I've recently watched the most recent movie adaptations of Frank Herbert's 1965 Sci Fi epic novel, Dune. I had been meaning to do so for a while. There is a substance found on the planet Arrakis, derived from the bile of juvenile sand worms and called 'the water of life.' It is bright blue, and deadly poison to all but those prepared and chosen for spiritual leadership, who are made ready to drink it. Once consumed, and having survived doing so, the recipient receives the gif

© Maham Sajid You may well have watched the movie Monsters Inc. with your children or grandchildren. The main premise of the movie is that an entire society has been built around a false assumption about what makes people afraid. The monsters' world depends on the screams of human children. The monsters enter children's bedrooms through doors, frighten them, and collect their screams as an energy source. The critical discovery occurs when the child Boo inadvertently enters th

Land Cress in my garden One can feel compassion for the scapegoat / fall-guy in the most recent leadership crisis for the National Party. My colleague Wayne wrote of him; "Chris Penk is a very straight up and honest guy. I knew him when we were serving in the Navy. I was surprised that he was interested in the snake pit that politics sometimes descends to." Henri Nouwen suggests that; "In a world in which competition continues to be the dominant mode of relating among people,

Recently, the minister of foreign affairs in our coalition government told a fellow member of parliament, Green MP, Lawrence Xu-Nan '“Go back to your own country. That’s where they lie like a flat fish, but they don’t lie like that here, all right? This is called a democracy,” he said. He has since doubled down on his comments, saying Xu-Nan “can’t even speak the language properly”.' (NZ Herald 31/7/2026) This has made the news around the world. Stronger leadership would have

The church feijoa hedge needs a jolly good prune. There were plenty of fruit this season but many were small and uninspiring. Late winter is the time for it, along with pulling out windblown and bird delivered self-seeding plants and shrubs getting in the way, choking the undergrowth. Pruning is a metaphor for spiritual discipline and growth, applied to Israel, for example, in Psalm 80 and Isaiah 5, or to the followers of Jesus in John 15. That which is displeasing to God wil

Scandretts Regional Park In his recent anthology Beyond the Border, Owen Marshall writes; "That something exists doesn't ensure meaning, despite our anxious compulsion to bestow it, both the trivial and significant have a power to move us." We are the species which never tires of making meaning, wrestling with what we find in the world. Out of all God's creatures we are the storytellers and recorders of histories, at least that we know of. A life without meaning seems a hopel

Shepherds Park, last Sunday The trail through Shepherds Park towards Kaipatiki Road is a much smoother run than a couple of years ago. The addition of numerous trail-flattening upgrades, like footbridges and grading the knobbly bits, has domesticated it quite thoroughly. Dear reader, I once would have scoffed at such gentrifying modifications making it 'too easy.' But now, my wobbly calf, knee and hip conditions are glad of them. The way is clear and the going is much improve

Takapuna last Sunday I managed to find a gap in the showers for a bike ride on Sunday. I got to the far end of Takapuna Beach, turned aside from the main road and sat in the sun for a little while. Not long, but just enough to soak up a little winter sun and appreciate the quietness after all the singing, praying and talking of the morning. I was flicking through a little book of Celtic prayers today, finding something called the Bright Field. I read; "Life is not hurrying on

I was thinking about the moves to ban under 16s from using social media by the current government. They would seem to be in good company, with Australia and the UK further down that track already. At face value, it seems like a good idea to many adults, as we instinctively want to protect the young from harmful online content. It seems to me like something that will be hard to police, given that many young people are internet savvy and will be able to use pretty simple workar

I found it quite entertaining the other day while dodging the rain showers, to find young Moo absolutely fascinated by a hedgehog. The local skink population would have been momentarily relieved, as she was taking a break from tormenting them. I'm not a cat mind-reader, but I imagine she was considering whether or not the prickly customer was prey or playmate. She was certainly curious. We may remember when our children were young and how curious they were, asking questions,

