Two Systems in One Field

Living in Te Tai Tokerau, we often see beauty and struggle sitting right next to each other. We might see a thriving marae garden right beside a patch of gorse, or a whānau doing great mahi alongside the "static" of community gossip. Ihu (Yeshua's name in the Paipera Tapu) taught us that this is exactly what the world is like. He told a story about a farmer who sowed good seed, only for an enemy to come at night and sow weeds among the wheat. He was showing us that two different ways of living are currently sharing the same space.

The Problem of Entangled Roots

When the farmer’s workers saw the weeds, they wanted to pull them out right away. But the farmer said no. He knew that the roots of the wheat and the weeds were tangled together. If they pulled the weeds, they would destroy the good crop too. This is a vital lesson for us in the North. Often, we waste our precious energy trying to fight every "weed" or negative person we see. But because our lives are connected, fighting them directly can actually drain our own life force, or mauri.

Kia ora. After looking at "The Snap" and how the world is shifting, a question often comes up: What are we supposed to do in the meantime? It is easy to get caught up in waiting for a big event and forget that there is important work to be done right now. I believe the secret to a thriving life in Taitokerau is found in a very old story about how we manage what we’ve been given.

The Story of the Three Workers

Ihu (Yeshua's name in the Paipera Tapu) told a famous story about a master who went on a journey. He gave three of his workers different amounts of money to look after. Two of them went straight to work, using what they had to create more. But the third worker was afraid. He dug a hole and buried his share in the dirt because he didn't want to take a risk or make a mistake.