Tell me, is there any January pleasure quite so cozy as retreating to the couch with a blanket and a good book? Here’s one that made me particularly happy as I lounged: Man Seeks God: My Flirtations with the Divine by Eric Weiner. A former foreign correspondent for NPR, Weiner began his search for God after a health scare landed him in the emergency room. “Have you found your God yet?” asked a nurse with motherly concern, a question that is no... Read more
Happy New Year to all readers of The Holy Rover! Several weeks ago I mentioned that I want to deepen my practice of gratitude during the new year. I recommended the book by Angeles Arrien, Living in Gratitude: A Journey That Will Change Your Life, and suggested that some of you might want to join me in reading it throughout the year (it’s designed to be read a chapter a month). Arrien begins the chapter for January by reflecting on... Read more
Today’s post is my most recent column for the Episcopal News Service: On a recent trip to New Zealand, I was saddened to learn that I wouldn’t be able to see Christchurch Cathedral, the symbolic heart of the city of Christchurch and the home parish for hundreds of Anglicans. Earlier this year I had followed the news accounts of the series of earthquakes that had damaged Christchurch, but until I visited in person I didn’t realize the extent of the... Read more
In honor of the winter solstice, let me direct your attention to a lovely meditation that appeared in last year’s fall issue of UU World, the magazine of the Unitarian-Universalists (thank you, Carolyn!). The piece is reprinted from Robert Walsh’s Stone Blessings. May it help you find your inspiration in the darkness. One June night, while people in the Southern Hemisphere prepared for their winter solstice, I stood in a campground high in the Andes and looked at the sky. The... Read more
At last we come to the end of our Maori tour of New Zealand. You have been most patient, dear readers, as I’ve re-lived our trip and ruminated about our experiences. I give thanks to you and to our Maori guides for being so generous in their time and teachings. Let me conclude by telling you about my very favorite place in that amazingly beautiful country. Wharariki Beach is on the northwestern tip of the South Island. It’s a remote and... Read more
We’re nearly at the end of our Maori tour of New Zealand. Before leaving this beautiful land behind, I want to tell you about our last two days in the Bay of Islands region, located a short drive from the Waipoua Forest. While the area is renowned for its gorgeous islands, it’s also the site of the Waitangi Treaty Grounds, which preserve the site of the 1840 pact that ended hostilities between the Maori and Europeans and gave birth to... Read more
Today’s post is by Bob Sessions: One of the reasons I was excited to go to New Zealand is that I’ve been teaching a course on Native American philosophy for years and was keen to meet New Zealand’s indigenous people and learn about their perspectives on the world. I was not surprised to find many similarities between the beliefs and practices of these disparate first-nation peoples, but I also found many unique practices as well. Maori call themselves tangata whenua,... Read more
Up to this point I’ve said very little about a central feature of traditional Maori culture: its close connection to nature. Though the modern world has altered those ties in some ways, there remains a deep spiritual link between the Maori and the incredibly beautiful land and seas of New Zealand. That tie was most obvious on our tour of the Northland region of New Zealand. Located on the northern tip of the North Island, this locale once was covered... Read more
Today we move to Gisborne, a community on the east coast of New Zealand’s North Island. Gisborne and the surrounding area have the highest concentration of Maori in the country. It’s also the place where Captain Cook first landed in New Zealand in 1769, a story our guide Anne McGuire told to us as we began our tour. “When Cook and his crew returned to England, what they reported astonished the scientific community,” she said. “English botanists thought most species... Read more
One more post about our wonderful experience with TIME Unlimited on the island of Waiheke near Aukland, for I want to tell you a bit more about what we learned about the role of women in Maori culture. I already mentioned that there are different rules for men and women in the welcome ceremony. Women are generally not allowed to speak, as a way of protecting them from hostile spiritual forces. For that same reason, they are kept in the... Read more
Holy Rover
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In