Neroli Hodges writes...
Of Seasons and Saints
There is a space in Auckland not far from Carey Baptist College which I return to time and time again. It's a place where people walk, talk, run, eat, take photos, laugh, cry.....that place is Cornwall Park. I love it for it's reflection of the seasons.
Through the darkness of the winter months, with the Twin Oaks adding to the darkness of the winter sketch, through to the abundant brushstroking that is spring, the bouncing of young lambs and the green of the grass. Walking around it you cannot help but feel the uplift that such spaces give us and for the widening of views that one gets as you circle the path around the park.
For me, there is something wondrously reassuring about Cornwall Park. In the midst of winter I trust that spring is working it's way through the damp, dark soil and the daffodils will soon flower in the Twin Oaks Drive, the blossoms will bloom, the grass will grow and the warmth will come!
It's not often that the radio connects with me but an item recently did just that for me. It talked about the letters which have come out that Mother Teresa wrote during her life; letters that show she had doubts about her faith, about silence, about emptiness - they say that she also found it hard to pray and she often felt abandoned.
Some people will find these revelations disturbing and wonder how such a "Saintly" woman could have had such doubts. I guess a lot of people thought that she was strong in her faith.
I myself find great comfort in these revelations for I find less and less of me being very sure about a lot of things of faith and God. I find myself more drawn to people who doubt. Their honesty draws me.
Like the continuous seasons displayed time and time again in Cornwall Park we go through seasons in our own faith; times when it's like spring - full of colour and life and newness and yet also times of darkness, silence and not a lot of evidence of growth. I much prefer walking through Twin Oaks Drive when the daffodils are in full bloom, but that only happens for about one month of the year and before that its darkness is often foreboding and I rush to get through that part of the park and on to the wider, more spacious, lighter parts.
Nature around us encourages us to stay in the journey -to express the cycle we are in, and to trust.
Mother Teresa is an example of someone who had doubts and questions and who experienced darkness and silence yet continued to do her utmost in her service to God through the poor. Her doubting did not stop her doing just as winter does not stop the spring.
MONDAY 17th
Community Worship
12.:40-1:00pm
Own reflection and worship in the chapel
TUESDAY 18th
Community Worship
11:15am-12pm
Rodney Macann
National Leader Baptist Churches of NZ
Facilitated by Tracy Morgan
After Dinner Mints
Tony Tay
Tony is the CEO of the Tony Tay Group, one of Auckland's largest property developers which incorporates a number of companies each with its own varied focus. Tony is a member of the Baptist Tabernacle in
Queen Street.
WEDNESDAY 19th
CHIPS PRAYER
9:00-9:25am - chapel
Praying for the college, community & country
Community Worship
12:40-1:00pm
Worship for the whole community - creative, visual reflection.
Semester 2
TYNDALE-CAREY SEMINAR
Monday 17 September; 7:00pm @ Carey Chapel
Dr. Tim Bulkeley
"Dys-functional families: what are the biblical family values?"
All Welcome!
CHRYSALIS SEED TRUST
Tuesday 18 September; 1-1:45pm in the chapel
Chrysalis Seed Trust is an organisation that aims to help resource artists from a Christian perspective - via support groups, information, exhibitions and a regular magazine (CS Arts). Check out their website at www.cs.org.nz . Peter and Jessica from this Trust will be onsite on the 18th to talk with anyone that has an interest in this area.
CAFÉ THEOS
Mondays 12.45 - 1.30pm in the upstairs meeting room. Please go upstairs via the back stairs. BYO lunch. All welcome to casually discuss theology over lunch and coffee. Please see Myk Habets for a reading.
WAYNE WRIGHT
CREATIVE MINISTRIES SCHOLARHSIP
This scholarship has been established to encourage training in "arts" related areas. The scholarship is a grant of up to $5000 to be used in 2008. If you are interested or know of others who may be interested in this scholarship please contact Rachel for an application form and further details (rachel.murray@carey.ac.nz ).
Application deadline is Friday 21 September.
STAFF PIGEON HOLES
Staff pigeon holes have been removed from down the corridor and in the foyer. If you have anything that you would like to get to a staff member, please pass this to reception and it will be put into pigeon holes for you.
NEXT OPEN TUESDAYS
Tuesday 25 September; 6-9pm
Tuesday 16 October; 8:45am-4pm
Two more Open Tuesdays in 2007 - an evening and a day event. If you are aware of people who are thinking of theological study, please encourage them to come along to one of these and to contact Neroli for details or check out the website www.carey.ac.nz
LOST PROPERTY
If you find anything that has been left in lecture rooms, chapel or dining room, please bring it to reception. Likewise if you think you may have left some thing on site, try reception first.
PROJECT 200
An update...just before the break we held a second hand bookstall to raise funds for books for a Central Asian theological library. $1700 came from that stall alone but the total raised ($15,000+) has far exceeded expectation. This allows the purchase of 600+ books and the translation of one in particular into the local dialect. Thank you to everyone who provided books, bought books and donated. We and the college overseas are grateful.
ACCESS TO LEVEL ONE
If you are planning to visit Mike Crudge, Karen Schilperoort or Charles Hewlett or if you have a class or meeting scheduled in one of the rooms there, please ensure that you access these people and rooms via the stairs closest to the Chinese Programme department at the end of the main hallway. The central stairway is for access to the Baptist Union and tranzsend only.
CENTRE FOR INTERCULTURAL STUDIES
The Centre has been established to develop the resourcing that Carey can provide to people interested in the area of cross cultural mission.
This is located in the room opposite the Chinese Programme and as it develops, will have a range of materials on mission and the various agencies that work in this field. Feel free to drop by and check it out.
'the sENDing'
Thursday 25 October; 7pm
...farewelling and commissioning the final year Pastoral Leadership students who have completed the requirements of the Diploma in Pastoral Leadership and will be moving on to different roles in 2008. Plan to come and celebrate with these students and their friends and family.