Ed Said - The reason for the season

Chewing a sandwich on the deck I quietly observe all the signs of summer around the small space of our front yard: hot blue skies, a gentle zephyr and dancing leaves, a chorus of cicadas, a bumble bee fumbling with a flower, a monarch lumbering aimlessly through the air. A lawnmower growls in the distance. The big old jacaranda in one corner is an explosion of purple flowers that also form a carpet on the grass below, its ragged shadow covers the lawn in a cool shade.

Across the road our long-time neighbour Rusty – an older eccentric Maori gentleman – has his stereo up loud, as usual, and how appropriate, considering my observations of nature, that Howard Morrison should be belting out his signature tune, How Great Thou Art, the familiar refrain a powerful expression of God’s might and creativity: O Lord my God, when I in awesome wonder / Consider all the worlds Thy hands have made / I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder / Thy power throughout the universe displayed.

When Morrison chose to sing the hymn during the command performance for the 1981 Royal Tour, organisers were apparently alarmed. The single came out three months after the show in time for Christmas, went straight to number one, and stayed there for four weeks. It remained in the top 10 for 12 weeks, and in the top 50 for 31 weeks. How times change.

The song helps me appreciate the spiritual circle of life: On Christmas Day we celebrate the birth of Jesus (We are born). Then listen carefully and you’ll hear How Great Thou Art deal with first Jesus’ painful death (We all die), then his triumphant return (We will be resurrected). It’s powerful and thought-provoking stuff, even in the middle of lunch.

Of course, the real reason for the season has become lost in a whirlpool of fantasy and cut-price shopping. Spiritual security and a future written for us in the stars has been almost forgotten over time. Now the Christmas miracle isn’t the virgin birth, but how does a guy that big get down that chimney? Shirley Temple said she stopped believing in Santa Claus when she was six after her mother took her to see him in a department store and he asked for her autograph.

Now is also the time when we stop to reflect on the past year. And what a year it has been. Unprecedented. The elevating worldwide pandemic and American political shenanigans still make up much of the media soup. In New Zealand though, where Covid is relatively under control, we are happy to have other problems. Or at least we can appreciate a better perspective on our lives here.

These turbulent political and economic times have apparently also caused a change in our thinking. A recent global survey has revealed that money is no longer the biggest taboo topic of conversation. Politics has taken over. How times change.

What to make of all this? The answer, as it so very often does, drifts through the air from Rusty’s place, The Eagles are telling me to take it easy: Lighten up while you still can / Don't even try to understand / Just find a place to make your stand / And take it easy.

Thanks and blessings to our supporters – readers, advertisers, contributors – you are all part of the Mangawhai Focus team.

Rich, Mel, Julia, Bex, Worzel, and Gael, who is off to smell the roses after 13 years. Thanks Gael.