Te Rau Tau O Te Paipera Māori

Kua taha te rau tau i tāngia te Paipera ki tō tātou reo Māori. He nui ēnei tau e noho noa iho ana tātou i runga i te māngere ki te whakamātau i a tātou ki tēnei taonga nui whakaharahara. I kī a Paora ki te hunga o Roma: Ko ngā mea hoki i tuhituhia i mua, he mea tuhituhi hei whakaako i a tātou. He maha ngā iwi o te ao kua whiwhi ki ngā tuhituhinga nei. ētahi o rātou kua tahuna ā rātou Paipera ki te ahi; ētahi o rātau kua whakakāhore i ngā whakaakoranga; ētahi o rātou kua whakakotiti kē te whakaako. Kei te haere pērā tātou te Māori! Kei te kī tonu ētahi: ‘He takeō nōku, he whakamāori tā tētahi tangata, he rere kē tā tētahi; e whakapono ana ahau ki ngā mea e rite mai ana ki ōku nei whakaaro, ki te kāhore, pai noa ake te noho noa iho.’ He maha ngā whakaaro o tāua o te tangata, ēngari kaua e tukua ngā whakaaro nei hei momotu i a tāua i te aroha o tō tātou Atua, nāna nei i hanga ngā mea katoa hei painga mō tāua me to ao katoa.

I te mea kua taha te rau tau, titiro atu tātou ināianei ki te rau tau e haere mai nei. He aha rā he koha mā tātou, mā te iwi Māori, ki te Atua? I raro i tēnei whakaaro ka hau ake te aroha me te mihi i te Rōpū Whakawhanaunga i ngā Hāhi, hei koha whakamaharatanga. I whakaritea kia whakairotia tētahi taonga pupuri i ngā Paipera tino tawhito i te tari o te British and Foreign Bible Society kei Pōneke e tū ana. I tatū hei matapihi te taonga nei.

Nō muri iho, ka kimihia he tohunga hei whakairo i tēnei matapihi. Kitea rawatia he kaumātua rangatira nō roto o Waikato, ko Waka Graham. Ko ngā tīpuna o te tangata nei i noho tahi me taua minita rā a Robert Maunsell. Nā rātou ia i ako ki tō tātou reo, ā, nā rātou anō i tautoko te whakamāoritanga o te Paipera. Ko tō rātou uri tēnei e mau ana i te pito o taua taura wairua e here nei i a rātou ki a tātou o tēnei whakatupuranga. He tamaiti ia i arohaina nuitia e Te Puea Herangi. He tino tohunga ia mō ngā mahi whakairo; ko ia hoki tētahi o ngā mea tuatahi i kuraina ki te Arts and Crafts School i tū ki Ohinemutu, i raro i ngā whakatau a Tā āpirana Ngata.

Na, kua oti te matapihi nei, kua tae hoki ki Pōneke. He nunui katoa ngā kōrero o tēnei matapihi. Kua whakairitia tō tātou taonga ki te taha katau o te wharepuni, ki te wāhi kuhunga mai o te māramatanga ki roto ki te whare. Ki a tāua ki te Māori, ko te wharepuni he tangata, arā ko Tānewhakapiripiri; nā, ko te matapihi nei kei te tomokanga mai o ngā kaimātakitaki i ngā manu kōrero o roto o te whare.

Ko te pae o runga i te matapihi he whānui kē atu i te pae o raro iho, he tohu nō te aroha whānui tonu o te Atua. I runga i ngā whakairo tokowhā ko ngā wāhanga koruru e tohu ana i te whakapapa mai Kēnehi ki te Whakakitenga o Hoani.

Ko te koruru tuatahi e whakaatu ana i te otinga o te maungārongo a te Atua i te rangi me te whenua, tae mai anō hoki ki a tātou ki te tangata. Ko te koruru tuarua e kōrero ana i te whānautanga o tō tātou Ariki, o Ihu Karaiti, me te whānautanga hou o te tangata. Ko te koruru tuatoru e whai kupu ana ki te taunga o te Wairua Tapu ki runga ki te hunga e aru pono ana i a te Karaiti. Ko te mana ia e taea e tātou te hari i te Rongopai ki ngā tōpito maha o te ao. Ko te koruru tuawhā e whakamārama ana i ngā kōrero o te rangi hou, me te whenua hou. Ko tā te Karaipiture whakamārama e pēnei ana: i kite anō ahau i te rangi hou me te whenua hou … kua pahemo hoki te rangi tuatahi, me te whenua tuatahi … kua pahemo atu hoki ngā mea o mua.

