The other side of the world, we call the waters west of Chile. At least that is what the film has done for us. Understandable when you remember that the Dutch explorers thought in 1642 that New Zealand was attached to South America. They must have wondered about its Maori name, Aotearea meaning long white cloud. That name is making a come-back along with the Maori language, though everybody in New Zealand (a name the Dutch gave the two big islands when they realised their separate identity) speaks English. (There are over 600 islands, by the way.)
Most of us native English-speakers in the northern hemisphere are not good at recognising the difference between NZ English and the variety of English found in Australia. We are probably familiar with the Maori word haka, war-song, and treat its singers with appropriate respect.
The language we speak influences the world we see. If beauty is in the eye of the beholder, so is the culture and the achievements that a language registers. Katherine Mansfield and Ngaio Marsh are familiar names of writers beyond NZ. Ernest Rutherford was a physicist with a worldwide reputation. Today less than half the population of NZ identify as Christian and there is no state church. Catholic, Anglican and Presbyterian are the outstanding religious groupings.
The All Blacks rugby team was the first to win the Rugby World Cup three times – in 1987, 2011 and 2015. The team has a fearsome reputation.
Subject as we are to globalisation and its attendant mingling of identities, we may feel it to be something of a reproach to love our native land. But New Zealand and its present population point the way to a better understanding. When we remember the diversity of the crowd at the day of Pentecost and the visitors from all corners of the known world (i.e. the Mediterranean) we can enjoy our own language as well as the language of others and dare to feel some contentment in that.
If you have a comment on this post please send an email to Revd John King at johnc.king@talktalk.net Edited extracts may be published. To forward this to a friend click on the chain icon below.