REFRESH ARCHIVES
Pūranga tāmata
1998-2023
Refresh Archives
Refresh is Spiritual Growth Ministries' journal of contemplative spirituality in Aotearoa, New Zealand. It has been published twice a year since 1998. Each issue plays with a spiritual theme that evokes contemplation and stimulates thought, prayer and growth. Explore the archive and enjoy the richness of contemplative creativity from the last two decades and counting!
Ode to Refresh
With deepest wells of love from Diane Gilliam-Weeks
Refresh Outgoing Editor 2021
To edit Refresh
Is to place your fingers in a stream
Flowing with God’s love
Into and through the heart of God’s children
To watch it sparkle in the sunlight
Swirl around mossy rocks
And through green tendrils.
You get to touch it! Feel it! Splash it!
And every drop and trickle
Pours into your own God river
Forever flowing.
Explore the Refresh Archive
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The Contemplative Heart | Dec 2023
Who or what is the heart of contemplation? How has your practice changed your perception of the heart?
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Gifts for the Church | July 2023
Exploring a way through the valley. What are the contemplative gifts for the future of the Church?
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The Hope | Dec 2022
Advent is a time of expectant waiting. How can we live honest, deep, hope-filled lives in uncertain times?
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The Dance | July 2022
Contemplative spirituality is full of references to ‘The Dance’? What is the dance for us here, now, in Aotearoa?
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The Deep | Dec 2021
What does it mean to ‘set our heart upon the deep’? A contemplative exploration of the deep places.
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Practice | July 2021
An exploration of the contemplative practices that shape our lives.
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Spirituality | Dec 2021
A special edition celebrating the work of David Crawley on his retirement from Laidlaw College.
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Good News | July 2020
What does Good News in anxious times sound like from a contemplative perspective?
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Surrender | Dec 2020
What enables us to surrender our very selves to God’s loving embrace?
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Joy | July 2019
How do we hold the paradox of desolation and joy in being human?
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Cosmos | Dec 2019
An intriguing conversation between theology and cosmic discoveries.
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Seize Life! | July 2018
How does a contemplative stance help us make the most of the gift of life?
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Mortality | Dec 2018
Exploring contemplative perspectives that shape our journey toward death.
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Resistance | July 2017
How does our resistance to a loving, wooding God manifest itself?
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Like A Child | Dec 2017
Exploring the invitation of Jesus to be like a child - simple and elemental.
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Silence | July 2016
Approaching the invitations and challenges of silence, contemplatively.
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Neighbour | Dec 2015
Our sacred texts ask, who does God want us to view as our neighbour?
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Just Peace | July 2015
Exploring contemplative responses to questions of peace and peace-making.
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Letting Go | Dec 2014
Contemplative explorations of the grace, loss and power of letting go.
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Image of God | Jul 2014
ExplorING the stunning variety of ways God appears to us and relates with us.
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Meaning to Live | Dec 2013
The essence of this theme is discovering love and finding meaning in times of darkness.
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Waiting | July 2013
Exploring the theme of waiting – with God, on God, for justice, for peace, for healing, for birth or death.
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I and Thou | Dec 2012
A contemplative exploration of the ‘Via Unitiva’ and the idea of ‘One and Other’.
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Healing | July 2012
Vulnerable and powerful explorations of healing, woundedness, grace and wholeness.
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Wooed by God | December 2011
Intimate, contemplative explorations of the God who desires us and draws us into union.
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Refresh-Lite Newsletter | Dec 2010
Introducing new Refresh editor, Diane Gilliam-Weeks and SGM Workgroup members.
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Storytelling | July 2010
Explorations into storytelling and spirituality.
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Recession | Dec 2009
A contemplative response to global recession.
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Faith | July 2009
An exploration of faith in contemplative spirituality.
Refresh Archives 1998-2008
December 2008 Earth and Spirit
July 2008 Trinity and Spirituality
December 2007 Spirituality and Justice
July 2007 Encountering Jesus
December 2006 Creativity and Spirituality
July 2006 Reel Light: Film and Spirituality
December 2005 Intimations of Life
July 2005 Amazing Grace
December 2004 Pilgrimage
July 2004 Meditation
December 2003 Spirituality Is ...
July 2003 Forgiveness
December 2002 Spiritual abuse
July 2002 Spirit and Shadow
December 2001 Soul-Tending
July 2001 Contemplative and Contemporary
December 2000 The Presence of Absence
July 2000 Exploring Our Mystical Traditions
December 1999 Jubilee Time
July 1999 Celtic Spirituality
December 1998 The Glory of Age
July 1998 Spirituality and Beauty
Subscribe to Refresh
Printed copies of Refresh can be posted to your home (if you live in New Zealand). Simply fill out the form to join the SGM Mailing List. You can receive a printed copy of Refresh twice a year, our annual Calendar of Retreats/Events and the SGM e-newsletter.
We invite you to consider making a one-off, or regular annual koha of $30 to support the distribution of this unique journal presenting an Aotearoa, New Zealand perspective on contemplative Christian spirituality.
~ Bruce Maden, SGM Workgroup Convenor
