Zooming with St John Chaplains.

Blogging again?

 In frustration I am writing about a St John Ambulance chaplains’ seminar event that happened on Tuesday. Because of medical conditions I was unable to attend the last chaplains’ conference so I was looking forward to the seminar even though it had to be a zoom gathering because of Covid restrictions. The well-known Professor Lineham was guest speaker and we were told he was going to comment on the “Wilberforce report”.  I spent time reading up on it so that I would be ready to learn and would have done some thinking about it.

I was disappointed in his presentation. It was a mass of statistical information and for myself, who has worked as a Church minister for over 40 years and had 27 years working as a chaplain in secular settings, it presented really very little that was new information that I was not aware of at a gut level. While the Professor had learned the history of St John and its governance etc. I felt he did not have a good understanding of St John as an operating organisation. St John is a complicated beast with the St John Order, community work (cadets, FED’s, shuttles, fellowship, events etc. and Area Committees) and then the operational Ambulance side.  It is, though, essentially a secular organisation that has Christian origins. Most of the people in the Dunedin St John are nice people, and I love and appreciate them dearly, but most would declare themselves to be atheists or as the Professor called them “nones”. (No religious affiliation) I began there as Workplace Support Chaplain (Inter-church Trade and Industry Mission) I think in 1999 and in 2011 transferred to being a St John Chaplain, a voluntary position. I have had a long association with them. I have married and led funerals for quite a number. I have also led funerals for some of their parents, siblings and friends along the way. I have had endless lunchtime conversations, one-on-one chats, lots of laughs and occasional rides in the Ambulances on jobs.  On some jobs I have even been useful. (I have been chaplain to the Dunedin fire service for nearly 27 years and to a brewery for 26 years while ministering in a local Associated Churches of Christ until “retirement” at the end of 2013.) I continue with my chaplaincies and help out now in our local Presbyterian Church.  With lots of community involvement, and years of chaplaincy work, I have learned a lot about representing Christ in a secular context and the secularisation of NZ culture. (We did learn from the stats that NZ is a more secular country than even Australia.) I was disappointed that the Professor did not really go on past endless stats to truly explore “what they mean for your work”. Even the brief discussion later did not explore that in any depth. Why, for instance is Christianity seen as a “religion” and not as a “spirituality” giving a sense of spiritual “connection”? What is wrong with how we present it so that it becomes for people “dogma”, and is not seen as a living “spirituality”? How do people get the negative pictures of the Church that he listed off from the Wilberforce report? How might we as chaplains contribute to that negative perception, or how might we as chaplains “be” so as to change those perceptions? I felt that largely the day was wasted. (I am going to have to do chaplaincy at the fire service today that ought to have been done yesterday and I am annoyed that I wasted the day.)  To add context, I would call myself a “progressive Christian” a part of the “emergent Church.” (I was once described as “an evangelical liberal”) I am very Jesus centred and “incarnational”, and community focused, believing the faith has to be lived out in servanthood in today’s secular world. The Church needs to earn its credibility.

The "Venerable Order of St John."

I have deep concerns for the Christian element in St John. I attended an investiture in Dunedin Anglican Cathedral, with all its pomp and ceremony. There I watched people who in discussions at lunch times on station had declared themselves to being atheists, being “invested” into the Order and making vows that were deeply Christian in nature? I saw people who were members of the Order standing making promises to keep the faith, attend worship etc. when in fact I knew that in conversation they would sometimes rubbish the faith and never darkened the doors of a church. Now I say again, these are good people who I enjoy, respect and appreciate and who deserve whatever recognition comes their way. But the whole “religious process” within St John makes liars of them and in my view, cheapens the faith. With a bit of thought, can’t we do better? Traditional Ambulance dedications annoy me too. Ambulance staff will attend out of loyalty, but the words of the prayers are religious mumbo jumbo. (Some of the theology in one version is really suspect. We pray that the benefactors -i.e. donors- would receive eternal life!!? In any version of the gospel I do not think you can buy your way into heaven?)  We are discouraged from venturing outside of the St John Chaplain’s prayer book. If I am going to stand up the front and represent Jesus, I want to use words that have meaning for and communicate with the people attending.

