Edge Kingsland

Forgiveness is instrumental in a life of peace, and yet it is often difficult to talk about, hard to define, and can even be weaponised against suffering people. In this brief reflection we examine 4 themes of forgiveness that emerge from the story of Jesus. Firstly, forgiveness is about letting go of a desire for retaliation, revenge and harm. Second, forgiveness may require an acknowledgement of wrong and a commitment to change. Third, forgiveness can lead toward reconciliation (but that this is not always possible or healthy), and lastly, that power dynamics must be considered when we think about forgiveness. Ultimately, perhaps forgiveness is about how we grapple with the question: what do I want my life to circle around?

As we talk about peace, one of the core themes in the biblical tradition is that of justice. We see this constantly in the cries of the prophets, who insist that peace for some at the expense of others is not real peace. We also see that for Jesus, peace is not some kind of naive niceness - Jesus calls out injustice and highlights the suffering and marginalisation of the vulnerable. In many respects, the injustices that threatened real peace in his time are similar to that of today. He wrestled with religious of power - the setting up of religious authority in a way that elevated some at the expense of others. He lived in the context of colonisation and a powerful Roman empire. And he grappled with a society that struggled with racial division and exclusion. We still have so much to learn from Jesus' vision for peace in the times we now live.

Humans have long wrestled with the question: am I at peace with God (or the gods)? Ancient Israel certainly struggled with this existential wondering, and there are several ways of making sense of relatedness to God in the scriptural story. Jesus himself continues the tradition of navigating this question - and in his story, rather than revealing a God who is disappointed or angry with everyone, a story that makes us anxious when things go badly because we wonder what we've done to upset the divine, Jesus reveals a God whose stance toward us is one of belovedness. A God of whom we do not have to be anxious or afraid. Jesus does not come to bring peace with God, as much he comes to reveal it.

The early creation mythologies of ancient Israel spoke of a world shaped, not by conflict, hostility and violence, but by shalom - an intention for peace with God, with each other, with the self, and with all of creation. In the story of Jesus this takes shape in his view of the presence of the kingdom of God.Peace, for Jesus, is not just about an interior kind of calm (although this may well be included), but it is about a wider posture of openness to one another... even going as far as to say we must love our enemies. He also challenges unjust and exclusionary systems because sees peace as something we need to experience together. This is an idea that comes to shape many of the early Christian writings and the nature of communities that form around the way of Jesus. They are not just about some kind of "vertical" relationship with God being put right... they are about how our relatedness to each other in community might be transformed.

In the final reflection in this series, we explore what repentance looks like in the context of the story of Jesus and the invitation to follow the way of the upside-down kingdom. Repentance is not to be used as a tool with which to add weight and further suffering to those who are already vulnerable, marginalised or traumatised. For Jesus, his biggest confrontation and challenge was always toward those with the most power and privilege. Repentance is much more about a personal and communal process of seeing the ways we might engage in harmful practices, and the commitment to move away from this and toward the way of love.

The good news of the life, death and resurrection of Jesus includes big claims about what God is like. Rather than a God who is distant and unconcerned, or worse - angry and ready to smite - the God revealed in Jesus is one who is shown to be present in our embodied reality, including our suffering and pain, and who freely offers forgiveness, healing and reconciliation. God is in solidarity with us, even to the point of death. And this reveals a God who is truly good, who can be trusted, and who invites us to be and do the same for one another.

If we ground the meaning of Jesus' death and resurrection in the life of Jesus, the story, history and context - what we find is an invitation to make sense of the meaning of language like sin and salvation through this story rather than as abstract or individualistic theological ideas. Rather than being saved from eternal punishment or torment, salvation in the story of Jesus is all about following in his way, entering into his vision of the kingdom of God, being embraced by God rather than held at a distance, turning from harm, abuse and violence and finding a God who enters into our pain and suffering and yet offers us new life.You'll find the text for the reflective practice via the link: https://www.edgekingsland.co.nz/the-good-stuff

The story of the gospels tells us that Jesus' vision of the kingdom of God, one that resisted using power over people but centred the vulnerable and suffering instead, was not received well by those who held the power (whether that be religious or political). In this reflection we look at the 2 big prophetic acts that Jesus enacts in the days leading up to his execution, and how this emphasises the motives of those who sought to eliminate Jesus from the conversation. Understanding this story is necessary for us to then go on to make sense of the meaning of Easter and how it might relate to us in the here and now.

