God and Nature

What are some of the first wildflowers to bloom in your area?
When you walk out your front door, what direction do you face?
How many days until the next full moon?

As a way to begin thinking about our place, both here in New Zealand and back in North America, we started our two-week God and Nature course answering questions like these with our professors Loren and Mary Ruth Wilkinson from Regent College. To understand our interactions with and our place in creation we first had to learn about the Creator.

What is our understanding of well being? How about shalom?
Were there predator/prey relationships in the Garden of Eden?
Do we have a clear understanding of life after death? Immortal souls? Bodily resurrection?

We looked at Scriptures that revealed to us God’s care for our realtionship with him and our relationship with the whole of creation. One of the most common ways we have a relationship with the rest of creation is when we sit down to eat.

How can we assess the hidden costs of the food we buy?
What is the difference between waste and trash?
Why does food taste so good?

Of course, we couldn’t talk about food without making some of our own. Loren and Mary Ruth taught us how to make pasta from scratch and treated us to homemade waffles. Ashley (Messiah ’12), Kendra (Biola ’12), Lauren (Bethel ’12), Jada and Katie (both Messiah ’13) were assigned to cook a dinner for 30 people only using ingredients harvested within a 100-mile radius of the Old Convent. From the taste of things, they passed with flying colors. For dinner we had fresh salad, roasted pumpkin, vegetable fritata and venison (thanks to Ben, Messiah ’12). Dessert, which had everyone finding room deep in their stomachs for, was homemade lavender honey ice cream and a lemon sorbet. Lauren proved to us how fresh the milk was when she came back from the farm with a wet shirt. Getting sprayed by milking machines - all in the name of fresh ice cream.

Other group projects consisted of researching the health of the ocean in and around Kaikoura, conducting a bio-blitz of the Old Convent and the nearby Hinau Track, tracking our garbage from where our stuff comes and where it goes after we dispose of it and building a chicken coop as a way to be homemakers.

A Chill Coffee House

We have a wonderful friend here at the Convent this semester whom many of us would describe as “chill.” She hails from a cool California school, and despite originally being from Cleveland (shmeveland?) seems like she could surf at the drop of a hat. Her name is Danielle (Westmont, ’12), and in recognition of her birthday we decided to throw her a super chill coffee house.

In true coffee house fashion, the night included food, hot drinks, music, poetry, artwork, and even comic impersonations (Ben, Messiah ’13).

As we found seats on couches and around cozy tables, with puppy chow, compliments of Kayla (Biola ’12), and mugs of chai made by Tyler, (SLC), some took the opportunity to admire artwork by Perry (Messiah ’13), Adam (Messiah ’13), Jess (SLC) and Allie L. (Program Admin).

We were all blown away by Allie’s (Eastern ’10), epic poem which made mention of everyone by name, and songs written specially for Danielle by Kendra (Biola ’12), and Perry and Adam. Josh (Eastern ’11) played a beautiful guitar tune for us that left everyone wishing for more.

After eating some delectable chocolate cake specially made by Lisa (Resident Kiwi Extraordinaire), we left feeling full of sweets, and glad to have the opportunity to live with and love Danielle this semester.

Happy Birthday Kooba! We're Glad You Like Lemurs and Coffee

Kooba likes Lemurs.

Correction: Kooba likes pretty much every living creature that crawls, swims, or flies on, over, or through God’s good earth.

Kooba likes coffee.

Correction: Kooba is a seasoned connoisseur of hot drinks and enjoys them on a level that some of us will certainly never experience.

On October 16^th we celebrated Kooba’s 22^nd birthday.

Actually celebration is the perfect word to describe the events that unfolded in recognition of that notable occasion. Although we were not able to incorporate all the creatures that Kooba loves into the festivities, lemurs did take on an important roll. A “Hot Drink Creation” contest was held in the dining with Kooba presiding. Each team designed a hot drink based on an assigned lemur species. The results were truly spectacular. With groups coming up with delectable mocha cream creations, zesty lime and spice drinks, and lemur faces made of flower petals.

We appreciate Kooba greatly and are thankful for both his excitement for hot drinks, and his love for the incredible creatures we share this earth with.

Environmental Lit: The Doorway Into Thanks, And Silence in Which Another Voice May Speak

We are here to witness the creation and to abet it. –Annie Dillard

In our Environmental Literature course, we studied and mused over works and authors concerned with the natural world. Although these authors had very different ideas about the “nature of nature” and not all would agree with Annie Dillard’s motto of nature writing, they all contributed to the evolution of environmental literature and we certainly learned from all of them.