In the little stilted discussion there was (stilted because of Zoom) I tried to communicate my passion about this, and I talked about funeral and dedication prayers. I told how I often introduce and word prayers as a “Prayer or affirmation” so that secular people can participate and not feel excluded. I do not see the point in using religious jargon that does not communicate clearly to the secular person. The secular folk we minister to have spiritual depth and longings they do not fully fathom. (like we Christians too) The Christian faith celebrates that we are brothers and sisters together in life, they sense that too. The Christian faith exults compassion, empathy and love, so do they. The experiences of sadness, loss and grief and wider accountability are Christian but also deep “spiritual” yearnings in ordinary people, as all these things are. I try to use ordinary language about these “spiritual” experiences so that the participants can identify with it and can be led, in spite of their “anti-religious” stance, to experience something of the “sacred in life” – God. That is better than jargon that washes off them that they just endure. (“Dave’s doing his religious thing – we’ll humour him.”) I speak from years of grappling with these issues. When I tried to raise these sorts of issues in our Zoom seminar discussion, people jumped in and in a scolding tone said, “You don’t have to apologise for your faith!” I am NOT apologising, I am just trying to communicate, to lead in a real and helpful way.  Why have people left the Churches and chase other spiritualities? – one of the reasons I believe, is because the language used did not lead them to spiritual depth.

Empathetic, meaningful communication?

I once attended a funeral with a group of St John paramedics. It was led by a friend of the deceased, was well done and “real’, but there was no religious content. In discussion after one of the paramedics raved. “What a great funeral. There was none of that religious crap!” Thinking that we are being comforting and helpful, the words we Christians say at funeral time, can offend, minimise and hurt. Words we might see as comforting can minimise the experience they are going through. As a young teenager I suffered the loss of my father suddenly.  Many well-meaning Christians came up to me at the funeral saying something like, “God loves him, he’s in heaven with Him now.” I nodded and smiled, but inside I wanted to scream, “If God loves us, Dad would be here now! He’s no bloody use to me in heaven!” A worker once told me of attending Church as he grew into his older teenage years, earnestly listening, praying and enthusiastically singing hymns, hoping it would gell with him and make sense. “But it was like a foreign language!” he said, “It didn’t happen and I wanted it to!”  In retirement half of my Sundays I sit in church listening to others lead and I am often disappointed, angered and frustrated too.

 All that to say that I was hoping that, yes we would get the (challenging) stats about religion in NZ and the information from the Wilberforce report, but then go on to explore in more depth what that means for what we do and how we do it. God knows, this is what the Christian workers need to explore in today’s world. What does in mean today to be “all things to all people”? (Paul in I Corinthians 9) What does the apostle Paul’s example in Athens (Acts 17) mean, when he began with their spirituality and talked about the God in whom they “lived and moved and had their being” and quoting their poets?  The example of Jesus himself is worth discussing. He talked of mustard seeds, yeast, farming, feasting and wages, and led people to think about the “realm of God”. As chaplains everything we do communicates about God, for better or worse… what does that mean as chaplains in St John?

I speak from hard experience and yet I believe I have made some progress. A new fire fighter attended a funeral I conducted. When I next visited his fire station he said, “Normally when I see a minister leading a funeral, I switch off and let him carry on with his waffle, but with you… I couldn’t, you talked sense.” Another officer, came and said, “I appreciate your funerals. You don’t have to leave your brain at the door like you do for most ministers.” I get feedback like that. I am journeying, still trying to grapple with such issues and was hoping to think these through with other St John Chaplains. I was hoping to find collegiality, insight and encouragement. I came away disappointed, feeling lonely and discouraged. I am a 72-year-old still growing, still energised and still strangely “called”, but last night I began to feel like maybe it is my time to retire. I’ll let you know. 

First Birthday Celebration.

My son and wife in Christchurch 362 KMs north of Dunedin had invited us to go to their youngest daughter's first birthday party which happened today. I had a peer support meeting to attend on Saturday, and there were other commitments in town. We told them that we couldn't possibly come.  Then Covid 19 re-emerging in New Zealand, which meant that these things were cancelled! Our newest car had broken down, but we did have two other older 1990's cars that could make the trip, though with a measure of uncertainty.  I was a little uncertain about our vehicles, but willing to take one of them. My wife was talking to my daughter who is financial administrator for the Dominican Sisters. She got back to us saying that the Sisters had a spare car doing nothing at the moment and that the sisters would be happy to loan it to us. "It needs a decent run" we were told. We decided to go through to Christchurch to attend the birthday. So we picked up this 2010 Toyota, on Saturday drove through to Christchurch, and today, Sunday, attended the birthday party with my son's wife's local family. It has been a while since we had seen the kids in person, so it was great to catch up with their growth and development, conversing and playing with them and to spend Sunday just relaxing in the warm sun at their home. Tomorrow we head back to Dunedin, and a St John Ambulance Chaplains Zoom conference day on Tuesday. We will have lunch with friends about half way home tomorrow. 

