Kiwi kindness – was it just a nine-week wonder?

citizens bringing Covid-19 infections across the border. Perhaps we’re displaying our innate xenophobia, or perhaps we’re just forgetful about how sneaky Covid-19 is.

Can we recall that great and glorious day when we hit four weeks with no new community transmission? Not only did the PM do a little dance, but “Aunty Cindy” also warned us and warned us again. There would surely be more cases found. Perhaps we didn’t want to hear that. Maybe kindness didn’t extend to the possibly infected tens of thousands of citizens exercising their human right to come home and to flee other risky countries.

I wonder if kindness is a bit of a mystery in practice? It’s an aspect of love in all of the world’s great religions and philosophical systems. They all urge us to love one another and to love God. “But how?” I hear you ask. St Paul was one of the inkspillers who tried to spell it out. He wrote that love looks like remembering to be patient. And then being patient some more. He said that love chooses not to hold on to resentment. Love puts your interests before mine. Love doesn’t get ratty, spiteful, or rude – on Facebook or Twitter. Love doesn’t keep a record of every one of your many egregious mistakes or failings. And when it sees or hears injustice or untruth, love speaks up.

In short, love looks like regularly doing kind stuff. The gift of food. The kind greeting. The “East Coast wave”. Recently, our church has buried some who migrated here after World War II to flee post-war austerity. New Zealand was seen as a haven. We welcomed them then. It’s time for us to dig into that kindness that they experienced, as strangers, when they arrived in the 1940s and 50s. We’re back into austerity. Kindness will help us through.