Rangitoto in a summery mood from Forrest Hill
Thankfully the talkback chatter moaning that we had all gone soft for closing schools last week as the cyclone loomed are quiet now. Everyone's an expert until they clearly are not. The Kiwi culture is independent and doesn't like being told what to do. Historically, we are all about DIY and often cutting corners, 'she'll be right' as the cliché goes. This can either be life giving and slightly humorous, or a death warrant, depending on the circumstances.
We are all shocked by the images coming out of Hawkes Bay and Tairawhiti post-cyclone Gabrielle, particularly the Esk catchment, a usually picturesque valley that greets you as you descend from the windy, mountainous section of Highway 5 towards the lowlands of Hawkes Bay. Not many are old enough to have a sense of déjà vu.
Perhaps we should be less shocked than we are at the devastation in Esk Valley. In 2015, NZ Geographic documented the devastating flood of 1938, which had chillingly similar consequences to what we are seeing now. Once the sediment compacted it seems the authorities built a new road over where the old one was, and landholders installed new fence-posts over the buried ones.
Hard questions need to be asked about our national, historic hobby of resisting regulation and spending the bare minimum on infrastructure, not to mention building in inappropriate places. Let's acknowledge we live in a land with many challenges; a fractured topography, a massive coastline compared to area, active volcanoes, moving fault-lines and significant rainfall. Perhaps we need to be more collaborative than oppositional in our politics to get some stuff done in this regard?
Aside from contributing to relief efforts and recovery as best we can, the churches have an opportunity to watch and learn as we meet our many challenges. What should we be investing in? What should we abandon as we move to higher ground? Where is God leading us together? In these days we need to build community in love, without abandoning what matters. We too can ask questions about collaboration, building in the right place and looking to the future. The mature, collaborative conversation is about what does matter most.
'For we are fellow workers in God’s service; you are God’s field, God’s building.' (1 Cor 3:9)
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