E News 12th May 2023
When you bury your loved ones you expect that they can now rest in peace and that their resting place will become your go to place when you need a listening ear and want to go and share your joys and sorrows with that loved one. My family laid our mum to rest in her final resting place in a public mausoleum crypt at her request on 20th November 2020, she purchased it a few years earlier as she didn’t want to be buried in the ground. Well, just this week we have seen that many of the coffins from that mausoleum have been removed to repair the leak through the crypt caused by cyclone Gabriel. The question for Auckland City Council at Waikumete cemetery is do they repair or rebuild? This is major for us a family. As a Samoan we have specific cultural and spiritual rituals which we perform when a body is exhumed or removed this is called “liu tofaga” ceremonies. Sometimes a body is exhumed for different reasons and we follow the appropriate Samoan cultural protocol around this. So we have been told sometime in June mum will be dis-interred ⁰ from her resting place. Quite traumatic for us, Tipene funerals who prepared mum for burial have offered to take her coffin back to their premises for safe keeping. So as soon as I have a date I will be returning to Auckland to carry out mum’s liu tofaga for the removal of her casket and once a new resting place is found we will re-inter her once again, my poor dear mum. I had purchased the crypt next to her as my final resting place but I no longer wish to be buried there especially if she is no longer going to be next to me.
This Sunday being mother’s day I have chosen to honour the women who have been silenced, the women no one talks or hear about. In this case Tamar the daughter of King David who was raped by her brother Amnon. Phyllis Trible wrote a book called “Texts of Terror” and the Rape of Tamar is one of the chapters in this book. I produced a bible study from Trible’s book and put it into the Pacific context and it was published in a book called Bible and Theology, the underside of Empire, my chapter was called “The failure of Empire to protect”. This will be shared as my reflection on Sunday. I know it may be difficult for some of you to hear 2 Samuel 13:1-13 read and preached from but as Phyllis Trible said these are some of the texts of terror in the bible that churches flick pass and only choose the comfortable scriptures that don’t challenge and disturb.
On Saturday at 7pm come and join me at St. Andrew’s on the Terrace for the Glamaphones “Inspired by Dolly” concert. It is $15 a ticket from eventfinder.
I have been enjoying visiting many of you in your homes and sharing a meal or a cup of tea, it’s a great way of getting to know each of you better. I look forward to many more visits, if I don’t approach you please feel free to approach me after church to make a time or phone or email me at your convenience.
Just to remind you all, I’m in Queenstown next weekend for the PCANZ National Assessment Workgroup where we will be assessing students for the ministry of the PCANZ. Take care, Fei
You can read the full E-news here: https://mailchi.mp/6f4549ee352e/this-weeks-newsletter-from-st-andrews-on-the-terrace-9343751
