STREAM OF CONSCIOUSNESS: February 2019

Monday, February 11, 2019

__ RECORD TEMPERATURES _

New Zealand is sweltering under record temperatures. Our son and grandson enjoy Northlands high temperatures at Ruakaka Beach.

Sunday, February 10, 2019

Prophets are generally given a pretty hard time. The old testament prophets were either ignored, reviled, killed by stoning or worse. Lloyd Geering is a New Zealand Prophet who got off lightly, simply being tried for heresy (which he was acquitted of in 1967).

The first book of his that I read in the early 1970s was Resurrection a Symbol of Hope. All his writings begin with this seminal work. Subsequently I have read 'Tomorrows God' in 1994, The World to Come (1996), Wrestling With God (2006) and this year his 2009 publication Coming Back To Earth.

The recurring theme of his books shines a bright light on the unfolding direction of western Christianity. His thesis basically comes down to this:

"The real future of the Judeo-Christian path of faith is a secular one. Far from being the enemy of Christianity, the truly secular life is the legitimate continuation of the Judeo-Chistian tradition. The traditional worship of God has widened into the celebration of life. Faith is a matter of saying "Yes" to life in all its planetary complexity. Even while shedding many of Christianity's past symbols and creedal formulations, the secular path still honors the abiding values it has learned from its Christian origins. Concerned as it is with the pursuit of truth, the practice of justice, and the nurture of compassion, freedom, and peace, the secular world is learning to live by faith, hope and love. Faith requires us to be free of all excess baggage. Hope requires us to be open to an ever evolving future. Love requires us to be inclusive of all people and all cultural traditions."

Sir Lloyd George Geering ONZ GNZM CBE (born 26 February 1918) turned 100 last year. He has a Doctor of Divinity degree from the University of Otago and a Masters degree in mathematics.

These are not the only books written by Lloyd Geering, just the ones I have read. I highly recommend his books to anyone looking for spiritual direction or simply another part to the existential jig-saw puzzle.

Wednesday, February 6, 2019

__ QUAKE HIT ROAD SET TO OPEN

In my blog post titled 'HEADED OFF AT THE PASS' here: https://yachtee.blogspot.com/2019/01/headed-off-at-pass.html I posted about the closure of the Sumner - Lyttelton road due to severe damage from the 2011 Christchurch earthquake. Today in the morning newspaper I read some good news.

" A quake hit Christchurch road that has been closed for eight years is set to reopen next month. The critical road link between Sumner and Lyttelton over the Port Hills has been closed since the magnitude 6.3 February 22 2011 earthquake, which brought tonnes of rocks tumbling across it. But after years of work, a Christchurch City Council team and contractors say they are on track to have Sumner Road reopened to traffic at the end of March 2019". - New Zealand Herald.

Work on the road has included:

- Blasting and removing 100,000 cu m of rock.
- Building a 407 m long catch bench to intercept falling rocks.
- Building a 50m long, 7m high rock interception bund.
- Reinstating 2.6km of road.
- Replacing / resealing 16,700 sq m of road.
- Repairing / rebuilding 30 retaining walls, the biggest of which is 132m long and 7m high.

I am very pleased that this work will soon be completed. The view of the harbour from Evans Pass is one of my all time favourite views and the Sumner / Lyttelton road is the place of adventurous childhood memories. It looks like a journey south is in order in the next few months.