Environmental Literature can be a cumbersome topic to handle within only a week’s time; Pauline Stevick, our professor hailing from Messiah College in Pennsylvania, wielded works and literary movements and theories spanning 200 years and multiple cultural boundaries. Her survey was an excellent cross-section ranging from Wordsworth to E. E. Cummings to Wendell Berry.

Needless to say, as Pauline guided us along the literary landscape of delight, students discovered some really wonderful poetry. One of the favorites was Robert Frost’s “Dust of Snow”:

The way a crow

Shook down on me

The dust of snow

From a hemlock tree

Has given my heart

A change of mood

And saved some part

Of a day I had rued.

So often we found our heads covered with snow this week as a phrase, idea, word or poem would strike us in a way to change our moods or save the day, so to speak.

Just a few of these “dust of snow” moments:

Re-reading the first chapters of Genesis and considering the literary features of this Hebraic poem made us appreciate humanity as a part of creation, endowed with the task of cultivating and protecting the rest of it.

We were often startled and delighted by the beautiful and different language used to describe both the natural world itself and the relationship humanity has with it. But this delight was deepened upon understanding the benefit or harm that can come along with using certain metaphors for the environment, whether they are the overly-euphemistic perceptions of Thoreau and the Transcendentalists or the bare-bones indifference or even antagonizing character of nature according to Jack London.

For a while, one night in our cozy upstairs classroom with the fire glowing, we simply studied a poem impromptu that Pauline observed written on a chalkboard in the Convent. Even for those who were wary of poetry, Mary Oliver’s “Prayer” drew us in and made us rediscover the beauty in simplicity. This poem was a doorway into thanksgiving for many of us.

It doesn't have to be

the blue iris, it could be

weeds in a vacant lot, or a few

small stones; just

pay attention, then patch

a few words together and don't try

to make them elaborate, this isn't

a contest but the doorway

into thanks, and a silence in which

another voice may speak

Birthday Haircuts

We all have things in our life that we would someday like to do. These things could range from learning a new language to running a marathon. For Kayla (Biola ‘12) one of her dreams was to one day shave her head. So, what better day to fulfill a dream than on your 21^st birthday? Not only did the birthday girl cut off her long locks, but Caitlin (Bethel ‘12) also snipped her hair and together they will donate their locks to an organization that creates wigs for children who have lost their dos due to medical conditions. Somehow Josh (Eastern ’11) found himself as our resident barber and so he helped Kayla enjoy the process by first cutting a huge mohawk, then mullet and finally the beautiful shave she finds herself with today.

Being our first full day back from Samoa, we celebrated in a pretty low-key fashion, by watching a movie and eating a pot of dirt (pudding, that is). Instead of getting gifts, Kayla chose to give a gift on her birthday. They were both a little nervous for the cut and a bit freaked out when looking in the mirror for the first time. But everyone here agrees, both of these ladies are stunning with or without hair.

Samoan Village Homestay

Samoa homestays can be a challenge.

It may seem hard to believe that living in a beautiful village on a beach in the middle of the Pacific Ocean can be difficult, but it’s true. As we attempted to experience Samoa as travelers, or “pilgrims,” rather than tourists, we found ourselves at times longing for the comfort of familiarity rather than the constant barrage of cultural differences. Here are some of the challenges.

-Learning Samoan. Language learning makes a huge difference, however it’s hard to learn conversational Samoan in such a short time. It takes patience, and willingness to laugh when at some point your host tells you with a big smile, “I don’t know what you are trying to say.”

-Food. Samoa is a land of complex carbohydrates, fried food. And coincidentally some of the best bananas you may ever eat. After a week of Samoan home-cooking it can be difficult not to wish for a green salad, but then again, how many times in your life will you drink coconut milk two meals per day?

-Kids. There are lots of kids in the village. The good news is that they LOVE “Palagi,” or foreigners. They’ll ask for help with their homework, want you to go swimming with them, or just sit and stare at you, wondering what outrageous thing you might do next. Sometimes, they don’t know when to leave you alone too.

-Animals. Dogs and cats here are not pets. It can be hard to see malnourished animals, especially coming from a culture where many pets are prized and treated as an important part of a home.

It takes patience with yourself and with the experience itself. However, at some point, you might realize that despite the discomfort, and things that you simply don’t understand, this is an experience that is changing who you are and how you see the world. Maybe it’s when your homestay “mom” tells you she has a surprise for you and shows you a whole pig that she cooked just for you. Or maybe it’s when you go out fishing with your homestay father and the rest of the village fishermen. It could be when a little boy gives you cowry shells and a flower, or when your homestay family cries when you say goodbye.