Treaty perspective – to stay calm

If the Treaty is like Lake Taupō, faith in God is like… the sea!

Do you feel frustrated by much of the public talk about the Treaty of Waitangi? You’d not be alone. In the process of seeing justice is done – new injustices can be created. Imbalances can take root. Divisions can be created.

However – there are some important things to keep in balance.

Here is a very simple analogy – to hopefully give us all a positive perspective to remember.

PART I – LAKE TAUPŌ IS LIKE THE TREATY

If you’ve ever stood on the northern shores of Lake Taupō on a cold winters morning – looking to the snow-capped mountains – it’s stunning!

Lake Taupō is close to the size of Singapore. It’s a beautiful and big lake.

However, if there’s a storm, it can be a dark an unhospitable place!

This is what the Treaty of Waitangi / Te Tiriti o Waitangi is like.
– It is a beautiful feature of our land,
– …while in stormy times, it can seem unattractive.

Yet if we look beneath the surface of the stormy waters, there is a calm beauty still!

The substance of the lake is good – even if there are the storms of division that some create on the surface.

The Treaty’s story is also a faith story. Our Christianity is intrinsic to its beauty. Without our faith, there would never have been a Treaty – or a later honouring of it through the 1975 an 1985 Acts of Parliament.

We all have much to be thankful to Christianity for.

There are important stories here to know, value and tell – even if the surface of the lake is sometimes uninviting.

PART II – THE SEA IS LIKE CHRISTIANITY

A comparison is, however, needed – because perspective is important!

If only ever looking at Lake Taupō you might think it a vast span of water – while you were to pass to consider the sea, the lake becomes but a ‘blip’ on a map.

This is about perspective.

The sea is akin to God’s Word. It is unchanging and more important 1000 times over than the Treaty ever will be. The Treaty is temporary – with relevance to our brief time on Earth only. God’s Word and its implications are eternal! 

At heaven’s gates (the judgement) our race will not matter at all. The relevance of the Treaty will be in our past too. What will singularly matter is whether or not true wisdom found our hearts, to consider the Creator of all things – who has been revealed to human kind through Jesus.

For sure, there are storms on the surface of the sea too. There are Christians who misrepresent the faith. There are human divisions. These are more upsetting than those of the lake. They stand in direct contrast to Jesus’ teachings. They are shameful!

And yet, if we look beneath the waters, there aren’t just 50 or 100 meters of tranquility and beauty – but instead many thousands of meters, teeming with diversity beyond our imagine.

The enduring riches of knowing God are many times greater.

TO STATE THE POINT…

It takes wisdom to understand the difference between one thing and another.

Lake Taupō – like the Treaty – has storms and yet also beauty and value. There is importance to it.

The Sea, by contrast – like faith in our Creator – also has storms, but also beneath that surface a depth and scope of beauty that is many times greater.

These two things have parallels, but are not the same.

So, let’s moderate our frustrations.

Let’s speak for what we believe to be good and honourable, right and true.

But let’s also remember and know what is most important. The Treaty matters – but hardly an iota compared to knowing the Creator of the universe.