Simon our son (adopted) Steph (his Canadian born wife) Theodore (7) Vida (4) and baby Olive (1).

I am slowly learning that I need to make keeping up with relationships much more of a priority than I have been used to. I neglect family and friendships and make other commitments, (relating with other people and work) more important. That has been my mode of operating during my working life, but now that I am mostly retired I realise that I am still doing it. I happily report that it was really good to relax with my son and family today. It will be good also to spend time with friends over lunch tomorrow. A weekend well spent.

But age catches up.

I recall in 1969/70's, in my. 20's, my wife's parents lived in Christchurch. We would drive from Dunedin after work on a Friday night, (five hours) in a 1956 low powered car. Then on Sunday evening drive back to Dunedin, and both of us would be ready for work the next day. I recall a few years later driving twice that distance to meetings and then drive home. The roads in New Zealand are mostly not long straight wide highways. But now at nearly 72 years of age, in quite a significantly more comfortable and roadworthy car, I drive that distance and feel really worn out. I actually love driving! There is no denying that age causes you to slow down. "Gettin' old ain't for sissy's" my American mate says.

Back into Covid restrictions

 Yesterday the wider Auckland City in New Zealand went into Covid Alert level 3. People are rushing to get groceries and Covid tests. The rest of New Zealand has gone into Covid level 2 where there are lockdowns for rest homes, social distancing and no gatherings of over 100. We are in the South Island so we are reasonably safe. Initially it is for three days while they work on tracing to find out where and how it happened and how widespread it is. We are cautious because our "neighbours" in Melbourne Australia had Covid pretty much under control, but it got away on them again. So our Government wants to clamp down on it as fast as possible so that does not happen here.  I received an email from the boss at the Brewery that I cannot do my chaplaincy visit there today. (It was funny - the manager wrote "If you need a listening ear to let off steam, feel free to give me a phone call." - that is my role in the company! It was a nice offer.) I checked with the fire service, and I can visit fire stations but there are protocols in place. I feel for the Government and Prime minister. They have done a really good job, but after 102 days of no community transmission there was one family found to have Covid19.  There is now discussion locally about whether we ought to have Church on Sunday. The problem is that most of us at Church are in the "vulnerable" age group. They have not yet banished us oldies to stay home, but caution us about getting out and about.

There is an election to happen here in September, so the opposition party are busy highlighting the failure. Earlier they were wanting open borders and a freeing up of things. They claimed the Government was being too cautious. It is amazing how politicians' ideas change when they think they can score points.

Vehicle woes. 

Early this week I also had some other bad news. My 2002 Nissan Presage car broke down early in Lockdown. A link to the Anti sway bar broke. As soon as I could I ordered a new one which was "20 working days" out of Japan. At about 30 working days I emailed and they said, it is now "8 weeks away!" That expired on Monday so I emailed and was told that it is in a container on the wharf in Japan, still 4-6 weeks away! I had tried wreckers without success. I even asked an engineer if it was repairable. I had been looking at the part and stewing about a possible repair myself. So, late on Monday afternoon I buried myself in the workshop and spent a few hours grinding, drilling, hammering and ended up with a "repaired" link. Yesterday, Wednesday, with mist falling I jacked up my car and fitted it. Amazingly the plan in my mind went well in practice. It fitted! I went for a drive waiting for it to break, or rattle but it seems to be going well. 

There is something good about a plan that you have stewed on in your head, coming together! Whatever you are working on, if you have stewed on it and have a dream, when it eventuates there is a feeling of fulfilment, an inner affirmation that you are not so stupid after all. It may not last but it only has to last 6 weeks, hopefully! If we go into lockdown again, it will not get much use. I have another much older vehicle but it does have issues. Wish me luck.

