.

After last week’s storms across the country there are still many people suffering without power. Two days was more than enough for me and the novelty of candlelight and billy-tea wore off quickly when the cold set in and I realised that every part of the house I was a guest in was dependant on electricity.

At least back home I would have had my log burner and the ability to keep warm living on baked beans heated on the flame. But in a a more modern house no such luck.

I have a friend from the US staying for a few days and during the stormy weather we found ourselves on the road, in the heart of the Catlins in South Otago.

Beautiful.

On Sunday I offered to help out at the local Balclutha Church and found the shared power-cut experience to be a pretty good analogy for a homily reflection.

Put simply, we are dependant.

We are created creatures, not the creator, and we are dependant on the creator for every breath we take whether or not we acknowledge this or are even aware of this fact.

To every place I visit I bring a bit of an interest in the local property market. As in every other part of the motu across South Otago there is a wide selection of real-estate available from simple cottages on little corners of land to larger more modern homes well out of the price range of most of us.

But for a couple of days we were all in the same boat. Apart from the few who are able to live off the grid those who live in cottages and those who make their home in castles were brought to a shared default setting when the winds took out our power.

Big house or little house we are still dependant.

The feeling of individual helplessness and awareness of our shared dependance is not a welcome experience for most of us. But I have no doubt that this little taste of humility is good for all of us, and especially helpful when it leads us to recall and delight in our human dependance on the divine.