THE FAR HORIZON

When you’re on the open ocean for days on end without instruments or landmarks, you need a wayfinder who can at least read signs like sunrise, which way swells are running in relation to that, kei hea ngā tāwake, ngā whetu, me ngā mea.  The very best wayfinders are those who, even blind, can sense the different swell patterns moving under the waka and always know the direction they’re moving in. 

Although most of us will never know how to navigate a waka, the principles that get it and its crew from one point to another are the same ones that get us and our whānau through life.  And for that we do have the necessary knowledge, either as individuals, whānau or hapū.

When my grampa was young his mother launched him towards a horizon in which Prime Ministerial office figured.  But instead he met my nanna and set his own course elsewhere.  Even though his destination was not the one she had in sight, his mother had shown him the horizon existed, and he did the rest.  Teaching tamāriki that the horizon exists and giving them the goods to get there is the job of whānau.  Let us do it.

When the kaka hits the kōwhiuwhiu, depending on what skills, knowledge and qualities are needed, my whānau know who turn to.  If it’s diplomacy, then it wouldn’t be me – but there is always someone.  And even when we do have to go outside ourselves, e.g. to a lawyer to navigate the complexities of probate, we hang onto the hoe tere and add the knowledge to our navigation chart.  Knowledge of what’s needed to get to a particular point on the horizon belongs to whānau.  Let us use it.

At age two my kōtiro had a fall that left her looking like a ngāngara.  When he saw her, one of my uncles demanded to know if she’d been hit and, if not, please explain!  I was blown away with gratitude that he was watching and willing to intervene in the course of her life. Storms on the horizon of one whānau can be seen by others within the hapū. Let us act on it.

On Saturday morning there was a White Ribbon concert in Kaitāia aimed at curbing family violence.  Awesome.  But unless whānau did the mahi, used their knowledge and acted on what they sensed, the horizon didn’t change for all those who got the bash on Saturday night.  Enjoy the initiatives that come in from outside, but don’t lose sight of the horizon.

In the great uncharted course of life the most desirable destination for us and our whānau is heaven, however we define that.  We won’t always physically see the horizon or the hazards between us and it.  But we can always call on wisdom and te wairua tapu to help us sense what’s going on in our whānau and keep it moving in the right direction.  Haerenga mīharo!