Thank you, Michael Dymond

Congratulations, Michael, on winning Letter of the Week in the NZ Herald last Saturday. I don't often repeat others' stuff but, with others, I have been so impressed with your carefully thought out and well presented statement I'm doing that this time:

MICHAEL'S LETTER:
New Zealand has been likened to Norway in areas of tolerance, human rights, near absence of corruption and so on. There is, however, one glaring difference, and that is income equality. Comparing the income of the richest 20 per cent with the poorest 20 per cent, the ratio is 3.9 in Norway and 4 in Sweden. In New Zealand it is 6.8, in Australia 7, and in the United States 8.5.

Inequality of incomes has a major influence on rates of social disease such as infant mortality, imprisonment rates, teenage pregnancy, drug abuse and so on. Norway has a low index of health and social problems, while New Zealand is among the highest. Now, we are focusing on our embarrassing child abuse record.

New Zealand has failed for too many years to live up to the ideal of a good place to bring up children. We only try to tinker with the symptoms. It is time to address the underlying factor, inequality of income. Everything else flows from there.

Michael is a member of the NZ Methodist Liberal Society and is imokurok2@igrin.co.nz

The Ca Pros Report

Some friends who have been following my adventures with prostate cancer will know that I haven't had a measurable PSA test for three years. That is, until three months ago, when it re-appeared at 0.2, the lowest measurable reading you can get.

We didn't broadcast that a whole lot at the time. We thought it best to wait and see for another three months. But. given my two previous lively resurgences, we had some reason to expect that this might be the beginning of another steady rise.

However, this week's reading is exactly the same: 0.2. It seems that the combined therapy of Zoladex inplants and daily Casodex tabs are continuing to starve the cancer. When you're ticking off your life by three-monthly tests, this is pretty encouraging.

But, of course, we actually should be ticking off our lives day by day, not quarter by quarter. We should be making the most of every day, every moment, For we never know what lies around the corner.

Today we will live for today. Well, perhaps we had better live for next Sunday, since I have one of my infrequent appearances as worship leader... And there is the parish newsletter... And Bev keeps reminding me about the shabby state of the garden... And...  oh, heck, let's get out in the sunshine with a book...

Thinking Ahead

Bev and I have been using the Thinking Ahead workbook.

We were prompted by the excellent article "Going Gentle into that Good Night" in the LISTENER a few weeks ago. That put us in touch with the publishers of Thinking Ahead.

We found it really stimulating and helpful.

So far, we have completed a three page statement about questions that may come up after I have gone. With my history of prostate cancer we think that perhaps I am a bit more temporary than Bev. But who knows? So we will do a statement for her, too. And these statements will be handed to family members and professional carers and anyone else involved or interested in our end of life issues.
Over the years I have seen many bereaved families arguing about "What X would have wanted" when they were arranging X's funeral. My view is that the funeral is for the mourners, not the person who has died. So I like the fact that Thinking Ahead does not produce a binding, legal document that must be obeyed. But I found it very helpful to think on issues such as :-

Do I want life support just for the sake of extending life?

In my last days would I prefer to be at home or in professional care?

Do I have issues of faith and spirituality which I would like taken into account?

What would I prefer to happen to my body?

Who do I want to be my end-of-life advocate, to speak for me after I have gone?

Of couse, we have given each other Enduring Power of Attorney over the legal matters of health and welfare and property. But these will operate only while we are alive. Thinking Ahead went further and prompted us on a range of more personal issues. And it helped us have good conversations on what will be life and death issues for us both.

We recommend it warmly, if only for that reason.

Whew!

We’ve been all over the place the last few weeks. The reappearance of my PSA a couple of months ago has not greatly influenced our priorities but this last month we have done some things we’ve been talking about for years.
We have –
-presented our Murder Mystery “Death by Cooperation” at St Austell’s Cooperating Parish in New Lynn…
- attended grand-daughter Lauren’s 21st - she just back from six weeks in Scotland and Europe…
- travelled on the Overlander train to Wellington – absolutely loved it…
- relocated a Wellington rental motorhome back up to Auckland via Taranaki. Only $5 a day plus fuel but the diesel cost more than the train tickets!
- flown to Christchurch and entered into a little of that lovely city’s earthquake tragedy – stayed with grandson Tim and grand-daughter-in –law-elect Casey in their cosy flat…
- travelled on the Tranzscenic train to Greymouth and back to Christchurch – fantastic golden-blue day with snow on the ground at Arthur’s Pass…
- been out on the glass-bottomed boat at Goat Island – fascinating, and a great advertisement for marine sanctuaries…

The problem with all of these trips is that each one involves four hours’ driving each way to Auckland before we actually start anything else. It’s the price of living in such a stunning part of the world, I guess… We won’t be able to stay forever. But, then, nothing is forever, is it?

Free Trade and the Small Church

I was astonished to hear last week that within a few years NZ could have a free trade relationship with half the world’s markets– in terms of Gross Domestic Product. We are already signed up to more than a quarter. No other nation enjoys such wide access to other countries’ markets.

The superficial reason wasn’t spelled out but it is pretty obvious: we are such a small part of the international market that free trade with us is unlikely to do great damage to any larger partner. When Australia entered into Closer Economic Relations with NZ 25 years ago they thought they had not much to lose. The same is no doubt the case with China, with whom we have signed, and India, with whom we seem to be about to do a deal. Trade with us will always be an unbalanced affair.