Faith today

 Unsettled at Church

Last month, on the first Sunday of the month, the Interim Moderator at our local little Presbyterian Church was to lead the service. (A retired Presbyterian minister who keeps an eye on us) He leads a traditional "Blah" service and I get angry because it feels to me that he does not put the effort into it that he ought. It would not encourage a person to come to Church. We often find a reason to be elsewhere when he is on. But this particular Sunday I talked my wife into going, saying that we ought to support the place even when we do not enjoy it. It was his worst yet! I fumed all day! It seemed to me to be blasphemy! The Church is in a very uncertain predicament. The leaders are getting older and wanting to retire. One important person, the "session Clerk" who has really kept the place together, has really resigned now. (At 86 yrs old!) A group of "experts" are to come in to ascertain whether we should keep going. We are on the outreach committee and even amongst those on this more positive group, there are differences about what we want to do. After the Covid Lockdown the steam seems to have gone out of our plans for reaching out. All this has led me to ask myself, where am I? I would love to have the church keep going, I feel the community needs to have a functioning Christian presence. 

Well this month we decided we would skip his service and go out of town for a couple of nights away. On the Saturday we drove about 1.5 hours north to a town called Oamaru and booked into a motel there. We texted my brother who lives in Waimate, a township 3/4 of an hour north and told him we'd visit for lunch the next day, bringing lunch with us. We found out that his wife had been admitted to hospital in Timaru, a bigger town still further north. On the Sunday then, we drove through to there and spent time with both of them. Walking with my brother on the beach we were surprised by this seal which scampered out of greenery toward the shoreline in front of us.

On Monday we came home because I had been asked if I would operate the sound system and basically host a funeral that was being held in the historic Iona Church which is essentially surplus to our requirements and in the process of restoration. Driving home I was stewing about where I am faith-wise, because I have felt this real disappointment with the Church.  As I drove I thought out two essential statements that rang true for me. I went to the funeral, opened the doors, turned on heating, sorted out sound system requirements and controlled the sound knobs for a nearly two hour funeral conducted by a Baptist Pastor. Going by what he said, I think I'll end up in hell! I locked up and came home. 

 But in my stewing about where I am faith-wise I came up with a short statement…with two parts to it.

 

(A) “God is love, the cosmic creativity present everywhere and in everything gently urging all toward the good.” (The opening sentence of a creed by a guy called Jim Burklo)

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Note: This is not so much a definition of God, but more a way of saying this is how I see/experience God. NOT as an old man in the sky, nor as a puppet master pulling the strings, but a mysterious presence with us and in us. "In him we live and move and have our being." (Acts 17)

 

(B) Jesus, was a man who was so in touch with God and this movement of love that he displayed and taught the essence of what is good - God's essence. He invites us into a fulfilling lifestyle by joining God in that activity. In his day he called it “the Kingdom of God". To "seek first the Kingdom of God” is to ask in every circumstances and relationship, “How can I nudge the world (or more correctly some little part of it) toward the good?” I like to call this experience of "the Kingdom”, “Living in the currents of God’s love.” Jesus' Prayer centred on "Thy will be done, thy kingdom come on earth..."

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Notes..

• The theme of Jesus' teaching and life was this "Kingdom of God" or the "current of God's will and being in the world", "NOT getting to heaven when we die". Realising that opens up the gospels for me.
• The Kingdom was a mysterious growing presence, like that which makes a seed grow, or the mystery of how yeast changes dough when making bread. A dynamic life enhancing flow.
•  When Barak Obama was asked about his faith when he was a senator he replied, "So I have a deep faith. I'm rooted in the Christian Tradition. I believe that there are many paths to the same place, and that is a belief that there is a higher power, a belief that we are connected as a people, that there are values that transcend race or culture, that move us forward, and that there's an obligation for all of us individually as well as collectively to take responsibility to make those values lived out." That rings bells for me.

In simple terms - that sums up where I am. 

The Church? - I struggle with. It deeply distorts the way of Jesus, but it is still the place the Jesus story is kept alive, so I have stuck with it. Among the followers of Jesus, should worship be the focus of the Church? We have played around with different styles of worship and music and people have their preferences, but in my mind that is not "making the Church relevant". Jesus only mentions worship once! The guts of Kingdom living for him was servanthood. I think we need to explore much more how in our communities our Churches and we as individuals become a loving, serving presence. We ought to be saying, not "come to our worship" but rather "how can we be with you in love in life's journey?"

