E NEWS 10TH JUNE 2022
The Queens Platinum Jubilee Commemoration at St. Paul’s Cathedral in Wellington has come and gone. I was privileged to be invited to read a prayer for the Commonwealth alongside interfaith colleagues, we stood in triangular formation on the stage and read our prayers in the same fashion. I thought I would have a lot to say about the event but there really isn’t much to say at all. Seeing the Prime Minister there straight after her USA tour bright eyed and bushy tailed was a surprise, she must have had a good rest on board her return flight home.
When I was in Auckland I was invited to have breakfast with the Principal of the PTC Pacific Theological College in Suva Prof. Dr. Upolu Vaai. We knew each other from over 30 years ago. It was good to chew the fat after all this time. He is hoping that I could do some adjunct lecturing in the future in Practical Theology and Samoan Diaspora. I told him that it would be good if we could make this a St. Andrew’s on the Terrace future project involving our church as well. Let’s see how it pans out in the future. It was the same when I met with Associate Professor Geoff Troughton from Religious Studies Department at Victoria University in my office last week. We are also looking at ways that St. Andrew’s and Victoria could be mutually beneficial to each other.
It’s amazing how our lives come full circle, meeting someone over 30 years ago as students and then finding new ways of collaborating in the present. Even in the short time I have been in Wellington when I went back to visit those I did not have a chance to farewell before I came here I noticed just how much they have aged in this short time. They have become very fragile and struggle with mobility issues. One of my dear friends walked with two walking sticks and it seemed as if her brain hadn’t been told to slow down to match her capacity. She was still trying to live as active life as she always had but for obvious reasons she could not. So often we live lives of service for others that we forget to look after ourselves or even fail to see when our bodies are needing a warrant of fitness until it’s too late. It’s certainly making me sit up and count my blessings and try to make the small changes to my lifestyle that will bring about better health and wholeness. Go well and have a blessed weekend. Fei
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