Encouraging people to join in and ‘do’, in relation to creation care is a real strength of A Rocha. At the end of November, A Rocha’s Auckland local group set aside a day to focus on both ‘doing’ and ‘being’. Our destination? Peacemakers Retreat Centre in Helensville, a 45-minute drive from Central Auckland.
Andrew Connolly welcomed us to Peacemakers, introducing our group of 14 to the property. He described their intentions for the space and some fascinating history of the retreat centre and the land. He also introduced our ‘task’ for later in the day – clearing weeds in an area of regenerating bush. The whakatauki ‘Ka mahi au, ka inoi au, ka moe au’ ‘I work, I pray, I rest’ underpinned the programme for the day, with time for prayer, individual reflective space, group interactions as well as the chance to help in the gardens.
Highlights for me included thoughtful input from Rebecca Webb, Lois Baldwin and Peter Sidebotham, who led our group reflective times with grace and wisdom. I appreciated the expertise of others in the group, particularly when it came to identifying which plants were the weeds! Hearing a range of people’s stories over lunch and having a focus on our local and global growing contexts was inspiring. My resting spots for the day were the times of prayer – and the reminder to build time for simply ‘being’ into my days of much ‘doing’
