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Last week I arrived back in New Zealand after a wonderful five-months of Sabbatical. It’s always good to be home and the first glimpse of Aotearoa, especially after an extended time away, is a welcome sight.
Even more than a stunning sun-rise view of Cape Reinga last Wednesday as we prepared to land in Auckland it was the rolling hills, plains and braided rivers of Waitaha Canterbury that really convinced me that I was home and that it was good to be home.
Yes, Aoraki is my mountain and my river is Waitaki.
Then, as if to deepen the home-embrace, the front page of this week-end’s Press featured braided rivers with an image, and text headlined “Braided river mysteries revealed”. The lead-story outlined news of recent research and served to deepen deepen the braided river as a powerful metaphor for my own life.
“Using novel techniques, they [the researchers] discovered that braided rivers have a reservoir of water underneath, kind of like a storage tank. Called a “braidplain aquifer”, this reservoir transfers water from the river and feeds it into the groundwater system. It means braided rivers, like icebergs, extend beyond what we see on the surface.” (The Press Te Matatika Weekend Saturday 14 September 2024)
In the opening paragraphs of my collection of reflections Food For Faith I refer to the braided rivers of my youth. (book available at this link or by clicking on the cover image below)
I open the book reflecting:
The cover of this book is a representation of the Waitaki River, a mighty waterway, significant for my ancestors as a source of water for their farms, a recreational spot for fishing and swimming, and more recently, after the building of three hydroelectric power stations, a significant source of electricity for the country.
While many rivers are large bodies of water, growing as they make their way from mountains to ocean, the braided rivers of the Canterbury Plains spread wide, meandering to and fro, even doubling back on themselves at times, giving water to irrigate the fields of the otherwise parched plains, with the remnant meandering to the ocean.
I like the braided river as an image of the community of faith. We all have the same origin and destination, and the unique pathways of our lives serve to reveal the richness and abundance of life lived in relationship with Jesus Christ who is God-with-us.
Welcome home Father John. It’s so good to have you back.
Our Church needs to be front and centre in advocating for Aotearoa rivers to be protected and in most cases restored They are more than just what you see. Welcome home.
Yes welcome home indeed! And thanks for the virtual as well as spiritual journeys along your route.
Welcome home Fr John & hope you’re sabbatical filled you in surprising ways.
Haere mai Fr John. You were not the only one to benefit from your sabbatical ! Through your regular communications we also benefitted from you sharing articles. Thanks very much
Glad you are home safely Fr John. Thanks a million for your great reflections along the way. Blessings of homecoming.
Great to go away and even better to come home and appreciate your own space anew.
Blessings, Mary Bennett