a spirited crone exploring spirituality one word at a time
‘What have you done while Australia burns?’ yelled teen activist Izzy Raj-Seppings. ‘What have you done while your people can’t breathe,’ she continued, well wound up in front of thousands of Sydneysiders protesting climate change and wanting rid of their…
About this time every year my old friend Anxiety shows up as an obnoxious Christmas goblin. I swear it’s HER decorating shops for Christmas in early October. HER drenching my email in targeted advertising now that Google has my purchasing…
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…