This is the first in a series of reflections examining the story of Jesus and the meaning of his life, death and resurrection. There can be a tendency to reduce Jesus down to a magical figure who comes down from heaven to die for us so that we can go to heaven one day in the future, but there is so much more going on in the story. In this first video we look at the context surrounding the life and ministry of Jesus and the ways in which Jesus begins to offer a ‘prophetic imagination', an alternative way of seeing the world in which those with power do not have the final say, and where there is room made for the suffering, the vulnerable and those on the edges.

In this final reflection in this series on Wholiness, we explore how wholiness should transform the way we see and treat one another, and the kinds of communities we build together.

To be human is to be an embodied creature and yet we can often have complicated relationships with our own bodies. Sometimes our religious traditions have given us negative attitudes toward our own bodies - seeing the body as the site of temptation or sin, seeing emotions as something to be suppressed, seeing sexuality as something to be suspicious of, or simply denying the ways our bodies tell us so much about what is going on for us at any given point in time. So a spirituality of wholiness must help us to move toward a more positive view of embodiment and our spiritual practices should help us move toward integration and wholeness, rather than reinforcing an unncessary splitting between what is spiritual and what is physical.

Our society is defined by a kind of restlessness, and its a kind of restlessness that leaves us in a constant state of some kind of fatigue; the hyperactivity of 21st century Western life, the unlimited choices many of us experience, the explicit and implicit messages we receive about keeping up, about making it, about proving our worth through the things we produce and consume. So what does a spirituality of wholiness offer us in the midst of this? How and why does rest matter to our sense of self, to our relationships, and to the sense of our place in the world? If you'd like to use the reflective questions offered at the end of this recording for yourself, you'll find them at our website: https://www.edgekingsland.co.nz/the-good-stuff

In this episode we explore how wholiness is related to the self. Sometimes religion can be sold to us as needing a kind of self-rejection or the suppression of our selves – because then God can be sold to us as the cure. But our suggestion is spirituality at its best will help us become ‘more ourselves' rather than less. This is not just good vibes religion – it is a deeply counter cultural narrative that invites us to begin with embracing the self rather than amplifying the inner critic. We also look at how this is not just an individualistic spirituality – to know (and to love) the self requires a grounding in the context of our relationships and connections with others, with those who have gone before us, and with the ground beneath our feet. If you'd like to use the spiritual practice of palms down/palms us at the end of this recording for yourself, you'll find it at our website: https://www.edgekingsland.co.nz/the-good-stuff

In this reflection we explore the idea that all humans image the divine. This has implications for universal human dignity and value, for the affirming of our humanness as a good and beautiful thing, and for seeing the interconnectedness of all things - a call toward harmony and wholiness. If you'd like to use the benediction/blessing at the end of this recording for yourself, you'll find it at our website: https://www.edgekingsland.co.nz/the-good-stuff

This is the first in a series of 6 reflections on “Wholiness”. Here is an invitation to move away from a view of God as one who demands moral purity or perfection and who struggles to tolerate our presence, and instead toward a reframing of God and wholiness (in light of the story of Jesus) that moves us toward love, grace and acceptance of self and others.

In July this year we co-hosted a seminar titled “What the Hell” - a re-examining of the origins and impact of the Christian belief in hell and divine judgement. Our beliefs about these things are often at the centre of our views about God and the purpose of life, and have a profound impact on the way we live and act in the world. In this seminar we ask the hard questions, examine the original context of the scriptural texts, discuss the variety of perspectives within the Christian tradition, and offer what we believe is a hopeful and life-giving way forward.

We have narrated the Christmas story in a fresh way for the benefit of our tamariki, but also invite everyone to enjoy the magic of this timeless and life changing tale.

In this episode of the Edge Kingsland lockdown podcast, we bring the Wholiness series to a close. Michael, Cath and Clint reflect on some of the central themes and ideas that have been explored over the past few months, and examine the intersection of these ideas with our real lived experience. They also explore what this way of thinking about ‘Wholiness' could mean for our faith community and the kind of life we're all invited into.

In this episode of the Edge lockdown podcast Michael talks with another of our wonderful Edge whānau - Julia Grace - as we continue our conversation on Wholiness. Here Michael and Julia examine the intersections of our own mental health and wellbeing with the important connections, relationships and communities that make up our lives. Julia shares some really helpful, humorous and wise insights in relation to the ongoing challenges we all face in our lives; especially as we hit our “wobbly” moments, and how we can hold space and cultivate relationships in which we have the language, strategies and empathy to care for one another.

In this episode of the Edge lockdown podcast on Wholiness, Michael talks with Kerry Manders about her experience over many years of helping people navigate complexity, the insights of team dynamics, and how we work through the tensions and conflict that can sometimes arise.

In this week's episode of the continuing Edge lockdown podcast on Wholiness, we explore the complex subject of ‘Crisis' and in it MIchael talks with another wonderful member of the Edge family, Tania White, who works in mental health. One of the unavoidable aspects of our lives is the reality that at some point we will all encounter crisis. And if it's not our own, it's crisis among those who we know and love. Whether it be about relationships, health, accidents, mental wellbeing, jobs and careers, even faith crisis... all sorts of unexpected occurrences arise that can throw our world into a tailspin. So what happens in our bodies and brains when we hit crisis, whether it be acute (short-term) or chronic (longer-term)? We explore some practical strategies and also talk through the place of our spirituality as a potent resource for anchoring and nourishing us through the midst of complex life events.

In this episode of the Edge lockdown podcast we continue our series on Wholiness by tackling the delicate, challenging and universal experiences of grief and loss. Wholiness is not about everything being shiny and perfect; instead it's about our full humanness, including those parts of the journey that are layered with loss. In this episode Michael and Katharina talk through some different ways we experience and respond to grief and loss (including our common sense of loss in light of the current pandemic). In light of this they reflect on ways of navigating the journey of grief, the presence of the divine to us, and the possibilities of friendship in these moments and experiences.

In this episode of the Edge Kingsland lockdown podcast, Michael talks with Blair Franklin and Cath Gibson about the idea and practice of generosity. We discuss the impact generosity has on both ourselves and others, as those seeking to live our lives in tune with what it means to be the image of God. In particular we discuss the connections between generosity, contentment and empathy, explore the obstacles to living generous lives, and look at some practical steps away from a scarcity mindset toward an embrace of what we already have to give.

In this episode of the Edge Kingsland lockdown podcast, Michael and Clint discuss the idea of manaakitanga. As human beings integrated within an interdependent world of connections and relationships what does it look like to embrace ways of being that serve to affirm and enhance the mana of others? How do we take up a duty of care for those around us and the world in which we live? In particular, we discuss the story of Zacchaeus in Luke 19, and examine the way that manaakitanga is found embedded within this story, leading to transformative outcomes for everyone involved.

In this episode of the Edge Kingsland lockdown podcast, we continue our Wholiness series by having further conversations with members of our Edge whānau around decisions and actions toward more sustainable lives. In this episode Michael talks with Moni Hogg about some of the big changes she's making in her life around purchasing (or not purchasing!) goods and pursuing a life of minimalism. Michael also talks with Jireh and Andrew Stitt - a father/son combo - about their sustainable decisions (initiated by Jireh) around food, transport and navigating the complexities of that change.

In this episode of the Edge Kingsland lockdown podcast we continue our series on Wholiness, and this time Michael talks with Clint Gibson and Sophie Austin about how our sense of humanness and wholeness is connected to creation itself. We talk about what shapes their approaches to ecological thinking and behaviour, how they put it into real-life, everyday practice and the challenges that emerge as we seek to live differently in the world.

In this episode of the Edge Kingsland lockdown podcast Michael talks with Rod Begbie, one of the pastors of Fitzroy North Community Church in Melbourne. They talk about:- why we often have such difficult or complicated relationships with our own bodies, seeing them as something to be ignored, controlled, driven, or blamed & shamed. - how can we cultivate a healthy relationship with our own bodies, and how does our spirituality & faith help us in that journey? - the connections between our own bodies, the body of Christ, and the world as God's body, exploring the implications for our sense of wholeness not only as individual selves, but as those exploring community with others and in a healthy relationship with the earth itself. - vulnerability and disability- the body and the importance of play

In this episode of the Edge Kingsland lockdown podcast, Michael has a wide-ranging, insightful and enlivening conversation with Shirely Pastiroff - counsellor and mindfulness trainer - about navigating the complexities of contemporary life. They talk about:the inherent wholeness and image of God that resides within each personthe impact of technology on our modern liveswhat happens to the brain/body system when we live in a prolonged and heightened state of stressnegotiating the world of constant accessibility and demandthe problems and potentials of spirituality/faithpractices that help us tune in to the present and discover our whole, and yet vulnerable, true selvesYou can find out more about Shirley Pastiroff, her work and resources at https://renewyourmind.co.nz/

In this lockdown edition of the Edge Kingsland Wholiness series, Michael, Clint & Katharina discuss the world of busyness that we find ourselves in, and some practical ways of navigating life with a sense of groundedness, connection and peace.

