Tāwhaki climbed the heavens on the aka matua, the main vine.
He didn’t fall during his ascent because he knew that if he took one of the lesser vines he’d fall to his death. And that’s our mahi right now, too – hold fast. Keep the faith. We’re still in rāhui and we’re not returning to noa and normal anytime soon. Tāwhaki is the Atua (God) of illumination, of māramatanga and we can only achieve that if we hold fast and don’t relax. Hold fast to the social distancing rules and we’ll get to our destination - we’ll protect our whakapapa. We’ll get to freedom. The restrictions we’re experiencing in rāhui hit close to home. We’ve felt the sting of not being able to express our aroha in the ways that are most natural to us – at tangi, in whanaungatanga, in manaakitanga kanohi-ki-te-kanohi. We’ll get there. We just need to hold fast. Remember Tāwhaki. Kia mau ki te aka matua.