Jacoby Poulian: Faith in unseen does wonders

Jacoby Poulain is a Hastings District Council Flaxmere Ward councillor and a Hawke's Bay District Health Board member.

It's all about Lorde at the moment, all eyes are on her. Turn on any TV channel or open any newspaper and you'll see the scores of accolades praising and commending the Auckland teen pop prodigy and singer-songwriter after she not only performed but also took out two significant awards at the Grammy Awards.

Even in the middle of the night I couldn't get away from her. In the early sleeping hours my cellphone went off with a text. Tempted to ignore it I rolled over to check it just in case it was semi-urgent or an emergency considering the unusual time it was received. Turns out it wasn't urgent, but it was timely. With the one eye I did manage to get open I peeped at the message from a friend that read, "Hebrews 11 (referring to scriptures) - some great stuff in there re faith, wonderful examples of mighty men and women who achieved great things through simply believing. Through faith they subdued kingdoms and strongholds, obtained much wealth and conquered armies who vastly outnumbered them. Faith - a simple but powerful thing."

What has this got to do with Lorde? Only everything. Faith is a simple but powerful thing. It's being certain of things hoped for and being assured of the unseen. It's a belief in the future and a conviction that things will be. The tricky thing is though that faith can operate for either good or bad, and whether we're conscious of it nor not. The results we get in the end are ultimately from what and whom we place our trust and confidence, or faith in, and how conscious we are in doing this.

I've come across many people who moan and groan and believe in a depressive state of the world and circumstances. They blame the government or others for their state of affairs and believe the world conspires against them, and guess what, it then usually does. Contrast this with the Lordes of the world who believe, act and therefore manifest otherwise. Here we have a teenage youngster dominating the world stage with class and poise and seeming ease.

What we see on stage is the glossy glamorous performance with the lights, cameras and action. Lorde looks moody, sultry and effortless. Equally effortless looking was fellow performer Pink at the awards who was climbing and cascading elegantly through ropes above the audience. What we don't see behind the scenes though is the hard work, guts, grind, determination and plain tenacity, fortitude and ultimately faith that is required to get anywhere near the vicinity of such a global award ceremony, let alone receive one.

Lorde is different, that's why she's gracing the world stage at the moment. She has a unique presence and holds it well. She knows who she is or at least is fast learning and developing. When questioned about her dance style and moves she's been reported to have responded by explaining that she doesn't rehearse or try to conjure the moves but rather they simply manifest as her expression of the music and compulsion within her. It's this innate compulsion, design, talent and gift set all wrapped up and embodied in her that makes up the striking package of Lorde or Ella Yellich-O'Connor. The difference is that Ella and others have not only recognised her gifts and talents but they have then gone out and worked hard and believed it will happen. They had faith even though it was then unseen. As a man, or woman in this case, thinkeths in his heart so is he. She's an inspiration to the country and to me.