I travelled to Hamilton with a colleague a couple of weeks back, so we could attend a seminar on the Treaty of Waitangi from a Christian perspective, He Tatau Pounamu by Dr. Alister Reese, who is variously a historian, theologian and farmer. Thought provoking it was too.
Not having been to The Tron for a while, we needed some advice on where to eat, seeing as we arrived late Monday afternoon for the evening seminar. So a colleague from Hamilton was consulted via messenger, who in turn verified the best options with her young adult children. Soon my colleague and I were sipping a refreshing beverage from an upmarket food hub with numerous options, with a pleasant view overlooking the Waikato River. Local knowledge absolutely came to the fore.
With everything being online, global or mega, the danger is that we lose the local. Recently, the website I use to create this blog is putting an AI button at the bottom of my new posts, offering to create some inane post to dull your minds, about something none of us care about. Trust me, I won't be going there anytime soon. What you'll be reading is all me, bad grammar, dumb ideas and all.
The same applies to church. Let's keep it local. Sure, some things about our community are common to many Presbyterian churches in Aotearoa. But no exact combination of personalities, interests, environment and hospitality exists anywhere else. Which is really a roundabout way of saying....see you at Dinners with You! Celebrate the local amid the global. Blessings...
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