Check the map

Waimarino Bulletin, Volume 4, Issue 38, 10 March 1987, Page 4

Check the map

Have you ever wakened suddenly from a dream and wondered where you were? Or perhaps you have really been lost, say in the bush or in a large city. You ponder, I wonder where I am? Most people while travelling manage to lose their way at least sometime in their lives. The question, "Where am l" is foremost as one opens the map or chart. Perhaps it is truly time for New Zealanders to ask that question in a communal way. Where are we? And, where are we going? In 1964 many people told me that this little land was not in the modern world, that it had not caught up with the 20th Century. One North American visitor derisively described us as a "fish & chip paradise." I was puzzled! There were no murders. There was no crime. There was no unemployment. There were no poor. There was no civil strife. You could leave your homes unlocked day and night. Children were eager to pursue their lessons. And, the churches were relatively full with happy, supportive parishioners. At least it seemed that way to me, and you know, on reflection it will seem that way to many of you who will be reading this particular Facing Up. I wonder if we might not have lost our way! 1 wonder whether we need not take stock of our position, take a

look at the map to see where we are and where we are going. Funny thing, the KZ7 phenomenom was . very important to us, it certainly was to me! We were proud (and rightly so). We were united (and. that was good). We gave freely of our money to the syndicate (and that was generous). We were one on land and sea. Were we looking for a "Saviour"? Suppose that saviour had been a charismatic leader. A young German girl whose life is memorialised in the book HANSI was told at a Nazi youth Rally in Reply to her question, "Why hasn't the Fuhrer married?" — "He has given himself to the German People." Are we on the same road, the road that Hansi travelled. Do we measure everything by what we are to get, how we are entertained, catered for, made comfortable while events of the present create social chaos, homelessness, unemployment, forced farm saies and racial strife. Indeed, we do need a Saviour, but we had better watch out that we not make a mistake. I think that the map needs a careful check. The words of Martin Niemoller ring in my ears: "Gott ist mein Fuhrer"! They rang in Hitler's ears too, for legend has it that this great Pastor hurled these words right into Hitler's face. Bet your life, God is your Leader and Saviour, whether you know it or not!

Father Bob Peck