Hiruharama
Post date: Jan 01, 2015 5:39:25 AM
Farewell to Hiruharama –
The green hills and the river fog
Cradling the convent and the Maori houses –
The peach tree at my door is broken, Sister,
It carried too much fruit,
It hangs now by a bent strip of bark –
But better that way than the grey moss
Cloaking the branch like an old man’s beard;
We are broken by the Love of the Many
And then we are at peace
Like the fog, like the river, like a roofless house
That lets the sun stream in because it cannot help it.
It was a challenging 200km round trip. But must have been so much worse 150 or so ago when the Whanganui River was a thriving trade area. In 1850 Governor George Grey (who first lived in the house that Una and Bernie now own) presented a water wheel to the area for the flour mill. Tony has photos - he may share For purposes of blog I have used one from thewanderinghistorian.com
Jerusalem - Hiruharama- was home to Sr. Mary Aubert (canonised in our lifetime) and James K Baxter - who was given Saint like status though not because of his behaviour! Note they did not live there at the sme time. The place that was spiritual and earthly home to both is stunningly beautiful
Loved the church - which unlike some of the other churches has incorporated Maori imagery and art into the church - the Maori Virgin and child was stunning.
Seems fitting to end with one of Baxters Jerusalem sonnets called Haere Ra