In this episode we begin a new series on a Theology of Social Justice. We examine the central narrative of the Old Testament, how it shapes up a radical view of God, and the way that harmful ways of being in the world (often called ‘sin’) are not just personal but structural. Liberation and salvation are therefore not just personal and individual, but call us to act in ways that transform the structures and systems that give rise to suffering.

In this episode we continue our conversation on why faith matters in the 21st century. We explore the transformative and revolutionary idea of grace that is present within the Jesus tradition, and how it upturns the status systems we so often establish in human community. Grace is a much bigger idea than simply “undeserved favour” - in fact there are some problems with that idea. It is about a divine bestowal of human worth, value and dignity on all human creatures, and as such becomes an agitating and disruptive force whenever systems of power and oppression seek to diminish the worth of some to the benefit of others.

With all that’s going on, it can be hard to see why faith still matters in the 21st century. This is even more so if we claim that Christianity is not really about securing your eternal ticket to heavenly glory and escaping the highway to hell. Does faith still have anything meaningful and transformative to us in the present? In this episode we discuss the human tendency toward closed ideological systems of certainty, the problems that this creates (be it in religious, political, or social domains of life), and how the Jesus story offers us an alternative way of being that is centred around ‘presence’.

The early followers of Jesus were faced with the challenge of trying to figure out what it meant to have their lives reconfigured by the events wrapped up with the coming of the Christ. This episode explores how their experimentations and innovations help us to find new ways of being too. The church carries within it the challenge to embody an emphasis on authentic transformation rather than performative holiness, to include rather than reject, and to imagine new ways of living that are grounded in self-giving love; even when the rules of society tell you that life doesn’t work that way.

In this episode we explore how the story of Jesus emerges against the backdrop of the Roman empire and the continued oppression of the Jewish people. How does Jesus invite us to see what is most real, especially in ways that upend many of the assumptions of what such a liberator was supposed to do? In a radical way Jesus refused to climb on to the throne of David, redefining what a King and Kingdom are really all about, and through death and resurrection, offers us a compelling vision of God and reality that is shocking to his contemporaries and challenging to us here and now.

This is the first in a two-part series on the story of the bible. In this episode we explore the context out of which the Old Testament emerges and consider the various - and often conflicting - perspectives on God, humanness, the 'other' and how to navigate the world we find ourselves in. The invitation in the biblical text is not just to some kind of 'get out of jail free' card about the afterlife - instead it is an invitation to dive into the experience of what it is to be human, grappling with questions of meaning and God and the universe we find ourselves in.

In this episode we discuss how the various Christian traditions shape the way we think about and engage in prayer…. and how this might help us to understand where we are at now, and the possibilities that are available to us.

If we move away from the image of God as a divine puppet master pulling strings in the sky, then how does this impact on the way we think about prayer? Is prayer simply a series of requests, or are there ways of practicing prayer that invite us into a more open and grounded way of being?

The bible is a curious, intriguing and provocative collection of texts, but one that can be a profound resource for our own transformation. The invitation is into a journey and tradition of wisdom that connects with our own experience of life, God and those around us. In this episode we talk about the nature of this relationship between the journey of faith, an evolving spirituality, and the role of scripture in transformation.

If Jesus is the ‘word of God’ as the writer of John’s gospel states, then what does it mean to centre our interpretation of scripture through the kind of God we see in Jesus?

In this episode we discuss the violence that we find in scripture. What do we do with this violence that is often carried out by biblical heroes, or can even appear to be endorsed or even committed by God? We talk about the way that the scriptural narrative unfolds an evolving view of what God is like. And so the violence in the bible tells us a lot about the human condition and our tendency to use God to support our own violent ends - rather than prescribing belief in a God capable of this kind of violence. In the end, the biblical narrative undoes the view of a violent deity, inviting us instead to consider a view of God shaped by the story and ethics of Jesus.

In this episode we discuss how a mystical approach to Christian spirituality can shape the way we engage in reading the bible. In this tradition, we are invited to see an evolving of God-consciousness present in the text, and to see the scriptural stories as the journey of sacred experiences of God, rather than a divinely imposed super-text that rules over the world.