Another favourite perspective

 John 10:10 has Jesus say, I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.

Bishop John Spong was once asked, “What is the best verse in the Bible?” His answer… “The text with which I close most of my lectures is from John 10. They are words attributed to Jesus. …. To me, they are so true to who he is. And that's the phrase, ‘I've come that they might have life and have it abundantly.’ The way that I see Christianity is that its role is to enhance the life of every person. My basis of morality is this: does this action enhance life, or does it denigrate life? Does it build up or does it tear down?” 

When Bishop John Shelby Spong would repeat John 10:10 where Jesus says "I have come that you might have life and have it abundantly." he often added a line which interpreted “life abundant”;

"To live fully, love wastefully, and be all that you can be; and dedicate yourself to building a world in which everyone has an opportunity to do the same." 

 

 

 

Progress?

Looking back...
Over the last few weeks I have been sorting stuff, re- purposing or throwing out stored material of various sorts. Over the years I have kept things that "I might find useful some day" but have reached the stage in life when I can fairly safely say, "Probably not now." On Friday morning I delved into a final area of the garage/workshop. When we moved into the house over 30 years ago there was in the garage a concrete block "box" area that was used for coal storage. We were not going to be storing coal, so I put some things in the box and an old door on top of it. It became a storage area in the workshop for boxes and other bits and pieces. Well I decided it was time to lift the door and look into what I had shoved in there over the years. I found some off cuts of carpet, some timber pulled out of rooms at some stage, an old clock, an old water heater and an old toilet cistern. I cleaned up the timber, de-nailing it or turning some into firewood. I tried to get the clock going (unsuccessfully), pulled bits I wanted off the water heater and deconstructed the toilet cistern. It was made of copper sheet and inserted into a wooden outer box. It had solid brass fittings that I am sure still worked fine. It was made in 1968 and I had pulled it out of the toilet and replaced it with a "nice looking" modern plastic one when we redecorated our bathroom. As an ex-plumber I looked at the parts of this old cistern appreciating the workmanship. The valves had a basic simple mechanism that worked well. The washers could be easily replaced. 52 years ago it was an extremely well made unit. These days modern ones wear out easily, seem to continue to have problems with the mechanism, and if they break down, you can't repair it, you just replace it.  Is it really "Progress"? This old one would go for another 50 years if I accepted having old fashioned plumbing fixtures in my bathroom. I decided, no it was not progress. It is marketing... this old copper cistern I have deconstructed, was a far better unit than modern systems!

I could not discard the copper tank of the cistern. I reckon I could re-use it somehow, for old time's sake.

Computers...
I use computers obviously. I appreciate what a computer can do. But they are always changing. I am being told to update my applications all the time. Often there are no real improvements. Blogger is going to change soon and I looked at it, and thought, "But it is not better?" I am told to change my operating system. Skype is forever changing. Pretty soon programs I have are out of date and my old computer and the operating system cannot run them. Is it progress? I know firms that update their systems, throw well trodden paths and ways of working out the window, and staff have to cope with the "amazing" new change. Just a few years later more money goes down the drain again because newer systems are replacing the "old new system". (Which every body knew and was working fine?) Is it really progress?
Computers
I know a firm which when I was first involved with it, used basic old manual systems. They were intriguing to watch and the people operating them felt like craftsmen. They have gradually changed their systems. They became more and more computerised. An older long serving electrician employed there could not keep up, so was made redundant. The "craftsmen" learned to sit in front of a computer and their job was dictated by computer programs, and machines did much of what they used to do.  But was it really progress? The workers felt less like craftsmen. Others were frustrated.  I recall an engineer saying to me once, "I trained as an engineer, to work with tools, pipes and machines. Now before I can pick up a spanner I have to sit at a computer and sort out how I'm doing it, health and safety issues, and permits to work. Half my time is sitting in front of this 'f....g screen! In the time it takes me to do the computer work for this job, I could have finished the job!" Is it progress?
Woops!
 A local worksite is in the news. The international firm had spent millions linking all their plants in Australia and New Zealand together with a fancy computer system. It was amazing, people in Australia could know what was happening in NZ. Distance was no barrier. The computer systems keep in touch with everything that is happening throughout the whole international firm.
But..... last week some hacker has apparently broken into the system somewhere and mucked up the whole production system in all their plants. They had to send workers home and there apparently is a mad rush happening as they work out the problem, and try to work out how to do their production  manually until they can sort their computer issues out. They will lose millions I suspect. Is it always progress?

