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Counting Down to Christmas

Counting Down to Christmas

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Te Taha Taiao - Ka Tangi Te Tītī

Alongside the natural world - the Tītī calls.

When the Tītī calls we hear one of God’s creations celebrating. The space in which we all occupy in the created order is strengthened by our collaborative efforts to honour the other. We all belong, as God intended, and sharing that space with the entire natural world means we can all call in celebration. Ka tangi te katoa - we all call.

Introducing Counting Down to Christ-mas 2024

Te Taha Taiao - Ka Tangi Te Tītī

Language (reo) and words are more than just tools for communication. Our reo helps us make sense of our world. The reo we regularly use to both listen and speak are part of our identity and our culture. Our reo provides us with a place to belong, our words ground us and connect us to those who have gone before us and those we walk alongside. Our words are part of us and yet they have a life outside of us. When we speak, we share our words with others. Long after we’ve physically moved away from the person we were speaking to, our words continue to have an impact. Our words mean something to us, and they also mean something to those who hear them.

When John wrote his gospel he doesn’t begin in the same way Matthew or Luke wrote their gospels. John doesn’t start with the story of the birth of Jesus Christ, born to Jewish parents in a little town called Bethlehem. Instead John goes much further back, so far back that he talks of the beginning of time, before the beginning of creation, before anything was created or made. John encounters a problem when he is faced with writing about Jesus in this time before anything. What will he call Jesus, before Jesus was born, before the world was created? How can he name Jesus and show Jesus’ true self? He offers a name for Jesus that sits above all languages, all cultures, all times…
“In the beginning was the one
    who is called the Word.
The Word was with God
    and was truly God.
From the very beginning
    the Word was with God.” John 1:1 (CEV).

This year Counting Down to Christ-mas invites us to journey through Advent with taha Māori. This Māori dimension and perspective invites us to find fresh understandings in the story of the first Christmas for our own journey. This Advent we’ll celebrate in te reo and english. Our offering is not simply translated words from one language to another. Tikanga Maori will underpin each daily offering, bringing our attention to the Word and to the birth of Jesus Christ, through a lens that may not be deeply familiar to some of us, but is available for all to appreciate and be inspired by. 

Advent is a season that moves us forward towards something new. We hold an openness to hearing from our Creator God. The cycle of the annual celebration of the birth of Christ invites us to acknowledge the creation cycle of which we’re a part. Caring for each other, for the world in which we live, for our God. Creation, renewal, restoration, hope, love - we are pulled forward by something much bigger than ourselves. Acknowledging that the story we are living within is God’s story and it’s a story for all.

Our theme Te Taha Taiao - Ka Tangi Te Tītī ‘Alongside the natural world - the Tītī calls’ captures the'mita' rhythm and wisdom) of walking with, not dominating, the natural world and the Tītī will sing. This is a beautiful metaphor of reciprocity,'manaaki mai manaaki atu, aroha mai, aroha atu' We join in the harmonious reo of Taiao. When we care for God’s world, it will care for us. 

DAILY COUNTING DOWN TO CHRISTMAS EMAILS

The daily emails arrive at 5am (NZT) every morning starting from 30 November 2024 with a final email on 26th December 2024

SUBSCRIPTION PLANS are FREE for 2024 

Whether you'd like to organise a group or sign up as an individual, whether you've been a previous subscriber or are new to Counting Down to Christmas this year you'lll receive the resource for free. If you want to access archives (including posts building up to this year's Countdown) you will need to sign up for the paid version (but it's free for this year).

You can subscribe on this page by selecting - FREE SUBSCRIPTION or direct through Substack as a free subscriber or as a paid subscriber with the first year free

FUNDING & KOHA

We are able to offer Counting Down to Christmas for free this year thanks to a generous funding donation. However, it doesn't quite cover all costs, so if you're in a position to offer a koha we'd appreciate your support.

WRITERS IN 2024

Caroline has been joined by Rev Jacynthia Murphy in collaborating with the writing and creative components that make up this year's Counting Down to Christmas.