She says she was saying evening karakia (prayer) as I arrived. I say: "Aroha mai for interrupting." ... Her hand, weathered and wrinkled from years of mahi (work), raises the book: an equally creased and well-use Bible. "It doesn't matter if karakia is just a few lines from the Good Book, a whakataukī (a proverb), or just some quiet with the waves."

She looks at me, deep into my being, with eyes as bright as her elegant hat. "It just matters that we say karakia. Twice a day. Morning and evening. It keeps us humble." Humble. The same root as humus, soil, down to earth, fertile ground of our being, producer of kai (food).

In "A Star of the Sea" by Robin Kearns in TM Issue 260 June 2021: 6

May we walk humbly
in tika, pono and aroha
in the holy ground of Earth.

Time for a laugh: