by tashmcgill | Oct 11, 2004 | Travel, Youth Work
Letters From America So Much To Say
From “Natasha McGill”
Subject Letters From America So Much To Say
Date Sat, September 25, 2004 6:41 pm
To tashmcgill@maxnet.co.nz
Yes, that is a Dave Matthews Band song. Cheesy I know, but … deep down you appreciate the fact that I am a passionate person.. so passionate that I don’t mind y’all knowing my vunerability!
So here I am in crazy Anaheim, in crazy America, surrounded by youthworkers! eeks.
The plane out of NZ got delayed by a couple of hours so things got off to a great start on this little sojourn.. but we arrived in San Francisco and gassed it to Santa Cruz to visit with VIntage Faith church.. pastored by Dan Kimball and a team of great, and I mean, genuinely awesome, feel like you’re talking to Jesus people. We were welcomed with such great hospitality and warmth.. and not to mention the church service itself.
It reminded me of a lot of places I’ve been, but in every experience there’s always felt like there was an element missing in the connection of creativity to community to church. Here at Vintage Faith, it’s natural as breathing to see artists painting the message being spoken, silent prayer corners set up, people sitting with coffee cups in their laps. Some sitting on cushions, some at tables. The sense of God’s creativity taking pride of place and not just creativity for creativity’s sake was really encouraging.. to think.. this can be done. Somehow all the ideas and thoughts and emotions that run rampant in my head and in the body of our community can be brought into the open in outstandingly glorious ways.
The absence of self, the sideways stage, the overwhelming beauty of the all-encompassing images… left me wth a profound sense of peace, and of God’s wondrous romance. It’s marvellous to be this close to every emotion that sits under the weight of busyness and the rush.
So, apart from some great face to face time with Dan, talking about his postmodern journey, Snta Cruz also inroduced me to Josh Fox. He’s the music pastor at Vintage, who’s incredibly humble and real. We’re trying to convince him to come on out and visit for a while.
We visited the Boardwalk at Santa Cruz and that was choice as, incredibly old rollercoasters and carousels. Then we took the Pacific Coast Highway down to LA… mint.
I went off wandering by myself from Anaheim to Newport Beach, then Long Beach. Cool, just to be immersed, travel through some of the poverty and see the influence of America on Mexican culture and vice-versa. Meeting interesting people wherever I go, and enjoying the ride.
Yesterday and today has been critical concerns courses with Rob Bell, a teaching pastor from Michigan. Challenging stuff, and there are lots of things that I have been wanting to explore and action in my life and in the lives of my community that I am encouraged to do now.
I gotta jett.. so all the exciting deep parts that you were hanging out for will have to wait til the next installment. Hopefully tomorrow sometime.
God is with me, and present all around.
He is also present where you are, working amongst you and I.
May your eyes be opened to see Him. Read yourself Colossians 2.
Grace and Peace.
Tash
by tashmcgill | Sep 17, 2004 | Prose & Poetry
Older And Wiser
if you’ve ever had
the kisses of an older man
they are sweet and soft
he is full of wisdom and life
his lips are warm and frail
but honest when they meet yours
if you’ve ever had
the kisses of an older man
you will learn things you never knew
and see things only the old know
all shown to you in a kiss
revealed in a caress
Get her, get Wisdom
and your understanding
find her at whatever cost
respect the age you are for
a girl like me will love
a man like you when you are
older and wiser
under the kisses of an older man
you will feel alive, he will
gift you with his life
and youthful men can only fuel
their own fires, so treasure him
wth grey dark mottly hair and body
the hands of an older man
can shake and tremble with more truth
than when we are young and foolish
he may be nearly blind but he sees me
don’t be weakened by your prideful youth
his wiser kisses tell the truth
by tashmcgill | May 12, 2004 | Prose & Poetry
Waking Up This Morning In The Mist & Fog
i love rainy mornings
when the sun is just close enough to up,
the world is transluscent
and damp.
i’ll sing about coffee shops
and lost loves
and harbor selfish memories
in that sad early hour
with the heater on in the car
driving to someplace
for new memorable moments
that i will someday recall
on a morning just the same.
by tashmcgill | Apr 27, 2004 | Prose & Poetry
Find Me
seeking You in unexpected places
looking to recognise You in a lunchhour
..in a conversation, to know Your familiar hand
in a heartbeat, in a cityscape..
driving in smog-laden queues
in lonely offices, on a misty road. looking
at a prison, trying to escape my own
seeking You, I am lost
by tashmcgill | Oct 9, 2003 | Girl About Town
HELLO MY DEAR DAUGHTERS
So that you are all up with the play.
Yesterday afternoon it was fine and as forecasted today it is raining as
it has been for the last few weeks, so Peter and I had to grab the
opportunity of driving Sophie to Te Puke to the Autobarn, ready for the
auction next week.
Now, I know that you are all upset at this fact BUT the plain truth is
that the time has come. We have had seven years of fun but the traffic
in Auckland is now so fast and furious, that it has become very, very
hard to drive her in the city. There is also the question of no
seatbelts, adequate headlights, or blinkers. Today’s drivers
(especially those in Auckland) are just not used to indicators or hand
signals. Therefore, I have been increasingly feeling unsafe. On the
open road she is fantastic, but in the city or on the main highway – no
way. Yesterday, I trundled (in a shower of rain) through the Athenree
Gorge at 40-45 mph and by the time I got through the 10 kms, there was a
queue a kilometre long of p…d people behind. That does not make for
pleasant driving.
So, SOPHIE is now in Te Puke and I am sorry that none of you got to do
what you wanted – Tasha, drive her, Carmel that ride you requested and
Roni ? well probably a hug. On your behalf, you may as well know, I
pulled up outside the Autobarn and completely unsolicited the tears
started running down my face. The guys were more than a little amused.
So please try and understand and don’t give me a hard time!!! Having
said all that, she may not even sell, then again she may. If you are
desperate to see her one last time (maybe) the auction is next Saturday
at Te Puke..
AT this stage, if she sells, I intend to look for something to replace
her. In the meantime, I have had a call from Ngunguru and the
Sitooterie is well underway and from all accounts stands out like a
beacon at sea. It has turned out to be bigger than expected so that it
looks like who knows. So we lose Sophie, but now we have a Sitooterie –
who else do you know who has one of those?
So please understand.
Lots of love
Your Mother
