‘We Spirited People’ offers a spirituality coming out of our own experience. Through John Hunt’s personal stories, we will value our own stories, our family stories, the stories of our country.

The approach is grounded in Celtic Spirituality: the vision that the earth and people are good, redolent with God’s love.

John Hunt weaves together in a beautiful way: the threads of our own experience, the universal, archetypal experiences of humankind, insights from the Celtic tradition, good words from the Scripture and couplets for our heart.

For many of us, matters of the spirit have been remote from our everyday experience. Here is a spirituality of the land and the people. It is robust, down to earth, a volume to nurture our spirit, to see us through the bad times and have us standing tall.

There is something for morning and evening over a four week period. One can browse or explore it with a friend or journal.

This book will be warmly welcomed by those looking for a meaningful, helpful spirituality.

John Hunt is a minister of the Presbyterian Church of Aotearoa New Zealand, serving St Giles, Christchurch. He is in demand to lead seminars and retreats on Celtic Spirituality throughout New Zealand.

John Hunt is a taonga; one of New Zealand’s undiscovered treasures. In his books, as in his monistry, he helps ordinary people to become more aware of their spiritual depths and more confident in their expression of them. ‘We Well People’ is a successor to his first guidebook to Celtic Spirituality, ‘We Spirited People’ (1998) which was a delight, and is still in print.

Now John offers a Celtic year, a series of reflections, prayers, anecdotes and insights which show how the Christians of Scotland and Ireland saw their world over 1200 years ago, and relates it to our own daily life. As well as the Celtic vision of a good God, a good Earth and good people, we are given an insight into our own 21st century relationship with God, earth and other people.

On the western borders of Christianity, the Celts had seen their spirituality as an aspect of the natural world around them. God was present in their daily round of work, and in the cycle of the seasons. The ideas, songs, poems, stories and pictures of the Celts reflect this unity.

“He blessed myself and my house, my cattle and my dear ones.”

‘We Well People’ is arranged to follow the seasons of a year, reflecting the rhythms of nature, and the Celtic world-view. They saw at the heart of life every thing related to every other thing: the land, the sea, the creatures, the people. They saw at the heart of God, everything embraced in the harmony of Creator, Saviour and Spirit.

He realm merit of ‘We Well People’ is that John Hunt is able to convey his enriching message in a way that is easily accessible to all. His greatest strength, is that he is aware of God’s presence in the mundane actions and human encounters of everyday life.

John Hunt affirms people and shows there are positive aspects in the worst of us. We realise there is darkness and bigotry in us as well, but he also acknowledges this and shows us how to face it. His Christianity is inclusive and welcoming, and this is reflected in every word of ‘We Well People’.

I find to my surprise that I have been in John Hunt's congregation at St Giles for nearly a quarter of a century. John's services and sermons (some of which are on this website) are as fresh and insightful as ever.

John is a modest man and I recall how diffident he was whenhe requested study leave to follow up his growing interest in Celtic spirituality. It was a delight to see him return reinvigorated from the spiritual storehouse of Iona, "seeing the world with fresh, bright eyes." His refreshed spirit is reflected in the three marvellous books of reflections and spiritual guidance that he has written since. We Spirited People (1998), We Well People (2003), and now, We Celebrating People.

John has a talent for using simple words and rituals to mark and celebrate important moments in our lives - not just in church but also in family situations. Like his other books, We Celebrating People is an affirmation and celebration of the place of God in our lives. Not only does he show what can be done to make the lives of our families richer but he also provides suggestions for creating our own rituals. Reading this book, I could hear John's quite, humorous and sincere voice on every page.

Review by Winston Marshall

Giving thanks at the meal table is a familiar ritual in many homes. Welcoming a new baby into the family or a child beginning its first day at school are occasions for celebration. Wishing friends a safe journey and giving them a hug or a kiss is a frequent departing gesture. The use of ritual can ease you through a difficult time.

Daily events and daily routines hold an opportunity of engagement with the spirit. We Celebrating People is about celebrating the journey through life. John offers stories, ideas and prayers that might alert you to the presence of God in the ordinary and the special moments of your day. Written as a resource of ideas and encouragement, this book leads you to affirm and celebrate the place of God in our lives.

We Celebrating People is the 3rd book in John’s trilogy; We Spirited People, We Well People and now We Celebrating People. Each page breaths John’s characteristic manner of writing and story telling; short sentences, everyday images, written from the heart. The prayers are brief, warm and engaging. The stories evocative and laced with John’s delightful sense of humour. These are encouraging words inviting you to deepen your thinking about the ordinary but special moments on your life’s journey. You are invited to know wonder and mystery in the common events of daily life, in those occasions we so often take for granted.

The idea of ritual John suggests is, ‘an action that engages with the Holy’. Recalling a family routine from his childhood, John tells of his father ‘bedding the fire’ for the night and invites us to consider that a memory we might be carrying from our past, even a daily routine of the family can become an engaging time with the holy. ‘To ‘bed’ the fire expresses confidence and the wellbeing of the family through the night and the anticipation of kindling the fire in the morning carrying the promise of the new day beginning’.

There are 4 sections in the book, Celebrations through the day, Celebrations through our life journey,Celebrations in good and bad times, concluding with A Spirituality of Celebration. Writing within the Celtic spirit, John suggests Celtic spirituality stands in contrast to a stream of Christianity which is preoccupied with sinfulness and evil – the doctrine of original sin. The physical and the spiritual are one. Creation is good. Jesus saw the best in people and wanted people to enjoy life.