The Seed Disperser - March/April 2023
The Seed Disperser - March/April 2023
This month's feature - Letting in the Light
What’s in this month’s Seed Disperser
Book of the month
Who Made God? And Other Tricky Questions
Featured this month
Autumn Rambles
Inspiration this month
Letting in the Light
Church of the month
Discoverers Church Hobsonville Point
Special offer
Combined Autumn Rambles & Stroll for Your Soul
On a personal note
Floods and family
Book of the month
Who Made God? And Other Tricky Questions
by Brian K. Smith
Passing on the Christian faith to children is often conceived as a matter of telling them Bible stories. Of course, children need to know these stories, but they also need to see the “big picture” in Scripture. Who Made God? is a “big picture” book. In twelve chapters it explores the major themes of Christian theology from the Incarnation (What is God like?) to Eschatology (What happens at the End?).
Who made God? was written at the end of a long career in teaching theology. Whether preaching to illiterate villagers or lecturing university students, Brian Smith has always been concerned for the clear and effective communication of the great Christian truths. To this end he has developed a wide range of diagrams and stories. While pitched for children, this book will appeal to anyone of any age who has questions about Christian theology.
We have a few copies of the physical book to sell. It’s also available from our website as a PDF book. As the celebration of the Resurrection approaches, this is often a time for reflection and questions about Christianity. We’ve paired a special deal for this book with 50% off our Stations for Parables of Jesus. Add both titles to your cart and apply the code LETINLIGHT at the checkout to receive the discount. The special applies to both the PDF and physical copy of Who Made God? And other tricky questions.
Featured this month - Autumn Rambles
Autumn is a long season in Aotearoa, and there’s still another month to go until we start our Autumn Rambles. Autumn Rambles will take place for 14 days from 29 April 2023. It will be repeated later in the year (via The Prayer Bench) for those in the northern hemisphere.
We live in times where we need to pay attention and take notice of our links and connections to the natural world around us, our awareness of climate and seasons and our own responses and responsibilities in caring for creation.
If you’re looking for gentle encouragement, seeking to find joy in small things, looking to delight in your immediate surroundings and want to reflect on life in your current season then we’d love to have you join us for Autumn Rambles.
This two week series includes a daily email full of visual delights and thoughtful prompts as we focus on the changing of the season. The content is delivered via email but is also linked to a member only website. Each day a curated email/web page in a scrapbook style format is revealed.
If you know you’ll be joining us for Stroll for Your Soul when it’s spring in New Zealand in September, take advantage of our special offer and purchase both resources today. Receive 40% off Stroll for Your Soul. Offer applies to both individual and group subscriptions. Use discount code AUTUMN2023 at the checkout.
Please note that if you live in the northern hemisphere and your current season is spring, then you’ll want to sign up to Stroll for Your Soul in May through The Prayer Bench and Autumn Rambles will be offered by The Prayer Bench in October.
Inspiration this month - Let in the Light
As Resurrection Sunday approaches, we look forward to the celebrating the resurrection of Christ. Our practice on this day begins while it’s still dark. We head to the nearest beach with invited others, gathering in the pre-dawn. Together we watch the sun rise, while celebrating the rising of the Son of God and share in communion. Later, beneath the light from the sun, we will share a bbq fish breakfast together.
God said, “I command light to shine!” And light started shining.
Genesis 1:3 (CEV)
As the sun rises, the light reveals the colours of the sea, the land and the sky. The clothes of the people with us change from shades of grey to a display of all the colours of the rainbow. The grape juice in the glass bottle sparkles. The loaf of fresh white bread, baked especially for this special morning celebration looks as inviting as it smells.
Jesus called himself ‘the Light for the world’.
On Resurrection Sunday we celebrate letting the Light into our lives.
Here’s a few ideas celebrating letting in the Light, not just over the Easter period, but on other days and in different ways.
No one lights a lamp and puts it under a bowl or under a bed. A lamp is always put on a lampstand, so people who come into a house will see the light.
Mark 4:21-25 (CEV)
Light in art
The Auckland Art Gallery currently has an exhibition called, “Light from Tate:1700’s to Now. If you live in or near Auckland the exhibition is well worth a visit. Allow yourself plenty of time as there’s lots to see.
Our overwhelming takeaway from visiting this exhibition was the way in which the many different artists used light to reveal colour. With such a diverse range of artists and eras, the theme of light revealing pulls the entire exhibition together. It was such an inspiring thought that it set the theme for this month’s Seed Disperser.
It brings together paintings, photography, drawings, sculptures and immersive installations surveying how the theme of light has been retracted through the prism of art in countless ways: from the sublime to the intimate, from the spiritual to the scientific. - Light from Tate, Auckland Art Gallery
This theme of light revealing colour, detail and diversity is often found in art.
Some ideas for exploring and celebrating Light in art
Visit an art gallery or museum to find artworks emphasising light.
