Rehanna Ali is head of the Federation of Islamic Associations of NZ‘s Islamic Awareness programme and joint convenor of their Education Sector Development; and was a founder of the Islamic Women’s Council of New Zealand (IWCNZ).
Rehanna Ali © 9 January 2022
No recording this week
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John DiLeo © 2 January 2022
Since I mentioned it at the beginning of our time together, let me start my musings with a bit more background on my hospital stay. As I mentioned when I last led our service, in October, I’ve found myself during this lockdown eating less well, gaining back weight I’d thought I was long rid of, and becoming more and more sedentary. My workdays have gotten really long, resulting in my spending as much as 15 hours a day sitting in this very chair.
Continue reading The ills of fearing “the ills of socialism”Read below, or download the PDF
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Clay Nelson © 19 December 2021
I need to begin this musing with a warning to those who might be triggered by words like Jesus or Christianity. On the Sunday before Christmas, I give myself permission to express some of my thoughts and ideas about progressive Christianity, which are the foundation of my faith. My justification is that both of the denominations that make up Unitarian Universalism were progressive Christians before we had a term for it. While Unitarian Universalism no longer identifies only with Christianity, many of our members are progressive Christians or Christians without God as I like to call them. For those who are repelled by Christianity either because they have experienced toxic Christianity or count themselves amongst rationalists and humanists or follow another faith tradition they bring to the mix, I hope learning about the scholarship that has revealed a very different Christianity from what we normally see around us will be both enlightening and beneficial.
Continue reading Seeing is not believing; believing is seeingRead below, or download the PDF
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Clay Nelson © 12 December 2021
In a recent opinion piece that engaged me, Kevin Norquay wrote in Stuff,
Continue reading Privilege fuelled angerRead below, or download the PDF
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Clay Nelson © 5 December 2021
Buddha told a parable: A man was travelling across a field when he encountered a tiger. He began to run, and the tiger chased after him. Coming to a precipice, he slipped and was able to catch hold of the root of a wild strawberry bush, hanging in the air. The tiger sniffed at him from above. Trembling, the man looked down only to find that another tiger was waiting to eat him. He thought the bush could sustain him for a while, until he saw two mice gnawing away the vine. A tiger above, a tiger below. The man saw a ripe strawberry near him. Grabbing the vine with one hand, he plucked the strawberry with the other, and ate it. How sweet and delicious.
Continue reading Welcome to Limbo. Please leave your certainties at the doorRead below, or download the PDF
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Clay Nelson © 28 November 2021
We are hearing a lot about freedom these days. Brian Tamaki holding “freedom” rallies in the Domain, violating his bail conditions in the name of personal freedom. Protestors marching down Queen Street in Auckland and gathering on the steps around Parliament in Wellington, angry about lockdowns and vaccine mandates. Farmers clogging motorways from Auckland to Dunedin with their tractors “howling” their objections to the government’s electric vehicle rebate policy. And that is just in New Zealand. Major protests throughout Europe against the reintroduction of restrictions in response to another wave of Covid. Even in the “Land of the free,” Trump encouraged insurrection against Congress in the name of “freedom.” Then there is the debate over whether people have the freedom to spread misinformation about Covid and vaccines on social media.
Continue reading What does freedom mean to you?Read below, or download the PDF
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Clay Nelson © 21 November 2021
As your minister one of the riskier things I do is to offer choosing a sermon title to bid on at the Service Auction. Perhaps one of the more challenging ones I have been given was concocted by Paul Henriques. He wants me to muse on “Unitarian Universalism and Philanthropy: Past, Present and Future.” I confess I would never have come up with this topic on my own. Even if it had crossed my mind I would have quickly discovered very little has been written about it, and what has been written is in scholarly articles I am unable to access without enrolling in an academic institution. So thanks Paul for a mission impossible.
Continue reading Be the pebble in the pondRead below, or download the PDF
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Clay Nelson © 14 November 2021
After some of my recent musings confronting the disintegration of social cohesion due to Delta and how little COP26 in Glasgow will achieve in reducing greenhouse gases, you might think I’m channelling Henny Penny AKA Chicken Little. You remember the story. After an acorn falls on her head, she panics, running around the barnyard yelling, “The sky is falling! The sky is falling.” Of course, Henny is mistaken, much to the amusement of the other farm animals as they point out the sky is fine.
In my defence, I can’t be a Unitarian Universalist and channel Henny Penny.
Continue reading I doubt Henny Penny was a Unitarian UniversalistRead below, or download the PDF
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Clay Nelson © 7 November 2021
To introduce my musings this morning I am turning to an 18-year-old woman who, ever since she was a child, has been teaching us how to speak truth to power. Greta Thunberg has resisted being a token voice used by governments lacking political will and by global companies seeking to monetise efforts to stop killing the planet while doing their best to protect their financial interests in extracting carbon. This is a short speech she gave on the eve of COP26.
Continue reading COP26 Blah, blah, blahRead below, or download the PDF
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Clay Nelson © 31 October 2021
When I read the Centre for Informed Futures’ summary of Social Cohesion in a post-covid world I wondered how they could get it so wrong. It did not describe the Aotearoa New Zealand I was experiencing. Then I noticed the date of publication. A lot has happened in the 17 months since its publication. Remembering back, its description of the high level of social cohesion was accurate. The team of five million seemed to be a fair description. Our Prime Minister was trusted. When her 1.00pm briefings were aired on Facebook the country had her back against the few trolls who dared to malign Auntie Jacinda. The comments were a flurry of hearts, smiley faces and thumbs up. Her party was elected in numbers not seen since MMP was introduced. The vast majority followed the rules and we were well on our way to eliminating Covid from the community.
Continue reading The art of scapegoating