True words spoken by a lady I admire.

Many years ago our severely handicapped foster daughter needed to find a secondary school to attend. We took her to the various options and our final visit was to Queens High School in Dunedin. We waited in the foyer and watched girls going to and fro. In due course a friendly lady (the school principal) came down the hall and ushered us into her office. Two little dogs were sniffing at our feet as we settled into our seats. Pania our daughter was quite delighted and beamed all over as the principal introduced her to the dogs. We sat and talked. This lady talked directly to Pania, not just about her. She told us about a "pastoral care plan" and showed us the details. She spoke of the possibilities and was keen for Pania to relate in normal classes. The whole atmosphere, values and enthusiasm this lady created made the choice of schools a "no-brainer". Queens High School was Pania's secondary school and she loved it. This lady's name was Pat Harrison, she is now Dame Pat Harrison. She is well retired from teaching now but the local paper had a piece of her writing in Saturday's paper. I share with you a paragraph which I find puts into words what I often find annoying and disturbing about perspectives and directions in today's world. Dame Pat writes: -

"I've got to wondering if we have ideals now. If we do they have to be polished up into cost effectiveness and measured if they are to have any value. I think that something called outputs determines the worth of an ideal now, and because you can count outputs, ideals get in the way. Anyhow, how can we measure improving a human condition? Or making a kid feel good about achieving, when for some a big achievement looks positively minute in the scheme of things? With this fetish for measurement, a new language is abroad now. I have not mastered it; nor will I. That language is raw and passionless and without humanity. It seems to be bred from imposition, control and restriction, three pretty damning elements."

In my experience, in Churches, Government departments, local politics, Social work agencies, industries, and even in groups like Habitat for Humanity, "outputs" distort our human journey, our priorities and our perspectives on life. These comments have a ring of truth about them. I say "Amen! Dame Pat! You tell them!"