This morning  there was a spark in a Facebook conversation that prompted me to consider how privileged my life is. It’s a reprieve I needed in the face of processing a troubling family circumstance that has shaken my world somewhat.

I have lived an amazing life. I have worked in radio where I entertained and spoke to thousands from the comfort of radio studios. There are now people in church leadership positions who attribute parts of their journey to the work God had me do on Life FM and the things I still get to say on Life FM, NZ’s Rhema and through the bit I do with CBA at Christmas and Easter. Through these mediums and online I have shared the experience of passionately arguing religion, politics, morality and ethics with people who equally defended their views with the same passion. I have learned much from all of them and am now less inclined to argue so quickly.

I have experienced the incomparable beauty of much of my homeland of New Zealand. There is no better country on earth. I have seen and experienced the work of various organisations selflessly serving those struggling in New Zealand.

I have been granted opportunities, been led and been inspired by people who I cannot give enough thanks to.

In my work with TEAR Fund NZ where I work alongside plenty of people who inspire me, I have been able to travel overseas, something I had not done until working with TEAR (unless you count one week in Brisbane in my late twenties). I have visited the biggest slum in the world – Kibera, Nairobi, Kenya and played in the dust with sponsor children whose lives are being impacted by people around the world. In the middle of that slum, with those children, I met God in a profound way. I have stood on the edge of the Rift Valley while chatting with a young man who lives in the valley and walks plenty of kilometres every day for work. I have experienced a safari in Kenya.

I have visited India, traveled on the famous rail there, walked the slums of Delhi and Mumbai, heard the stories of poverty and the hope of change. I have stood inside the Taj Mahal and the Agra Fort. I have laughed with and at the antics of beggar children at the Agra train station while fighting off mosquitoes because of fear for my health. I have laid awake at night, haunted by the barking of hundreds of stray dogs in the back-blocks of Delhi. I have marveled at the ordered chaos of traffic in two of India’s largest cities.

I have visited mosques and temples for religions different from my own. I have talked with community leaders from those religions and pondered our differences and commonalities.

I have visited London and Oxford, where I got to sit in the same bar as the Inklings. I have laughed and shared marvelous English ale with a good friend who hosted me there. I have walked the streets of San Francisco, chatted with beggars there and participated in a peaceful protest about the Iranian election outside the San Fran city Hall.

I have participated in a non-violent, peaceful protest in a conflict zone that shall remain unnamed, where I have spoken to both the protestors and the soldiers charged with stopping them and I sympathised with both.

I have presided over the wedding of a couple in Bolivia and had the privilege of eating with a family in rural Bolivia, eating meat cooked in an outside oven. I’ve been stung by a small scorpion.

I’ve had the privilege of visiting Israel/Palestine. I have been extensively questioned and strip searched by airport security. I have stood in the birthplace of my Saviour, praying in the wonderful and solemn Church of the Nativity. I have climbed the steps of Golgotha in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre after walking the Stations of the Cross in Old Jerusalem. I have eaten fish by the Sea of Galilee. I have preached the Sermon on the Mount to a group on Mt Beatitudes. I have spoken the words from the scroll of Isaiah in the small Nazareth synagogue where Jesus spoke them (it is now a small Christian chapel). I have shared in food and drink with a Palestinian Christian family in their home in Bethlehem. I have listened to the fears and aspirations of both Israelis and Palestinians and I share a deep care and love of both. I have had rocks thrown at me, been spat on and had insults hurled at me by ultra orthodox settler children while walking the streets of old Hebron. I have walked through every quarter of Old Jerusalem and appreciated all four groupings – Christian, Muslim, Armenian and Jewish. I have stood in the place where my Saviour prayed in anguish, forseeing the cross. In that land my faith was thrown into crisis and I have since had to re-orientate my whole sense of being.

I get invited to churches to speak. People ask me questions, expecting answers that might have something to say for their lives. I have been directly involved in helping to guide a couple of wonderful faith communities. I currently do life with a faith community full of people selflessly serving in the world around them. Their dedication and hard work humbles me.

I have been the subject of people’s praise and also the subject of people’s anger and ridicule.

I have walked my journey from childhood to now with amazing friends, both past and present, who have helped shape my path and I theirs. The blessing of friendship should never be taken for granted.

I have talked with countless people whose lives have enriched my own. I have prayed and spoken with Carthusian monks whose life rhythms have deeply informed my daily rhythm.

I say none of this to boast, but simply to recognise that all of the above has enriched my life beyond measure and I take it all as a gift not to be thought of lightly, but none of it compares to the quiet time I take most mornings where my life is put aside and I simply sit in silence with my God (even when that space feels like hard work). Nor does it compare to the love of my wife or that look in my young daughter’s eyes when she does an activity and glances around to make eye contact with me, searching to know that her daddy is proud of her. I would give all of my international experiences up if I had to choose between them and those last 3 things.

Whatever struggles life throws my way – this is me and that cannot be changed.