About Christmas

It wasn’t the day
Or the hour
Of His birth that we remember
It isn’t who knelt
By His manger in worship
The matter or circumstance
Of His parentage is miraculous
But it’s beside the point
Each and every Christmas
We think back Two thousand years
And see
God
In His great Love
Removed His glorious raiment
Clothing Himself in flesh
Stepping off His mighty throne
To stand as an equal amongst us
He knew that He would face betrayal
Since before time began
It was already His Plan
To come and die
And rise victorious
Bringing Salvation
For all mankind
So
In essence
Each Christmas
We remember His sacrifice
His mercy
But most of all
We remember HIS LOVE

An Unwelcome Reality

In the face of a changing world
Where do you stand?
In the inevitability of our cultural extinction
What will you do?

Could you imagine yourself a refugee?
Assimilated into another nation
Just because yours lies hidden beneath the waves
Could you bear the harshness of asphalt under your bare feet –
And not the intimacy of sand shifting in the sun?

Can you imagine our children speaking foreign tongues –
But not the one spoken in these isles for thousands of years?
Our cultural heritage steeped in custom and tradition
Relegated to the dusty shelves of museums
Soon to be forgotten with the passing of time

The idea that our islands are sinking seems a farce
But the harsh reality seems closer than we had earlier thought
They’re giving us 50 years to move on to survive
Five decades to farewell our sacred groves
Five decades to mourn our dead long gone
Five decades to watch our land occupied over four thousand years ago disappear
50 years of heartache and pain
To set our house in order before we leave
This is our unwelcome reality

For Grog

This is my ode to the national drink
To the juice that makes you squint, squirm and lower your head in shame
Only to rise in proud stance to the call TAKI

This is for the first timers and avid fans
For those who wear their badges in scaled degrees
On their hands and knees (all over in fact)
This is for the conversations that flow along with the drink
Slowly winding down to a quiet contemplation
Each person wondering whose brave enough to call the next round

TAKI
The magic word sounds
The drink of the gods pours down
The poison spins round
This, well this is for the sounds of the frantic search for chaser
This is for the crackle of sweet wrappers
And the suckling sounds of mango skin sucked dry of all flavour

This is for the various ways of drinking
Some like they want to swallow the bilo along with the juice
Other’s like sipping hot tea
This is for the grimace and complaints of a strong mix, or the odd call that it’s too waicala
Served high tide, low tide, or in between
The levels dropping as the hours fly

This is for the different sized bilos used
And even the variety of substitutes
Ranging from mugs to porcelain bowls
Even the odd wine glass for the classy connoisseur
This is for the odd bucket, basins
And other odds and ends
That serves as the majestic tanoa

This is for reconciliation
For the weddings, funerals, birthdays, anniversaries
Class or family reunions, the odd encounter
The coincidental meet at the market
Rugby World Cups, Super 14’s and other rugby championships
And those moments when our thirst gets the better of us

This is for the yaqona of Fiji
The Ava of Samoa, Kava from Tonga
The Awa of Hawaii
And that potent stuff served in Nakamal’s in Villa, Noumea, Moresby and Honiara
Also in kitchens, grog shops, backyards, front porches
Vatuniloa’s, mango trees, village houses, sugarcane fields, University campuses
The list is endless
Those places where grog is served with relish
Whether five star or not

This is my ode to the magic of the call
TAKI

A Parody of Nature's Love

Mother Nature must really love us
She showers her love upon us each and every day
Raging sun, freezing storms, devastating winds and thirsty deserts
Volcanoes erupting, earthquakes rocking and waves surging
We feel and see her love for Humanity each and every day

Why does she love us so much?
Just think about it,
We destroy her virgin forests to expand our cities
We spill millions of barrels of oil into her oceans and seas
We kill indiscriminately the whales, the deer, the elephants, the lions, the tigers, the bears
And the list goes on and on,
In fact no creature of the animal kingdom is safe from us
Isn’t it a wonder that Mother Nature loves us???

She’s grateful to us for destroying the protective covering
That shields us from the sun’s rays
She giggles every time we dig deep mines into her face
Searching for gold, diamonds and every other mineral under the sun
She is happiest when we create landfill after landfill to contain all our waste and litter
Yes, I’m sure she loves us for all the fun things we do

In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if her love consumes us
Drowning our islands, flattening our cities
Burning our homes and killing every single human in existence
What greater expression of love could we ever expect from our Mother?

This could be food for thought,
How much more do we love ourselves?
To ensure our survival in the face of Mother Nature’s love

Pain

We’ve all
Felt it
Touched it
Seen it
Known it
In one way or another

It could be
As sharp as a knife
As blunt as a round ball

Lasts
As long as a second
And as short as eternity

It comes in many forms
In many ways
In different times
And in different styles

It drives us to shout out loud
Or weep in silence
It enables us to confront our problems
Or move along in quiet apathy

For as long as humanity lives
It is something we will never be free of
But with our ability to adapt
It is something we can learn to live with

The Art of Giving

There’s something to be said
About our capacity to give
The ability to look past our selfish pride
And offer help to someone else
Maybe it’s God given or maybe not
But I believe that it is something
Deeply inherent in all human beings

The power to release a portion of our wealth
Be it time
Be it money
Be it material worth
Or even a listening ear
The gift of giving is never lost

The best form of giving expects nothing in return
The most apt gift is that from the heart
The most powerful person in the world is the giver
Tis truly said that it’s better to give than to receive

Our acts of giving open up channels of love
Our willingness to give can change a person’s life
Imagine how much better our world would be
If everyone gave, without conditions
If everyone shared without regret
But most of all if everyone was thankful for the things they had
And still had the chance to give once more

Blessed are the givers I say
For theirs is the gift of love

Trial and Error

I’ve spent the last three weeks baking and trialing various recipes. One morning, I tried my hand at making waffles and it came out nicely (and I made maple syrup to go with it). That same day, I baked a chocolate cake but I burnt the bottom (too long in oven) and I almost broke my right arm whisking the butter and icing sugar for the cake. The icing turned out very nice.

The next week, I found a flapjack recipe in a magazine and offered to make a batch for breakie again. It was delicious!!

That following afternoon, mum asked me to make some more flapjacks for tea and I came up with a hitch and bungled the pancakes.

Just Thursday gone by, I taught the ladies in church how to make chocolate coconut balls (ChoCo Balls) that was a favourite recipe of mine from a long time ago. It turned out perfect (as usual) and the children loved it (as well as their mother’s).

Last night (by the way, this is one of my home made posts that were uploaded the next day), I made chocolate fudge and believe me when I say that it was a LONG TIME since I had last made that particular delicacy. I was hooked and wanted to try it again but I came up short and bungled the caramel mix (SHIT).

I don’t know how many more recipe’s I’m gonna try my hand at but it looks very promising for me. Mum says I have the makings of a good desert chef at home… LOL

I hope I can prove her right…