Ngataringa, Devonport I find there are some optimum conditions for cycling to Devonport, or rather, to state it in the negative, conditions I would rather avoid; anything resembling rush hour, school drop off or pick up times, very windy or wet weather, poor light conditions. You get the picture. Yesterday afternoon the conditions seemed perfect, aside from dawdling people crossing the road without looking and a few distracted Sunday drivers. It's amazing how invisible one ca

Memory Rock, Medlands Beach It's ten years today (Tuesday) since I was inducted into the ministry of Forrest Hill Presbyterian. It's been a decade with a number of grave challenges and also many blessings. When we were at Great Barrier recently, I explored the beach in the early morning. There was a local mini island called Memory Rock, or at least that's what the local church folk called it. There was a scary little path up the side with not much to hang onto. Life in minist

Medlands Beach south end Sometimes, maybe often, in our human experience we feel that God is absent. We are not wafting along, feeling joyously buoyed by the Spirit. We are struggling. When Jesus was on the cross in his agony, having studied the scripture and memorised lots of it, he quoted Psalm 22; "My God, my God, why have you deserted me?" In my pastoral visiting, I sit with people and together we experience a sense of helplessness and even desolation before the diseases

Boulder Bay, Medlands, Great Barrier Island I rode past a dairy at the Belmont shops the other day. Fiona needed some bananas for her smoothie so I popped in to see if they had any. They didn't, so I asked if there was a fruit shop nearby. The assistant didn't know. She probably wasn't from there, it was just a job. It got me thinking about how present we are to our surroundings, to our neighbourhood. Ours is an increasingly busy suburb, with denser housing meaning more peopl

Evening run, Napier It's Tuesday, which marks the fifteenth anniversary of my ordination into Presbyterian ministry. Ministry, like life generally, has seemed like an exploratory run in a new city. Please indulge my running analogy for just a little while... When I started visiting Napier more frequently, my trail runners' eyes looked up from the orderly, flat (boring) streets to the hills, thinking that it would be nice if you could link up Ōtātara Pā, Dolbel Reserve and the

Tikipunga, Whangarei We took advantage of the holiday Monday to visit family in Whangarei overnight. A regular activity when we are there is a nice trail run down past the falls from Tikipunga, following the river for a while into the AH Reed Memorial Kauri Park. Except the way was blocked. We missed the sign that said the swing bridge was closed for safety inspection. It was properly closed with high fences, contractors having anticipated that trail walkers and runners are g

I'll be bringing prayers, a dedication and a benediction at the Browns Bay ANZAC dawn service again this year, which means a very early start. It's always a privilege to be asked to officiate. The sun will rise, but on what? Not even the RSA is in unity, there are two factions trying to find a viable way into their future in Aotearoa. We have a world currently held ransom by old, rich, corrupt and powerful men, in which war is like a game. Children, journalists, medical worke

The Feijoa harvest is upon us. Several things are clear; my wife loves to eat them, the Feijoa hedge by the church needs a very good pruning after the harvest, we don't spray or fertilise the plants, so the fruit can be small and sometimes unpromising. However, there is currently an abundance to the point I need to cook and freeze quite a lot. The windy weather has been accelerating the falling of fruit, so before we know it, the Feijoa season will be over. After nearly six d

Rum-Go aground at Milford Beach I'm pretty sure the skipper of the yacht Rum-Go didn't plan for it to be on Milford Beach on Monday morning. Better than being dashed on rocks I'm guessing. Driving past Murray's Bay on Tuesday, the wind seemed even worse, smashing waves over the raised causeway. A lot of things appear to be a bit off course at the moment. The economy, cost of living, fuel security, adverse weather, the state of the world. It makes me feel like I've run agroun

Forrest Hill Sunrise The religious and secular authorities of Jesus' day didn't take the time or have the inclination to take on board what he was saying, to allow his teaching, healing, saving life to modify their view of the world. How interesting a history it would have been had they done so. Instead they did what the power brokers in every generation do; they killed the one they we afraid of, the one they didn't understand, that which posed a threat to their power. I can'