There are some curious stories in the bible and it can be hard to know how to approach them. Some people want to take a very literal approach, and so when Adam and Eve are in the garden talking to a snake, this is a time when snakes could talk. Or at least this particular snake could talk.Then other people look at a story like this and think, what a ridiculous idea… a talking snake, whoever thought of such a thing, these are just ancient myths which are not true. The bible is clearly a ridiculous piece of literature and anyone who believes these silly tales is ignorant and naive.But are these the only two options? Or is there something else going on these stories that might be available to us, and if so, what do we do about that?

In this episode we begin a series on the bible, and we begin with a reflection on what kind of book (or collection of books) the bible is, and what this means for the way we read it and how helpful it might be for us. The bible is a curious thing and we all have a different relationship with it. Some of us might love everything about it, some of us might know we’re supposed to love it but are not really sure what to do with it, some of us might have loved it in the past but aren’t so sure anymore, some of us might have had quite negative experiences of either reading scripture or the way it has been used by others. For some people, the use of scripture has been traumatic, for a variety of reasons.So how do we move forward in healthy ways? Perhaps it begins with recognising that the kinds of things that the authors of scripture are wrestling with are in many respects the same we wrestle with now. They’re couched in different contexts and different language, but it’s often the same journey. Whether it’s how we deal with conflict, about what we believe lies at the heart of fundamental reality, about what we believe is central to the human experience, about how to negotiate our own demons, our jealousies, anger, rage, anxiety, worries, loves, relationships. And what we find here is wisdom, and a journey to enter into, rather than a divine set of instructions and commands for life.

In this final Formation episode for 2018, we explore the subject of belonging through the ideas of grace and hospitality. These invite us to think about how we can find a meaningful sense of belonging, without having to give in to the temptation to exclude and marginalise others.

This episode asks how we navigate belonging to a particular religion (in this case Christianity) in a culture and society where people hold to diverse religious beliefs. We reflect on a number of interreligious encounters found in the Old and New Testaments and ask how they might inform the way we live side-by-side with our religious neighbours.

The world is heading into increasingly polarised camps. In and out. With us or against us. So what does it mean to belong to a church community in this kind of world? In this episode we re-examine some New Testament texts and explore ways that the divine Spirit was connected to social identity, belonging and the breaking down of barriers between ‘us’ and ‘them’.

One of the observations that psychologists make is that while our disgust reflex is designed to help us determine what is suitable for us to eat, we often extend this innate reflex into the social, moral and spiritual domains of our lives. Historically, human beings have found all sorts of ways to determine who is clean and who is unclean. Who is pure and holy, and who is dirty and sinful. Our community becomes an extension of our body, and so if we deem people as unclean or impure, then we will find ways to get them outside of our community so that we won’t become tainted by their uncleanness. So how does the Jesus story offer a different way of encountering the other, and in what ways might Jesus subvert definitions of holiness in profound but disruptive ways?

For the first few centuries, Christianity was a minority movement on the underside of the Roman Empire. Christian action in the world was subversive, inclusive and socially transformative in subtle and hidden ways. But when Christianity becomes the dominant religion of the Empire in the 4th century, theology and salvation both become issues that hold political implications, a move which radically reshapes the nature of the conversation. So what does this mean for how we think about the Christian tradition today, and what it means to include, exclude and belong?

The scriptures contain many references to newness and hope, and toward the end of the Book of Revelation, God says “behold I am making all things new”. Of course our tendency is to jump ahead, and sometimes with good reason. Especially when we yearn for justice in the world. We long for things to be put right. We don’t want to see suffering continue without somehow being brought to an end. But whenever language of future newness in the scripture is used, it is always to inform how we live in the present.

In this episode we explore the language of ‘rapture’. In particular, we discuss how these popular notions of escapism are not grounded in the Christian tradition nor in the biblical text. Instead, we are invited into a faith tradition that is oriented toward ‘this world’.

Apocalyptic texts emerged as resistance literature in the Jewish story. The role of the prophet in apocalyptic texts is not really to predict the future, but to interpret the present. Walter Brueggemann suggests that prophets offer us new imagination, or put another way, the prophet offers alternative scripts or narratives to the dominant narrative that is thrust upon us by the powers and empires around us. Apocalyptic texts often emerged when there was extreme tension between the claim that God is good and is sovereign, and the realities of human suffering. Apocalyptic texts are one way to wrestle with the question of ‘if God is good and is in control, then why doesn’t God put a stop to evil?”