Returning to New Zealand I came early to the airport in Tel Aviv. That was a good move as I found out. Otherwise I might not have made my flight. The security lines stretched through the whole airport. While check-in only took me about five minutes, getting through security took me about three hours. It…
Some of you have asked what I have been doing these past three (actually 2 ½) weeks in Israel. Yes, it had to do with archaeology, but I was not excavating anything. I have spent eight seasons excavating in Israel and now three seasons restoring pottery (a season normally lasts between two and six weeks).…
While you at St Paul’s were celebrating the Church’s birthday and the coming of the Spirit on Pentecost Sunday, I attended the agricultural festival of Pentecost here in Israel. Before Pentecost had anything to do with the coming of the Spirit or the Church, it was a Jewish festival. Normally known as Shavuot or the…
There are stories behind each of the names and inscriptions on the headstones in our graveyard. Someare known to us; others are not. I have long wondered about those early parishioners who knelt and prayed in that little wooden building that was the first St Paul’s. I have thought, too, of those who sat in…
Birthdays are special, I’m sure you will agree. At the same time, some of us don’t like to be reminded of how long we have been inhabitants of God’s good earth ! But, in the main, it’s nice when we can be made a fuss of.Pentecost Sunday is often described as “The Birthday of the…