sustain:if:able kiwi

God at the races? you bet!

I went to the races yesterday, specifically, the New Zealand Cup, our nation’s most prestigious racing day.

1. I was struck, moving to Christchurch in 2004, at the buzz around the New Zealand Cup. What was going on? What excited people? What did it say about our society, including our local Canterbury society?
2. I teach a course that includes skills in listening to the everyday narratives of people, groups, communities and culture. One way to listen is to participate and observe people on festivals and public events. That includes the New Zealand Cup.
3. Being on sabbatical gives me time to do research, including attending a community festival, like the New Zealand Cup, with the hope of writing a paper on the everyday narratives of Kiwi’s at such events.
4. I found another Christian also interested in being a listener and learner and so felt some echo of Luke 10:1-12, in which Jesus sends out the disciples in 2’s.
5. I am good at inviting visitors to my church place, even though this is often an unfamiliar place for the people I invite. So it is good for me to reverse the roles, and to find myself in an unfamiliar world, to feel out of my depth and unsure of myself.

So I went to the races yesterday. I saw some things that moved me, including the celebration of fashion and colour and style. This seemed to echo the affirmation of God in Genesis 1 that creation is indeed good. I saw some things that disturbed me, including the vulnerable situations that young female drinkers place themselves in. This seemed to echo the reality of Genesis 3, in which God’s creation is vandalised. I saw some things that surprised me, including the singing of the national anthem and the huge crowds, despite being in the middle of a global credit crisis. I have much to think about, including what it means to speak of God’s redemption given the disparities of wealth in our society. How does a Christian respond to the vast amounts of money spent at a racetrack placed bang, smack in the middle of Addington, one of the poorer suburbs in our city?

I must also note that my presence seemed to greatly surprised some people, especially the couple who nearly fell off their seat when I told them I was a church minister. It seems that there are some places those called to be Christ-lights in the world are not meant to darken.