Tērā anō tētahi o ngā tohu kei runga o te matapihi e mau ana. Ko tēnei tohu he ika. He tohu tino tawhito tēnei nō te hunga Karaitiana, ko tona pūtake kei te kupu Kariki rā, te ‘Ichthus’. Ki a tāua ki te Māori, he tohu tēnei nō Tangaroa, ēngari ko te tohu Māori hua pae ana te whiore ki raro, ōtira ko tēnei, e hua pae ana ki runga. E rua ngā ika kei te matapihi e mau ana. Ko tētahi he tohu nō te Kāwenata Tawhito, ko tētahi nō te Kāwenata Hou.

E toru ngā upoko tekoteko kei waenganui o te pae. Ko ēnei tekoteko he whakarite mō te Matua, te Tama me te Wairua Tapu, ā, he whakarite anō mō ngā wāhanga o te tangata—te tinana, te ngākau me te wairua. Ko te tuhituhinga e mea ana: a, mā te atua pū anō o te rangimārie e tino whakatapu rawa koutou: kia tiakina hoki ō koutou wairua, ō koutou ngākau, ō koutou tinana kia toitū, kia hē kore, a te taenga mai o tō tātou ariki o Ihu Karaiti.

Nā, tokowhā ngā tekoteko kua whakairongia ki runga ki ia pou o te matapihi nei. Kotahi anō arero o te mea tuatahi. Ko tēnei e whakaatu ana i ō tāua tīpuna i mua i te taenga mai o te whakapono Karaitiana. Ko te mea tuarua me tōna arero he whakatau mō ngā rangatira o Waikato me ō Ngāpuhi, nā rātou nei i āwhina ngā kaikauwhau me ngā kaiwhakamāori i te Paipera. Ko te tuatoru, he tekoteko me te arero e wāhanga rua ana; arā, he tohu nō te tangata e mātau ana ki te kōrero i ngā reo e rua. Ko te tuawhā o ngā tekoteko he wāhanga rua ana anō te arero, e tohu ana i te āhua o te Māori o ngā rā o muri nei, me te takiruatanga o ā rātou mahi.

Nā, kei te pae o te matapihi nei te tohu o te Manaia. Ko tēnei e rite ana ki te manu, he tohu mō ngā hapu katoa o Aotearoa, arā, tō taua Māoritanga e awhi ana i te Karaitianatanga. Nō reira, ko te waihanga katoatanga o te matapihi, me ōna tohu katoa, e whakawhirinaki pū ana ki runga ki te whakapono o te Hāhi Māori.

He maha atu anō i ēnei ngā whakāmarama o ngā whakairo nei, ēngari me waiho anō mā te wā koe e ārahi kia kite kanohi koe i tō tāua nei taonga.

Ka huri ake taku kōrero ka pātai ahau, ‘Ko wai te Hāhi Māori?’ He poto tonu taku whakahoki, ‘Ko te whanaungatanga o ngā hāhi.’ Ko tāua te iwi Māori e rapu nei i te tānga manawa mō tāua i roto i ngā tau e heke mai nei, e kore e kitea i te mātauranga anake, ēngari, i ngā wāhi whaka te Atua.

Ko te huri a te ao o ēnei rā kei te titiro whānuitia. Kua noho tēnei rōpū hei parepare mō tāua, hei hōmai i ngā huarahi e kitea atu he whakakotahitanga mō ō tātou hāhi. He uaua te mahi nei, ēngari i te mea kua mau ngā ringaringa ki te parau, e kore e āhei kia titiro whakamuri.

Nā, he mihi, he inoi hoki tēnei ki a koutou katoa, ki te Perehepitiriana, ki te Mihingare, ki te Wēteriana me te Iriiritanga, tae atu anō ki ngā kaiāwhina mai, rautia mai ā koutou rourou—te taara me te heneti—hei rongoā mō ngā pahoretanga o ngā pakehiwi me ngā waewae, kia pai ai te tō i te parau me te rakaraka i te māra hei whakatō i ngā purapura o te whakapono.

E rau rangatira mā, meinga he Rātapu karakia mā koutou ki ngā wāhi karakia, hoatu ō koutou ngākau whakapono kia mihitia e tō tāua iwi Māori, he iwi whai whakaaro, he iwi aroha ki ngā mea whaka te Atua.

Tonoa atu ā koutou koha mō tā tātou taonga ki a:

Rev. L. M. Tauroa, 5 Mission Street, NEW PLYMOUTH.

Hei mihi whakamutunga māku:

He maha ngā manaakitanga me ngā mea ātaahua o te wairua e whakawhiwhia ana e te Runga Rawa ki te hunga whai whakaaro, ko taku inoi ki a koutou, tautokona mai tēnei mō tā tāua iwi kia tuwhera ō tātou ngākau āno he matapihi he tomokanga mō te māramatanga, arā, tō tātou Ariki, a Ihu Karaiti.

Nā

tō koutou teina, pononga o te kupu a te Atau

Nā Maitai.