Now I know I sound like some old fart from the dark ages, but I think more often than we do we ought to be asking, "Is it progress? Is it really progress?" When we were put in Lockdown many people struggled with getting food supplies. We, being old were not allowed to shop. Our daughter did grocery shopping for us. But it was not often needed. We have an extensive vege garden, we could feed ourselves for many weeks without groceries if need be. We have grown and chopped our own firewood. We did not really depend on modern prepackaged food. Old fashioned, yes, but when things go wrong, so so handy.

I just think what we call "Progress" needs to be questioned more often than we do.

Three intriguing things.... Covid Level 1.

Taiaroa Head Lighthouse. 

The Monarch emptying out the tourist before us.

A blurry photo of a Shag colony - the boat was rocking!

Almost out to sea. The very tip of the harbour.

Covid-19 Alert level 1
New Zealand has moved to Alert level 1 now. There have been 18 days now with no new cases in the country. Alert level 1 is virtually back to normal except the borders are shut, which we can do quite effectively in our Island nation.  This has been quite an achievement which has happened because we have had clear, good communication at the top level of government and decisive leadership which has been guided by science and medical knowledge. The economy has taken a hit so we are now in recovery mode. We have been told that we are a "team of 5 million people" and the 5 million cooperating has essentially eliminated the virus in NZ. (Though the Prime Minister warns we still have to be careful) Now she is saying the team of 5 million need to do all we can to rebuild our economy. One of the troubles is that much of our economy has been associated with tourism, overseas tourists coming to see our wonderful country. Such tourism does not work when borders are closed. So we are being encouraged to "see and enjoy New Zealand" while it is not clogged up with overseas tourists. (or "Loopies" as they are sometimes called) I am thankful for our leadership, thankful that the virus was contained (we had 22 deaths) and thankful that life can return to normal.

Prime Minister of NZ (Jacinda Ardern) & Dr Ashly Bloomfield - Director General of health. Who have essentially lead the Covid-19 response. Both had good communication skills, both were knowledgeable and both were empathetic. 

Chaplain again.
We got to Covid level 1 at midnight last night. I had been stopped from visiting the fire stations during lockdown and since and had been told that maybe I could go back to being their chaplain at Level 1. So during the evening last night I emailed the Health and Safety man at the fire station asking for permission to visit again. This morning he emailed back saying "Yes start visits to the stations - would not like to have the troops robbed of your support." So my wife cut my hair which had got quite unruly, I trimmed my beard which made me look like the wild man of Borneo, and I headed toward the fire stations this afternoon. I have been visiting the fire stations for 26 years, yet as I drove toward town I was nervous. "What if they liked not having me around? What if they reject me?" All these sorts of questions crossed my mind. I went in and was warmly met by most. Others just said "Hi" as if I had not been away for nearly eleven weeks - I was just part of the furniture. But more than that I found I just fell into conversation with a number of people about things that matter. There was again a depth of connection - I felt useful, I came alive and it felt good. They got a call to an alarm at the local sports stadium (which is going to host the first Post-Covid rugby match in the world on Saturday night) and I got invited to travel in the ladder. It felt good to be back.... but as I drove home about 3 hours later I was so tired! ....listening is hard work! 
But the woman who manages us chaplains is wondering if I can take on more? I said that I was nearly 72, at the end of my career. She responded, "Never say never Dave. You don't know what could be ahead." A building firm wants a chaplain? I was a plumber, I worked on big building sites and have done heaps of building for Habitat for Humanity??? Anyway I'm back at being a chaplain and feeling useful.
Tourists seeing the sights.
Dunedin is built around the Otago Harbour. The Otago Peninsula runs up the seaward side of the harbour. At the head of the peninsula there is an Albatross Colony, the only colony in the world on a mainland. Every other albatross colony is on an off shore island. The Royal Albatross, a magnificent bird, nests in this area. There is a tourist venture based at the Dunedin wharf where they have an older wooden boat which takes tourists out to view the colony, to watch the birds, see the NZ seal colony and other sea bird populations. It was advertising half-price tours so my daughter talked us into going with her and her husband and a friend of theirs who lives down the Peninsula. So we drove down the peninsula to a jetty at a place called Wellers Rock, boarded the boat and enjoyed an hour or so cruise down to the Taiaroa Head where the albatross were. We saw these birds in flight. A magnificent wing span of at least 3 metres, gliding up and down and bringing feed back to their juveniles on the hillside. Another smaller albatross breed were chasing fish in the water about us and we could see seals on the rocks with their pups exploring the cliffs. Saturday had been stormy and cold. Sunday, the day of our boat trip was sunny with a breeze blowing. It was cool but a nice winter's day. It was a good trip. We see the "Monarch", the boat, plying the harbour virtually every day. It is a well known Dunedin identity, but this is the first time we have travelled on her. It was a good day. If you are ever in Dunedin NZ, it is worth a visit. 

