OUR FAMILY
I am you and we are we;
our bond is in the Soul, the One Soul, the radiant love of God.
The Soul is love, and all people love.
We are whole and inseparable by this fact and hence,
we are one global family in its lived expression.
Serge Benhayon
Family relationships are the practice ground from which we learn about relating with others, to then expand the concept and experience of family into community and beyond.
Although we are born into families and can understand this to be those connected through bloodlines, in truth we all share the same experiences of love, loss and change - the human commonality that bonds us all.
In this section we will explore true family in terms of elders, men, women, children, and young people and the responsibilities each of these hold within our family and community life.
The word whanau is often translated as ‘family’, however, there is a fuller meaning that includes a physical and soulful connection to those whom you care for and/or have care of, whether related by bloodlines or not.
In many cultures, elders have been respected for their wealth of experience and wisdom, playing a pivotal and much needed role within the structure of the extended family system and the community at large. Ageing was welcomed as a maturing, a ripening into the fullness of who we are, and preparation for the passage of passing over which was not an end but just part of the cycle of return
Practical, rough, love of the outdoors, down to earth, good with his hands and having a ‘can-do’ attitude, emotionally aloof and staunch…these are all terms that have been used to describe the ideal ‘kiwi bloke’.
The Waitaha, a people of NZ pre-Māori, were a matriarchal society where women were highly respected for their wisdom and leadership as were the Māori women who followed. With the colonisation of New Zealand, women worked alongside men, equally committed and hardworking in the development of a new society.
Children offer us the space to be ourselves, playful, inclusive, open, joyful and innocent. Open and curious, young children live in the moment, not bound by belief systems, ‘should’ or ‘shouldn’t’, right or wrong, they are honest and immediate in their responses.
The transition from child to young adult brings many physiological, emotional and social changes all happening whilst trying to understand how to navigate a world full of mixed messages and inconsistencies.
