can begin to make of them. To be honest, it was a strange feeling when my role as an Anglican priest…
By 9am on Boxing Day thousands of Kiwis were touting their unwanted pressies on Trade Me or searching for bargains amongst someone else’s discards. Practical, but a tad tragic given that gift giving can be an art form full of…
You’ve got to hand it to the blokes in the church, for their ability to keep mansplaining Godde for our own good. Recently, the Archbishop of Canterbury gave a theological slap to Ariana Grande, she of the God is a Woman…
Standing up to speak I felt tentative, but it wasn’t the slight stomach turning before a speaking gig or worry about whether the technological wizardry would work. Instead, it was an awareness that the ground of my being was shifting,…