There’s quite a bit on offer and it all looks rather good. There are things that say they make us feel happy and fulfilled and wealthy and wise. Some make us look good, or better. Others tell us they’ll improve our sex lives. For some, the answer is just sex. That or a good glass of bubbly, or sniff, or injection. That feeling’s great. Better than sex, they say. Read more…
He came to us weak and vulnerable. He was born in a borrowed room, to parents away from their home. He loves us so much he came to us as one of us: the Word became flesh and dwelled among us. He called us his friends. He made our home his home. Our hearts became his room. His weakness and vulnerability calls to our weakness and vulnerability. Read more…
It’s the silly season. A week until Christmas and I still have to buy a present for Mum and that turkey for the Christmas dinner. This year it’s our turn to have the relatives, you know, those relatives. Aunty Joan is okay, but after three hours of hearing about her pet dogs, it’s enough to make you want to eat another candy cane. Uncle Bill is also coming this year. He doesn’t get on with anyone – especially his brother, my other Uncle. Before dessert they’ll be arguing and Aunty Joan will run out of the room in tears. Read more…
I wonder how John felt? Here were all these people listening to his every word, following him around and all he wanted to do was to go bush, eat locusts (apparently) and hang out for the Hippie movement.
He was preparing the way, but he wasn’t the Way. He was like the guy at the petrol stop you go to when you’re lost and needing directions – a nice guy to chat to, but you wouldn’t want to set up camp there. Read more…
Encountering Mortality – Encountering GraceÂ
First published in Reality Magazine Issue 68Â
When you are running there comes a point when it seems the easiest thing is to give up and turn back. Your breathing becomes laboured, your heart beats faster, the inclines feel particularly steep, and just keeping on putting one foot in front of the other becomes difficult. Passing this point can be rewarding and invigorating, but it can also be tremendously painful and challenging. Pushing through is not for the timid.
Butcher A; McGrath T. Valuing pastoral care as a key component in sustaining New Zealand’s export education industry. In ‘Internationalisation : practical solutions : proceedings of the 16th ISANA International Conference 2005, 29 November - 2 December 2005, Hotel Grand Chancellor, Christchurch, New Zealand’. Melbourne : ISANA. 2005. 19p. Includes bibliographical references.
In recent times a ‘Code of Practice for the Pastoral Care of International Students’ has been introduced in New Zealand. This code requires minimum standards in the international education industry in New Zealand. However there is a danger that regulated minimum standards can become prescriptive and reduce performance to the lowest common denominator (which in turn, defines the highest standard). Read more…
