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Clay Nelson © 28th June 2020
When I was twelve I was inspired like many Americans of my generation by John F Kennedy’s words at his inauguration:
Continue reading Passing the torchRead below, or download the PDF
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Clay Nelson © 21st June 2020
Christopher and Catherine are two of my Facebook and real friends. A number of years back I presided at their wedding. During our preparation time for the big day a bond formed that has continued to this day.
During the lockdown I came to look forward to their funny and entertaining posts about their bubble life. Then the posts became intriguing as they shared stories about Gavin, their pet caterpillar that lived on an indoor swan plant.
Continue reading A Chrysalis OpensRead below, or download the PDF
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Clay Nelson © 14th June 2020
“If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?” It is a philosophical question raised first by philosopher George Berkeley in 1710. He offered no answer. In 1863 the question was raised again in the magazine The Chautauquan. Their answer was, “No. Sound is the sensation excited in the ear when the air or other medium is set in motion.” Their scientific view was supported by Scientific American in 1884, “Sound is vibration, transmitted to our senses through the mechanism of the ear, and recognized as sound only at our nerve centres. The falling of the tree or any other disturbance will produce vibration of the air. If there be no ears to hear, there will be no sound.”
Continue reading Racism—a tree in the forestFollow this shortcut to the bottom of the page for the Spirit of Life, Time For All Ages, Opening & Closing Words, Postlude, Links shared during the chat.
No text this week, but questions raised and discusion started on how we implement level1 at AUC.
Breakout
Time For All Ages = The Youngest Marcher: The Story of Audrey Faye Hendricks, a Young Civil Rights Activist
by Cynthia Levinson, Vanessa Brantley-Newton (Illustrator)
Closing Words are We shall overcome By Jonalu Johnstone
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Clay Nelson © 31st May 2020
In deciding what to muse on this week I just needed to take a moment to reflect on what is happening around me. The first thing I noticed was the brouhaha surrounding Todd Muller’s first week as opposition leader. First there was the MAGA hat that he doggedly defended displaying in his office as just some political swag, a souvenir. He was apparently oblivious to its being a malevolent symbol promoting racism, nativism, xenophobia, anti-science, and gross misogyny as being okay at least to white supremacists. Muller might as well decorate his office with swastikas and Klan hoods.
Continue reading Pale, Stale and Maleand the occasional comment from Waldo.
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Clay Nelson © 24th May 2020
I’ve been musing on how long-range planning has become nothing more than wondering what might happen next week. Certainly, one vocation that has little future is that of futurist. Wikipedia defines a futurist as someone whose speciality or interest is futurology or the attempt to systematically explore predictions and possibilities about the future and how they can emerge from the present, whether that of human society in particular or of life on Earth in general.
Continue reading Rebuilding betterNo text this week.
No text this week.
Follow this shortcut to the bottom of the page for the Welcome, Spirit of Life, Opening & Closing Words, Postlude, Links shared during the chat.
Breakout
As we slowly begin to emerge from this pandemic lockdown, we have chances to think and behave anew when we get back out into the world.
We can choose to return on autopilot. Or we can choose NOT to do things we typically would do. We could choose to BE or NOT BE in ways we would not typically be.
Words of Welcome are from the Mother’s Day Proclamation by Julia Ward Howe
Opening words are from Self-Reliance an 1841 essay by Ralph Waldo Emerson.
Closing words are A Prayer among Friends by John Daniel
Links were provided by church members for discussion purposes, inclusion in this list does not signify endorsement of the linked content by Auckland Unitarian Church.
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Clay Nelson © 3rd May 2020
This week I’ve been musing on suffering. Cheery stuff, I know. The problem is these days it is pretty hard to avoid. We are all aware of the incomprehensible number of heartaches involved. Suffering is a boat we all share.
So yes, I think I can be forgiven for musing on suffering. In my line of work such musings lead me naturally to religious thought about the subject, for all religions have something to say, but I resonate with Buddha’s teachings most. He acknowledged, “All I teach is suffering and the end of suffering.” Suffering in his teaching does not necessarily mean only grave physical pain, but rather the mental suffering we undergo when our tendency to hold onto pleasure encounters the fleeting nature of life, and our experiences become unsatisfying and ungovernable.
Continue reading Dead People’s GoalsRead below, or download the PDF
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Clay Nelson © 26th April 2020
This has been a full week.
On Monday, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced that our Level 4 lockdown would drop to Level 3 in a week. The reason is most of our nearly five million citizens did their essential work: staying home in their bubble, washing their hands and when they did go out for the limited reasons allowed, kept social distance. The result is that, as of Thursday of this week, there were only 3 new cases of infection identified, 8 people in hospital and only 370 active cases.
Continue reading So much to muse on, so little time