Water is sustenance of life that no human can ever live without. We can go without food for days, but not water. Every person must have water. In the same way the Maori understood this and knew this very well. This carries on today , where the Maori are fighting to preserve our water ways, because of the folly of humankind . Like the horrible oil spill mucking up our beautiful coast near Maunganui. If people don’t wake up soon there will be no clean water left. The Maori understands this so deeply, and so intricately. But no one wants to listen to us. They think we’re all poor, brown, dumb, and ignorant. Our greatest asset is our land - which has been taken from us – our water – which is being polluted. But anyway relating this back to how Jesus felt about water- It is obviously used to cleanse. When he was of a certain age and his cousin, John was preaching in the desert. Jesus came to be baptised in the River Jordan. He was baptised with water. Why water? Why wasn’t he asked to go and get a casket of wine. Surely wine was worth more than water. Water is a symbolism for many things. Water was included in the first miracle (encouraged by his mother ) performed by Christ. Wine was also included in the miracle and holds a key to some of the secret information about what was happening there. The water that became wine, represented the richness of what is going to happen in the next life. Now is the time for us to treasure the water. But when we make it to the afterlife, we will be living under the new wine. The wine is the blood of Christ.
The significance of water to the Maori, is that it is first and foremost an unmovable landmark. Rivers and Oceans were once the highways of our people, and so they were always acknowledged as an important part of the Maori way of life. So when we speak of our rivers there is a spiritual connection to it. Whether that water is a waterfall, creek, spring, river, estuary, or ocean itself. Each has its own purpose for being there and is imperative in maintaining the very delicate balance of the existence of Mother Nature.
It is also a natural food source, and the cycle of all creatures that live therein was documented (by memory retention and by intricate carvings) and followed (according to the moon and stars). This lays true also with the people of Jesus time, as they were pedantic about when, and where food was sourced from, and what was eaten at certain times of the day, month, and year.
It is all one big mystical code. – not the Da Vinci code which I will tell you right now is a load of absolute BS.
But taking it back to my people the Maori, we would just like to see these waterways respected and maintained for the future generations. I can never understand why, the councils and governments want to place sewerage in the water ways. Hello? Are you an idiot? The best place for our waste (bodily) to go is back into the earth. That is where the Maori have always put it. Back into the earth. From there it naturally decomposes and the soil becomes more fertile. But if you put it into the water, the water doesn’t become cleaner? Go figure? Who was the genius who put these fools in charge?
Jesus knew the water was tapu. That is why he tested his disciples, and appeared to them walking across the sea in the midst of a storm. He knew that the water was an element which takes trust, because we cannot contain it, water is free to move, and can destroy earth, and even disintegrate iron. It is an element that can put out fire. It can bring life, or death.
What I also want to say here is that, my hope for my homeland, Aotearoa New Zealand, it that we will maintain our clean green image, and our rivers will not become dirty like other places around the world. I don’t think I need to name them you know where they are. It’s just dirty, unsightly and not necessary. So come on everyone, keep it clean, green and of course pure. Have respect for it. Have a love for it. Because when the last drop has been wasted, you know who to blame. Don’t you.
No reira nga mihi nui ki a koutou katoa
Copyright © Janelle Murphy 2012
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