kia ora.
One of our Tipuna Jack Somerville was Minister here 1947-64. He once famously said “…when you turn 65 you have reached your Anecdotage.” Like me, many of you reading this have qualified!
I vividly recall the childhood joys of swimming in the Whirinaki river in Te Whaiti a village in the midst of the Ureweras. We 9yr-olds would race each other on the dirt track from school to the river. One day as I was leading, a mate called out STOP! DON’T GO THERE – IT’S TAPU. I was about to lead us through the urupa/cemetery – a shortcut to the river. But no, it was holy territory: sacred land. We were to go around it not through it. A sober lesson for life.
On Sunday our biblical journey will take us back to a similar experience for Moses – the burning bush, holy ground, tread carefully. This is a rich part of our spiritual whakapapa. However we will focus on what came just after that profound experience. Instead we will explore the 10 Commandments and the role such Guidelines play in Faith Communities like our own. Intriguingly modern planning jargon calls them “Mission Statements”.
Here’s a thought. If you were to give an updated version of the 10 Commandments, what would they be? Better still, can you call them “Commendations” and can you just focus on 1 of them as priorities? Jesus did exactly that! And Pope Francis will help us do our bit on Sunday. See you there.
nga mihi
Ken Irwin
To view the full e-news click on this link: https://mailchi.mp/33edcfaf23b8/this-weeks-newsletter-from-st-andrews-on-the-terrace-3901669