But hearing the complaints of the US beef barons and the Queensland apple growers reminds us that even our modest market carries some weight. Happily, the evident threat is matched by the skills of our negotiators and our economy will benefit greatly from increasing free trade around the world.

I think there’s some encouragement here for the small church. Again and again I find that the small church punches above its weight. I believe we should encourage more of them to develop structures that meet their unique situations instead of conforming to traditional expectations of church.

Hullo to our Canterbury Friends

You may know that I am not a slave to the latest craze but "chipping in for Christchurch on 15th" seems a good idea, so here I am in red shirt and black trousers (No, Bev insists they are dark navy - I'm sorry if that means I've failed a basic criterion) saying hello to our friends in Christchurch.
Our Bay of Islands Parish membership of a couple of dozen has now contributed nearly $6000 to Earthquake Appeals - mainly to the church social service missions. We received two or three large gifts from individuals and a lot of smaller ones. Some of you know that last year we had a benefit show of Dave's murder mystery dinner DEATH IN THE BAY. This raised about $1500 with free dessert and coffee provided by Paihia Pacific Resort Hotel, our friendly church neighbours.

There is much ongoing concern in our little community. We think our people will have more to send yet. But we know that, although most of our personal friends have not been greatly affected themselves, the ongoing stress for the whole of Canterbury is huge. We don't have words that will make it easier for you who are closer to it and may have to carry some of the heat of others' discomfort. But we do think of you and your friends and neighbours and the enormous challenges ahead of you. And we send you all our very best love.

Bev and Dave

Heart of the small church

Bev and I attended an unaccustomed presentation from a chief economic advisor to a major bank yesterday.

As he listed the half dozen shocks that the NZ economy has taken in recent years he said that what was needed was not some tinkering with the bits and pieces of the economy. What was required, he said, was a completely new DNA.

The rest of his talk was full of statistics and details, some of them frightening, some encouraging, but the gist of it was that recovery for this country will be a long, slow haul and will need some serious commitment from people at every level.

Throughout his recounting of our wayward financial affairs the elephant in the room was the word greed. He didn't use it once, but it was there.

We are still thinking about the implications of his talk for our personal financial affairs. But those three insights come back to me when I think about our small congregation.

• The small church needs a different kind of DNA from any other church; it has to be wired differently, to develop a distinctive character. It is not a small church pretending to be a big church. It is what it is, with the people is has.


• The small church needs to be in it for the long haul; there is not quick fix that will change its situation or suddenly grow its membership.


• The small church member needs to remember that the church is not there to fill one's own needs, but to serve the needs of others both inside and outside the membership.

Usually, we in the church like to tell society how it should be. Today, I learned something from the secular world of economics that told me something about how the small church might be.

Tobacco Advertising

Well, it’s great to see that we are now taking tobacco issues seriously. No visible retail displays is a good step. Increased taxes make sense. Encouraging people to quit is creative. Denying smoking in prison will be a challenge. But, with these steps, we will all be better off in the long run.

But when will Government take a similar stance on the most costly and damaging recreational drug of all? When will we raise the taxes on alcohol to begin to cover some of its unbelievable costs? When will we package alcohol to make people think before buying it? When will we limit the sales of alcohol to times and places and purchasers that are more appropriate than at present?

The time will come when the community will say “We’ve had enough”. Apparently, that time is not yet. But who knows when “the tipping point” will be reached?

Tai Tokerau - or?

It's the Tai Tokerau by-election this weekend so the name comes up quite a bit. In a few minutes of TV this morning I heard the Maori name of the region where I live seriously mis-pronounced on every occasion it was spoken by five different people.
I guess I don't want to join a protest march over it, and I realise we don't pronounce Paris the way the French do. And Tai Tokerau isn't in the list of 100 Maori words every Kiwi should know.
But we live in the land of Te Reo. Is it too much trouble for broadcasters and Parliamentarians to get to grips with the very simple rules of pronunciation of an important Maori noun in the context of a Maori election?
Language is part of what makes a people what they are. Language can be a way of respecting what other people are. That didn't happen this morning...

A day in the rain forest

A few days ago we rode the Rainforest Express through part of the Waitakere Ranges. Fenton was our guide, shoulder-length dreadlocks and all, and he and the driver gave us an amazing experience.

This 24 inch guage track was a remnant of 19th Century logging tramways and was re-established about 1923 to build the Upper Nihotupu dam for Auckland’s water supply. In 1998 it was rebuilt a second time to provide a small tourist trip into the ranges. There are ten tunnels, nine bridges and the very impressive Quinn’s viaduct. We saw cave wetas at arm’s length and a great display of glow-worms. At the 7km terminus we had a picnic under the shelter and climbed 160 steps up the face of the dam, returning back down the much easier footpath.

The Rainforest Express is a greatly under-rated half-day excursion, probably bested in this country only by the unique Driving Creek railway near Coromandel. We support the Bay of Islands Vintage rail because that, too, is a great visitor trip, imbued with history.

In these days when the great steam trains are no longer common, these tiny trains give us the opportunity of experiencing a different kind of mobility, different views of the environment, and more intimate relationships with our fellow travelers.

In a way they’re a kind of metaphor for the small church. It runs on a different scale, it has a different style, and its people develop close relationships in their common journey.