Taiaroa Head Light House

Racism in New Zealand also.

Racism

The United States of America has been turned upside down because of protests about police aggression toward black people there. (other influences have inflamed the violence too) There are plenty of videos on the internet that show unwarranted aggression by police in America. Recently there was a story by a black university professor about how he was apprehended and aggressively held and questioned when he was just on his way from his parked car to the university to give a lecture. I feel so sad for the USA, for people of colour there and for the mess that seems to be happening there.

New Zealand, "God's own"

We New Zealanders are generally proud of the way we treat people of colour. We say we had a treaty with the indigenous people, and have this "partnership" with them. Indeed I am pleased to live in New Zealand because our ideals, and our laws are pretty good. But I am sad to say that racism happens in New Zealand even among the police force, though thankfully not to the same extent as it seems to be in USA.. 

Our family many years ago. You can see the two adopted Maori/Samoan boys and the youngest Fostered girl has Maori heritage. (The youngest boy is 40 this year.)

We have three mixed race children in our family.  The two boys (Maori/Samoan - now fine men with their own families) have experienced racism. When our oldest mixed race boy began a baking apprenticeship at a super market in town, he lived at the top of a street that ran down a hill to the main street of town, where his work was. He had a string of incidents where the NZ Police treated him badly. Early in the mornings he walked down the hill to work wearing his obvious branded supermarket overalls, and several times he was stopped and quizzed in a most aggressive way. Once he was driving our car from Sawyers Bay, the 10km distance into work and a police car came in behind him, followed him right into the work car park and parked beside him so that he couldn't open the door to get out of the car. Aggressive questioning followed. I took him to work once and on the Port Chalmers Rd a police car in front of us purposely slowed right down to about half the speed limit. We discussed whether we ought to overtake them. My son commented, “Don’t pass, they’ll see a Maori in the front seat and pull us over.” When there was a clear way to pass, I did overtake them safely and legally. As we passed they looked across at us, saw a Maori in the front seat, and immediately switched on their flashing lights to pull us over.  One went to the passenger door, the other to my door and aggressive questioning followed.  I was so angry (3 a.m. in the morning in my pyjamas and tracksuit) as they checked my license and registration and made their excuses for pulling us over I got out of the car, became quite assertive about their tactics and they quickly changed their mind and let us go... If I was a Maori young person would they have backed off?  Add to that I have observed reactions in stores when my boys as teenagers went in to purchase stuff. (It is one way to get service – they don't like Maori browsing.) But I was disgusted that it happens here in NZ. There are assumptions made about Maori (guilty till proven innocent) and I know my boys wore those assumptions. That is just some of the expressions of racism in our society.
But....

But I am not free of racism. During school holidays once, we had items stolen from inside our house. We then tended to get sensitive whenever we saw “unknown  adolescents” wandering our street during school holiday time. But I found I got more concerned if I saw a Maori boy wandering up the road. Why? Unconsciously I have been shaped by racists perspectives in the community about me. I make assumptions because of skin colour. It's no wonder Maori youth get aggressive attitudes. 
There are real social problems with Maori communities in our nation. Poverty, imprisonment rates, health and welfare issues, that are complicated and have to be worked through. But we as individuals have to guard against racial stereotyping, and racist assumptions. We need to fight it within ourselves, so that we do not act upon them. Once when one of our sons did get into trouble (as many older teenagers of any race do.) his comment to us was, “Well that’s what’s expected of us Maori, so why not?” When people live with racist assumptions day in and day out, it can pull them down toward those expectations, and adversely impact on how they value themselves.
New Zealand is a very good place to live, but we are not free of racism.