New Horizons 2025
In the pandemic world of 2020, everyone was living at a different pace, and many were thinking about an uncertain future and what might be the abiding values they want to take into it. When you have more spare time on your hands, you read the real estate flyers and think about what kind of house you would like for “retirement”. This had been on our minds for a while, and we had learned a lot from the experiences of others about the challenge of downsizing. Our thinking was that we would buy something to move to in a few years, giving time to gradually reduce the clutter of our lovely large home in Cockle Bay. We had talked to an estate agent in Half Moon Bay (our desired location) – and determined we didn’t want a reno project. During Auckland’s Level 2 lockdown we discovered a town house that was a great fit. Not new but beautifully renovated already, and with stunning views over the Half Moon Bay marina. Long story short, there were very few at the auction just after Level 1 kicked in and we were able to secure a haven for our old age. I determined to simplify our lives and clear the clutter; many galas and opshops benefitted from the cull, which ended up taking four years. (That said there are still many boxes of papers to sort!) We shifted here in November, after negotiating with family members to sell our other house within the whanau. When people ask, are we enjoying it, we are enthusiastic about the awesome view and resigned to having shed many more books and tools than we had thought. And despite my having said it was already renovated, my husband is finding plenty of projects!
“The Lord will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore.”
I wonder what spots have been for you a place of experiencing the presence of God?…From Celtic Christian spirituality we inherit the idea of ‘thin places’, where God seems especially close, and the gap between heaven and earth seems narrow.
“There is something unique and special about the experience of taking a holiday, whether that is an extended stay in some exotic clime, a couple of days away just a few miles down the road, or even a true ‘staycation’, time carved out at home which includes days out either locally or slightly further afield.” (Louise Davis, writer)….This new series of posts will pick up on that idea, and consider whether there is more that is holy about our holidays than we might realise.
Journeys and travel are themes which return regularly throughout the Bible. Many individuals in the story of the people of God are called to move out of a place which is comfortable and familiar and go to a new place…..Whether you go to new places as visitors, or settlers, there is much to be learned from engaging with strangers and thoughtfully adopting new practices as we learn how to seek the peace and prosperity of our own cities.
We each have our own unique criteria for what makes the perfect holiday destination, but most of us would choose a place that we find beautiful in some way. In our everyday lives, we often dwell in environments that are more functional than beautiful. Taking a holiday can be a refreshing escape from this routine.
For millennia, religions have regarded ritual rest as a spiritual necessity. More recently though, faith leaders are arguing that this practice, whether in a secular or religious context, can help redirect the world’s societies away from catastrophic climate change. They suggest a shared day of rest might slow the pace of consumption, curb emissions or ease the burden people working weary weekends.
The notion of Sabbath, a principle deeply embedded in Biblical history and still observed by Jews today, is passed down to us from the time of Moses, and his encounter with God on the mountain at Sinai/Horeb. On that day the Lord gave him Ten Commandments to govern the life of the People of Israel, not just in the wilderness, but in their community life over thousands of years to come.
If we notice the stories about food we find in the Bible, we find plenty of them; Abraham, Elijah, David, Isaiah, feasts like Passover, parables, loaves and fishes and of course the Lord’s Supper…a shared meal is an encounter with grace, a way to build community and caring, not just with family and friends, but at times also with strangers. That’s why we talk about ‘eating together’ rather than feeding.
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