Stranded in the Multiverse

© Jos Evans | New Zealand

Identity is important to all - no matter where your tipuna (ancestors) come from or who they were. Some people declare their identity as a way of establishing a link of belonging to a certain group or to establish their turangawaewae (a place of standing); this I note can change depending on who people are with - a desire to feel accepted or to establish rights; sometimes this is social, sometimes political.

For others, expressed out-loud or not, self-identity is part of addressing that inner question we all have: ‘Who am I?’ and ‘Why am I here?’ For this the concept of turangawaewae still holds - having a place of standing internal or external is important for all.

Just because you may have ancestors whose came from certain nations or tribes, who lived in a particular place in this country or another and whose tiny bit of DNA resides in your body, it doesn’t negate how anyone else links or identifies in relation to a particular part of this country, this world or anything else - no matter what you say or think. How a person identifies in regard to their gender or their culture or something else is up to them. 

No one owns the land - this is a fact- we are all only residents - caretakers at best. Our time here is just an illusion. The land was here before us all and will be here after. The landforms link with all manner of plants and animals, insects, fungi, bacteria and whatever other life forms and forces that dwell here. Life forms also form links with the land, some physical some metaphysical. 

Some are of exotic origins, some native and some endemic, some are a mix of all. An oak tree’s roots go down into the soil just the same as a kowhai. 

I am not a Māori or a Celt or anything else. I am me - I have valid links to this land and to dwell here. I am made of the same star material as are we all - our spirts and Wairua (souls) mix together. This land is part of my culture - we sustain each other. 

When you ask who I am and where I am from, this I will tell you –

I am from the sky, from the bush, from the sea and from the land. 

I am from my ancestors and from my children.

I am from the elements - the wind, the rain and the sun,

from the songs that are sung that resonate with me,

from the music and the dance I move to,

the poetry I write,

the languages I speak

and the words I read.  

I am from the thoughts I think,

I am from the water I drink and from the air that I breath. 

I was born of this earth and to it I will return –

but my spirit is from God –

from the universe and beyond –

and there it resides in eternity.  

So when you ask me who I am and where I am from, I will say this –

I am me and I am like you,

a fellow traveller on this earth,

with no more or no less right to dwell here –

the peace and harmony I bring and my links

and the relationships I form while I’m here

are my bond –

I am of the stars that formed the planets and the worlds,

the energy that abounds

and the creative spirit that dwells in all of us.

I am energy and love vibrating in a human form.  

I am me and I, like you, belong. 

I will take up the challenge that lies before us all –

to nurture the planet I dwell on

with and which, with my fellow sojourners I will pass into and from.

I am a living miracle of conscious awareness.

I am the sum of choices made            

and connections that have come before and will come after. 

I am a strand of light and love,

seeded in this earth

and vibrating in this cosmic ether.

I was conceived before the dawn of time and will endure after.

I am special and important and capable of amazing things - just like you. 

I am privileged to be alive and sentient and I will make it count.  

Let us nourish and sustain each other with the things we do

the thoughts we have-

the words we speak and write

and the energy we emanate. 

Let us flow together in eternal light and love. 

Weaved into creation.

Stranded in the multiverse,

Linked by love and intent.

Fabricated by grace and mercy –

Sustained by Divinity. 

Our names are written in the heavens with indelible ink penned of the Creator’s hand.  

Written in the book of life,

Weaved into a fabric more durable than time and space.

Stranded together for eternity,

out of time,

out of place. 

Aroha atu - aroha mai. (Love received, Love returned)

He hōnore, he korōria ki te Atua. (Offering honour and glory to God)

Jos Evans

Multiversal Tribal affiliations:

Ngati Ao Tukupū raua  Ko Te Ao Mārama raua  Ko Te Aroha nui

(We are all ultimately of one tribe within the great Universe,

all one within the light of the Spirit that suffuses that universe.) 

(We are all in this together  )

April, 2021