The local newspaper, the Otago Daily Times turns 150 years tomorrow. They celebrated by putting on a free community concert at Dunedin's new stadium. You had to put a gold coin donation into a bucket for "can kids" which I think is a kids cancer appeal.- Well 50% of the money went to the kids. The concept of the community concert was quite good. It was an OK concert. I struggled to hear the words of the songs and even of the announcers from where I was sitting. It was loud enough but somehow distorted. I haven't worked out whether it is me going deaf, the sound system or the presenters. I enjoyed the occasion, the music and the dancers. :-) I even enjoyed seeing the stadium in action.
The thing that rankled about the concert is that it seemed also to be a celebration of the building of the stadium. At some stages during the concert it seemed like the "old boys network" of the city were saying, "See we won!" The stadium was built in spite of quite a lot of opposition. There were, in my view, some questionable communications and politicking and it has laid a substantial financial burden on the city. ( i.e. Rate payers like me.) I like the stadium, it is a good addition to an area where there are a number of sport facilities. But I was not a fan of the stadium. It seemed to me the city fathers had put a lot of money into the old rugby ground, building all sorts of additions. Then a relatively short time later they decided it was not good enough, and now have poured untold money into this new stadium. I think it is great pity somebody did not do some future planning a long time ago. It would have been a lot cheaper all around. I also question why one sector of the community, i.e. the rugby fraternity, gets so much assistance from public money. (This goes wider than just the stadium) The gloating about the stadium rankled, because I think those opposed had some legitimate concerns, some of which have been vindicated by financial hassles within the council. Now it is a reality, I hope it gets used well.
Fifty years ago when the paper turned 100 I was a paper boy getting up early every morning and delivering the Otago Daily Times. I became a skilled paper boy. I could fold papers better than others, carry more papers than others and deliver faster. At one stage I was delivering papers in the morning and again with the evening paper. Sometimes during holiday times I would do three runs with the evening paper. I enjoyed my paper runs partly because as a loner in a fairly crowded family I could have time alone doing my own thinking. That year they gave us each a book of cartoons from the cartoonist, a very clever cartoonist, by the name of Sid Scales. I still have my copy.
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| A photo taken about 20 minutes before the main concert. |
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| The book that they gave me as a paper boy 50 years ago. |
"Gee you take on some tricky subjects!"
This is what a man told me about the subject of our service this morning. I told them last week I was going to tell them how to vote. I think some people turned up just to check out what I was going to say. I remained "neutral", I did not push one party above the other. What I did was to raise the sorts of things I believe followers of Jesus need to consider as they cast a vote on election day. In NZ election day is on November 26th. I suspect the National Party that is currently government will be returned. Here is the outline of my sermon.
As a political party works out how it handles the economy, it must include caring for the poor.
I pointed to biblical passages in the Old Testament where the understanding of God is that he had a concern for the poor. Consistently the biblical writers highlight that the nation if it is living God's ways, will not neglect the needs of the poor. The prophets of old in a sense warn "Neglect the poor at your peril!" They talked in terms of the judgement of God, but the language rightly understood is that they are saying the consequences of neglecting the poor is bad for any nation. (We could widen that to include the world economy) Every party thinks that its way of handling the economy is better than the other. We must check to see that they support the needy. The National Party has billboards up saying "Vote National for a brighter future!" or some such wording. The sceptic in me wants to get a paint can and add the question, "For whom?" That's the question I believe we need to ask of any party's economic plans.
There are wider important issues to consider than just the economy.
As the parties campaign you get the feeling that the economy is the only issue at steak. But there are other issues. We need to be asking "What sort of ethos do this party's policies encourage in our country?" Are we accepting of other cultures? How do we value our people who are "different"? We can think of people with mental health or intellectual difficulties. Is our education system just geared toward fitting people to participate in the economic world, or do we try to build more rounded, whole people, able to appreciate wider and deeper aspects of life? Are any particular groups made to be scapegoats for some of the ills of society? Do the policies feed on stereotype ideas of various groups? We need to be asking as we select the party to vote for, "What sort of society do we want New Zealand to be?"
We need to have leadership in Government who are willing to look after the world we live in.
Our world is struggling to cope with the western life style. We are running out of oil. The oil we get these days is a lot harder to extract and will not last for ever. This predicament will put pressure on the economies, increase tensions between countries and ultimately really impact on the poor and powerless. We are contributing to global warming and ultimate significant and damaging climate change. These are just a couple of indicators that the planet is under stress from our lifestyle. As followers of Jesus we are called to care for this earth that we have been gifted. It is also a justice issue. What sort of earth are we going to leave for future generations? Whoever is in government needs to be tackling these big questions. The times we live in require leaders who encourage exploration of these issues. We need to be finding ways we can adapt to these realities and still have a good lifestyle. As a society we will have to modify our behaviour, find solutions and make changes. The party we choose to vote for must have the insight to at least be facing up to these circumstances, now before it is too late.
Anyway that's my thinking. I think I'll be voting for the Labour party, even though they seem a bit at a loss at the moment. We are also having a referendum about our voting system. I like our current "Mixed Member Proportional" electoral system. I think it is fair, more truly representative of the will of the people, and allows the voice of the smaller parties to be heard. These often bring a more careful consideration of issues and some modifying of more rigid perspectives.
That's my thoughts tonight. Tomorrow is my day off!
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