Interesting day....

I have had an interesting day.

Soccer Guys and Girls...
I have told you about the soccer I have got into. Run by an organisation called PACT it is for people with intellectual difficulties or mental health issues. This morning I played a game with 22 of these folks. It was again just so much fun! Looking at them I thought that most people would write them off as the lowest of the low in the scheme of things. They are great though. They care for each other. They overlook the rules for the spirit of the game. They are totally natural, free and relaxed. I LOVE It.

Back at the office I did some work then changed out of my jeans and runners, had a quick wash and into a suit.

Governor General's visit....
This afternoon the Governor General and his wife visited the Habitat for Humanity site. They had a body guard escort. They had an aide in a Navy uniform and chauffeur driven car. I had to meet them, introduce them to various people and host them. They were delightful easy going people. I guess they would be considered New Zealand's top citizens.

After they left I put a pair of overalls over my suit trousers and worked on the house for a couple of hours. It was great, the family saw that a couple of us were working and donned overalls themselves and worked along side of us.

I bought some tea and came back to my office in my overalls to do some "ministry" work. While there I got called up to the Church Women's gathering to start the DVD player for them... they were having trouble. It was funny, in my dirty overalls I went up the stars and walked into a room full of my polished church ladies. They gasped and laughed seeing their minister attired like that in the church. They did clap when I got the technology working for them.

The variety has intrigued me. Playing with those considered "low". Hob nobbing with the "top citizens". Working alongside a lovely Maori family, banging nails, cutting etc. Dirty overalls in church amongst refined ladies.

It reminded me of a verse in a Rudyard Kipling Poem my father used to recite;

"If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with kings - nor lose the common touch;
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you;
If all men count with you, but none too much;"

it ends ... You'll be a man my son.

My dad used to fulfil those lines. We used to laugh he would rush off in fancy black suit, medals shining to attend mayoral receptions given for visiting dignitaries. He had rushed home in dirty plumbers overalls, changed and headed out again in his rattly old plumber's van, tools in the back, ladders and pipes attached to the roof rack, to park amongst the flash cars at the town hall. He could mix with crowds and walk with kings. He was a great mixer.

I am not so sociable and cannot carry it off as well as he could. I guess I am happiest playing soccer with my guys. Anyway, I felt privileged to have experienced the variety.