The “Jammies in June” programme is run by the Middlemore Foundation through which individuals and organisations such as Auckland Unitarians can donate pyjamas for children in South Auckland.
The Foundation started this programme because too many kids in the Counties Manukau were getting sick in winter with preventable illnesses such as Acute Rheumatic Fever.
In 2015 & 2016, our church got in behind this call. It was a fun project, and each year, the congregation donated around 50 pairs of warm night wear, including pyjamas, onesies, socks and robes.
Middlemore Foundation Poster family for the Jammies in June event – June 2015
My career choices have required my studying human development, a subject that intrigues me. We all go through similar developmental stages as we make the journey from being joined physically and emotionally to our mothers to becoming separate individuals in our own right. While the stages are universal, they obviously do not create carbon copies. We are not all the same. We are each unique, even if we are an identical twin sharing the same genes, family, and history with another. Continue reading The Paradox of Creating a Community of Individuals→
War has defined my generation. In fact, as an American I’m highly qualified to discuss war. I was born in the shadow of World War II in which my father served. The Korean Conflict conscripted him back into service and moved us from one side of the country to the other. The Cold War had us scurrying under our primary school desks in the event of an atomic attack and holding our breath for six days in May during the Cuban missile crisis. Vietnam, which I narrowly escaped by luck of the draw, maimed and killed many in my generation and scarred the psyche of the nation. In my first year of ministry, Reagan invaded the tiny island of Grenada in part to divert us from the humiliation of a Marine barracks being bombed in Beirut two days earlier. It was a swift victory leaving plenty of resources for the war in El Salvador, which diverted arms to Saddam Hussein. Bush One, who claimed to dislike taking America to war (at least alone) invaded Panama, and then convinced the “coalition of the willing” to join him in the first Gulf War to repel Iraq’s forces from Kuwait. Flushed with success he then intervened in Somalia with less success, giving us the movie Blackhawk Down. The Bosnian War gave us a break from impeachment hearings during the Clinton years. For the last fifteen years we have been at war in the Middle East without let-up, first with Iraq, then Afghanistan, Libya, Yemen and now Syria. That Iran is not on the list is a disappointment to Republicans. Continue reading Making Peace With The War On Drugs→
I once had the opportunity to go to Liverpool on business. As luck would have it, it was Beatles Week. The business didn’t take as long as expected, so I got to spend a week exploring the city and immersing myself in my beloved Beatles and their music. I have lots of memories of the city, but one in particular has haunted me. It was a sculpture of a woman sitting alone on a park bench. I saw it from across the square, but immediately recognised her. I was moved to sit next to her on the bench, remembering her song: Continue reading Loneliness The Silent Killer→
To answer the question, “Can a Unitarian go to heaven?” I asked Google. I got some interesting responses, all “No!”
No, Unitarians don’t like gated communities.
No, everyone in heaven is in agreement. Thinking it was hell Unitarians wouldn’t go in.
No, a dead Unitarian is all dressed up, but with no place to go.
No, on the road to the after-life there is a fork in the road. The left path has a sign “To Heaven” and the right has a sign “To a Discussion about Heaven.” Without pausing, the Unitarians always turns right.
And my personal favourite:
No, old Unitarians choose not to go to heaven; instead they try to die on the second Thursday of the month because that’s when the recycling goes out.
I’m a sucker for a good romantic movie. One of my all time favourites is An Officer and a Gentleman. It was here in 1982 I first heard the word “bodacious.” One wannabe gentleman used it to describe particular body parts of a voluptuous woman attractive to nursing infants. Seven years later the word made a revival in Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure. Bill tells Ted at the end of their adventure, “You and I have witnessed many things, but nothing as bodacious as what just happened.” Continue reading Being Bodacious: Recreating Ourselves Daily→
One of the paradoxes Unitarians live with is our acceptance of people of all faith perspectives including those who claim none while maintaining a deep suspicion of the faith that gave birth to Unitarianism—Christianity. The reasons are understandable. Most Unitarians didn’t start life as Unitarians. They are mostly refugees from the dominant faith in western culture—Christianity. They were drawn here to escape what they experienced as toxic, such as being judged and condemned as sinful for just being who they are. Continue reading Why the Church killed Christ→
This week in Adult Religious Education I was given a gift—an “Aha” moment. We are looking at “Saving Jesus from Christianity.” This week we asked the question, “Who was Jesus?” There were many answers offered: a wisdom teacher, a prophet, a healer, a mystic, but then one scholar said Jesus was a conversationalist. I had never had that insight before, but he’s right. The gospel is full of conversations Jesus has with a wide variety of people. When I reflect on those conversations he converses with me as well. Continue reading What Is At The Root Of Everything That Is Wrong?→
