Mana Moana a 50 voice Signature Choir and the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra came together this week. What a wonderful musical extravaganza of Pacific Music and Voices held at the Michael Fowler Centre on Thursday night. Ten Pacific songs which were also pre-recorded with the NZSO for a CD Album over the last few days were performed to a sold out theatre. If you have the opportunity to hear them on Spotify or buy the album I highly recommend it.
Well, here we are at Advent 2, the week of Peace and an opportunity for us to think of what Peace means for each of us in this world that we live in today. What are the signs of peace that we can see in our everyday lives? Does peace outweigh conflict or is it the other way round? We watch on the daily news shopkeepers getting murdered over small amounts of money in the till, or cigarettes. We see weekly ram-raids of jewellers in the high streets and in the shopping malls in broad daylight. For those committing the crimes is it desperation or is it gang initiation? Our everyday peace is threatened by a small minority of trouble makers who do not seem to have a conscience and who do not put a value on human life. They are someone’s son or daughter; they belong to families who are probably totally unaware of what their children are up to. I remember being told that some of the notorious new gangs were born in the back church pews of bored teenagers whose parents spent all their time at church meetings whilst their children occupied their time at church waiting for them and in the process establishing their new gangs and planning their next crime spree. I won’t name the gangs, but it is a fact.
We feel helpless and do not know how we can stop this from happening. We can gather with the community and light candles and hold vigils in the hope that we are doing something positive to make a change. But what else can we do to keep the peace?
As we prepare during the Advent season towards Christmas let us hope and pray that this year 2022 will be a time of new beginnings and new chapters in our lives where the hurt and pain of last year and years gone by will be replaced with a new hope and vision for a better future. Jesus the Christ child of Christmas gives us that opportunity year after year to hope and pray for new beginnings and a better future. Every year we get a second chance to try again to make better what we were unable to achieve last year. What can you do this year that is different from any other year over this advent period? How can you make an impact in the life of someone dear to you this year that you have never had an opportunity to do before? It may be small and feel insignificant, it may be just a phone call or a Christmas card but its impact on that individual might have a lasting effect for a lifetime. We never know how great our small token of love will have on the lives of others. Fei
You can read the full E-News here: https://mailchi.mp/cd479e1acfe8/this-weeks-newsletter-from-st-andrews-on-the-terrace-9238931
