"Being Truth's Servant" is [never] complete!

“Being Truth’s Servant” is done and soon to be sent to the editor! The final touches absolutely required my month of visits to Fiji and Aotearoa (land of the long white cloud). On this trip I saw The Remarkables mountain peaks, and the remarkable animal that kept appearing to me was the black swan, known for being quite a rare sight. There is also something unforgettable about parrots flying over while you enjoy a bath in the creek, or the calls of the tui bird while you stand awe struck by all the spectacular views that make a person feel properly insignificant and simultaneously grateful.

Pasifika peoples and cultures are so lovely, and their eco-straws actually last long enough to finish your drink! I must thank my Fijian nada (grandma), lei (mum), aunties, uncles, and tuvale (cousins), for their wisdom and hospitality. I must also thank all those who have been teaching me about another Pasifika culture that holds a lot of the same humanistic principles, the indigenous Maori people of New Zealand. I am humbled how elders of Maori descent take seriously their role as kaiako (teachers), and I have always appreciated how Maori males in particular, always impress upon me as an open minded pakeha (white person), the importance of serving and protecting women, who are seen as having a power beyond our comprehension. On this trip, I also enjoyed learning a bit about the old ways of the Scots-Irish, not the fake celtic christian corruption we have here in the Americas.

If you have been following my work, you know I have been working through some challenges speaking out about some important inconvenient truths. I am only recently starting to believe a beautiful life is still achievable for me with the path I have chosen. I intend to use the inspiration I’ve gained here in the land of “new zeal” to launch a personal transformation of “new Mark,” whereby I prioritize self-care over the constant submersion in suffering that I was undertaking as part of my work. Now that I’m done crafting my messages of struggle, love, and life, and getting out everything I’ve had on my mind over the years, it is time to launch Mark’s List™. Stay tuned, and in the mean time, enjoy a final little sneak peak book excerpt!

Excerpt from draft book “Being Truth’s Servant”:

“I have learned a fair amount about the indigenous Maori people of New Zealand, having for two years dated my lovely lady Emma (who is a dual citizen, even if not herself Maori). In particular I have learned about the Maori concept of mana, which is part of tikanga Maori (Maori values taught from generation to generation). It resembles many American words, but my understanding is it most closely represents the transfer of wairua (meaning spirit), or our connectedness to the source of all life. Intertwined in this concept of how we treat each other is a certain individual integrity, commitment, and accountability to our different relationships with other beings and with the earth. Part of the spirit of mana is showing up for whanau (meaning family), yet also showing up for community, called kotahitanga (meaning unity and solidarity). Because the community suffers when individuals suffer, mana in practice involves aroha (meaning love), whanaungatanga, (meaning kinship, or belonging), manaakitanga (meaning hospitality), and awhi (meaning provision of aide and reassurance, literally translated as embrace). Another key element of mana involves rangatiratanga (meaning personal responsibility), and admitting fault or actions not aligned with the kaupapa (meaning the mission of community betterment and collective guidelines). Also a principle of mana is an attitude that the energy you put toward human interactions and encouraging others is more important than what you personally achieve.

A key element of the Maori spirit of mana is that the women are orators and diplomats, and in Maori culture, words and actions hold a lot of weight. The words of other tribes can be as offensive as physical harm, and males are quick to stand up for what is right for the community. The males are the protectors, but the females are the foundation. In the manner of mana, males and females have equal worth, and the hierarchy between individuals seems to dissolve, which plays out in all kinds of important ways. For instance, there is a mindset in educational environments that the teachers and the students both learn from and teach each other.

As a sign of their commitment to upholding mana and attesting to the respectability that their name reflects a legacy of good words and good deeds, Maori people introduce themselves with a pepeha, a statement of identify that describes their ancestry, including their ancestral waka (boat), their moana (ocean), their maunga (mountain), their awa (river), their iwi (tribe), and their marae (meeting place), as well as their whaea (mother) and matua (father), before adding almost as an afterthought, their ingoa (name). The degree to which a being aligns themselves with mana in thought and in action reflects the virtue of the person as one who either honors existence or just seeks personal advantage and personal achievement. Even animal life is held as sacred, and the taking of a life is seen almost as a spiritual agreement, whereby a taker of life must look the giver of life in the eye, as if to communicate a greater purpose for which the death must occur, and must in return receive proper forgiveness for doing so.

Most other cultures have mana or a concept like it, and believe we Americans are desperately lacking it. I agree that our youth are desperate for such guidance from their teachers, in school and out of it. Having unprecedented access to information, our youth recognize more than any other generation, the need for us all to be in harmony with the earth and other beings on it. Whether they realize it or not though, too many are repeating a mistake made by so many of their predecessors, in being too easily drawn to the falsely positive filtered world of digital personas. They are simultaneously in need of real connection with the old, old ways of humanity, and also in need of peace and escape from all the greatest worries the world has ever faced, which have been presented to us by the world wide web perhaps before we were ready, if anyone is ever ready. The cognitive shift required to overcome this perfect storm will require that all peoples and cultures educate themselves and take a more active approach in policies affecting the earth, starting with us, the U.S., as the world’s worst offender. Mana, I hope I live to see it.”