FOOTMARKS:  April 2010

“Don’t look a gift horse in the mouth”

A pre-Easter reflection! I want to speak of a topic that is usually avoided at St. Marks. I have been around for 9 years + and I have never understood why Whareora has never been embraced as the best thing going for this church. I understand that the genesis of the community house was far from ideal for many, but I don’t see why this still gets in the way of making the most of a wonderful opportunity that exists there for grassroots outreach.

It was St. Jerome in the year 400AD who first coined the proverb: Don’t look a gift horse in the mouth. It more or less means, take what’s given to you with open arms. If you are given something, a present or an opportunity, you should not waste it by being too critical or examining it too closely.

This pearl of wisdom is based on the fact that a horse’s value is based on its age, which in turn can be roughly worked out by an examination of its teeth. Jerome used the saying in response to literary critics who rubbished the quality of his writing. His writing was always freely shared in love and though maybe not the most polished prose ever crafted the spirit behind it was true. His original words are said to have been something like “Never inspect the teeth of a gift horse”.

I believe that the leaders retreat we had on March 14 was helpful in moving the parish ahead a little in clarifying worthwhile goals for the short - term future. However I need to ask why Whareora is not one of the outreach goals? The parish owe a huge debt to Cherryl Brown, John Nesbit and Alan Chapman in maintaining a meaningful St. Marks involvement in the life of Whareora – sometimes with minimal support.

They have done you a great service in that they are keeping alive the possibility that one-day St. Marks will awaken from its slumber and realise what an incredible resource and opportunity Whareora represents.

The potential for engagement with the local community through this House of Life is the limit of your imaginations. When it comes to mission and outreach St. Marks does not need to reinvent the wheel you just need to spin the one that is staring you in the face. In fact the House of Life may well be the path to resurrected life for St. Marks. I have many thoughts about how such a process could unfold but leave that to conversation with any who are interested.

Mark