I was speaking to someone who had recently travelled.
Reverend Julie Guest at St Paul’s Church on Rangiaowhia Rd.
“Do you know where your forebears are from?” she asked me. “I think there’s Welsh way back in the bloodline,” I said. “Have you ever been to Wales?” she asked. When I replied that I hadn’t she urged me to go.
She went on to explain that she had discovered Scottish blood in her background, so made a point of visiting Scotland the next chance she had. “I can’t explain it,” she said. “There’s an immediate connection. As if the place knows you belong. There aren’t words, but there’s a knowing. This place and you are connected. I really understood what people mean when they say they are ‘grounded’ when I felt that.”
For most of her life, this person had not even been aware of a Scottish background and yet being in Scotland still had that effect on her.
I have also heard this described especially by Māori who have returned to New Zealand. Often, when asked why they have left a career on the rise to come to New Zealand, they say something like, “the land was calling,” or “it was time to return to where I belong”.
This sense of belonging, of knowing where and who we are, is something that Jesus worked to bring, especially to those whom society had shut out. When he sat and ate with outsiders, and offered healing from disease that caused separation, Jesus was offering a path of belonging to outsiders.
I write about this today because it is but a month from the day when we commemorate the massacre at
Rangiaowhia St Pauls. Photo: Benjamin Wilson.
The people there were chased from their land, their place of belonging. The pain of not being able to return is deep, not to mention the memory, passed through generations of those who were killed. Te Awamutu is a place where there are many are still affected by the loss of land and connection.
Jesus is unequivocal in his attitude to this. In Luke’s gospel he quotes words from Isaiah’s ancient prophesy to announce that he is sent to bring good news to the poor, release the captives, bring sight to the blind and announce the year of jubilee. And all those who follow him are called to continue that work. It’s a challenge.
In Te Awamutu there are many people who struggle, who are on the edge of our community, who do not feel they belong or are valued. Often those who struggle are then blamed, as if they have chosen to have a mental illness, or be abused, or be poor. When you are not shown empathy, care or respect it’s difficult to offer it to others, so a cycle of struggle, loss, and rejection leads to behaviour that repeats the cycle.
As citizens of Te Awamutu we can recognise the power of and need for connection. We can support groups that offer easy opportunities to build connections. One such group is the Monday meal held at St John’s Te Awamutu each Monday from 5pm. A meal, hospitality and care are offered. This is the love of Jesus in action, which permeates the whole gathering. Everybody present is better off for belonging here. Come along and try next Monday.