Paint or draw a still life or landscape showing the interplay of light with the surrounding environment and objects.
Gather friends asking each to bring, share and talk about a piece of art that speaks to them, or that they’ve created themselves which has a focus on light.
Display art around your meeting space and invite people to move around and notice the way light is explored in each art piece.
Visio Divina
Here are five steps to Visio Divina (sacred seeing) you can use after selecting a piece of art. There are several websites offering different versions of how to participate in Visio Divina. The steps or rules are less important than taking time to hear what God is saying through the piece of art.
Step 1: Choose a piece of art
Select a piece of art that provokes a response in you. Don’t overthink this step - choose something you feel drawn towards.
Step 2: Wide eyed view
Look over the whole piece of art. Take notice of the subject matter, the medium the artist has used and the feeling the piece evokes. Take notice of your own thoughts and emotions. Invite God to speak to you through this piece of art.
Step 3: Pay attention
What draws your eye? What part of the piece of art do you return to again and again? Fix your gaze on this and focus your thinking. Take time to really notice the detail of what has caught your attention from first impressions. How does it make you feel? What thoughts does it inspire?
Step 4: Listen
How might God be speaking to you through this art work? How does this image inspire your thoughts and prayers? Sit with the image and listen to what God might be saying to you.
Step 5: Respond
Turn your response into a prayer to God.
Light for us and others
Jesus said of himself…. “I am the light for the world”.
With the Light being for us, we can choose to navigate daily life differently to those who don’t have a Christian faith.
In uncertain and unsettling times, for some people it is easier to hold onto the negative. Driven by fear, it’s simpler to stand against and oppose that which they don’t understand or don’t like, than to say , “I stand for…”
The light keeps shining
in the dark,
and darkness has never
put it out.
John 1:5 (CEV)
Turn on Light Prayer
Switch on a light. As the space around you is immersed in light, say aloud the things you stand for…. in a prayer of declaration and committment.
Light between seasons
We are in the space between seasons here in Auckland. Summer has finished, yet the last throes are still with us. The feel of autumn is in the air. In the northern hemisphere the move from winter to spring is underway. These two seasons of autumn and spring each are seasons of light. In spring the light is fresh and brings things into focus. It’s like a spotlight has been turned on after the long winter. Green grass seems greener and sharper under the spring sun. In autumn, the light is low and diffused and brings a gentle golden hue. There’s a warmth in the light that defies the coolness in the air.
Spend time outside in the light of the season you are currently experiencing. Take notice of the light. Let it surround you and hold you. Let the light in. Ponder what your current season is for yourself personally. Are you in a growth phase or are you in a gentler mellower season? Let the light guide your thoughts and turn these into a prayer.
Church of the month - Discoverers Hobsonville Point
Hobsonville Point is one of Auckland’s new high-density housing suburbs. In 2021 Discoverers Church was commenced there under the leadership of Rev Barry Jones. Discoverers is a Methodist alternative church initiative. It meets in a community lounge in the Headquarters Building, so named because it was it was previously the headquarters of the Airforce Base once located in the area. Each Sunday programme takes place in the armchairs of a lounge, is family focussed and involves activities in which all ages can participate. The aim to encourage an expression of church in Hobsonville Point that is inclusive, life-centred, world affirming and contributing to the wellbeing of the community. While the Sunday services are small, a Christmas decorations workshop (pictured) at the end of 2022 attracted over 60 attendees. This presented a fun way to engage with the community while making Christmas decorations which were focused on the story of the birth of Christ.
Special offer
If you’d like to participate in Autumn Rambles (April) and Stroll for your Soul (September) we are offering a special deal exclusively for The Seed Disperser. Purchase Autumn Rambles in the Kereru Publishing store and receive a 40% discount on Stroll for Your Soul. Offer available for both individuals and groups.
Use discount code AUTUMN2023
On a personal note
Like many of our fellow Kiwis we’ve been caught up over the last couple of months in a pattern of heavy rains and floods. We’ve fared well with limited damage apart from the loss of some trees. Our hearts go out to the many others in our city and around the North Island who are still homeless or coping with severe damage. After weeks of daily thunderstorms and oodles of rain throughout early summer, the Auckland anniversary weekend in late January marked the start of an even more intense weather period with intense flooding and record rainfalls. Two weeks later we experienced Tropical Cyclone Gabrielle. A couple of weeks after that our suburb experienced flash flooding. Despite our front and back lawns being turned into lakes and our driveway into a river, we didn’t have any damage inside our house or garage. Our weekends since Anniversay weekend were spent tidying up outdoors, cutting down trees that had fallen and making sure that if we did have flooding in the garage that we wouldn’t experience too much damage. Unfortunately this has meant a lack of spare writing time for writing The Seed Disperser and, as a result, today’s edition is a roll up of three months!
In March Andrew celebrated a big birthday and we went out for a special birthday lunch with all the children and grandchildren.
On the journey
Andrew & Caroline