KEY POINTS:
I would dearly love to be able to pay tribute to Edmund Hillary, but it's pretty much all been said by those who knew him personally. I regret I never got to meet him.
I'm just glad he received his principal honour, a knighthood, when Kiwis still got them and that the honorific Sir that preceded his name, and which played such a part in defining the man, will always be how he is remembered.
The letters ONZ after someone's name remain generally meaningless in this country, let alone in the world at large, whereas the appellation Sir carries weight no matter where you go.
It is sad that we no longer give a special honorific to those who receive our highest honours, and I hope the new National Government we will get later this year will give some thought to reinstating them.
As for the idea that we should declare an annual public holiday in honour of Sir Edmund's memory, I've rarely heard anything more stupid. What sort of tribute would that be to a man who led such an energetic, active, adventurous, useful and hard-working life from his boyhood until failing health slowed him down in his 80s?
* Throughout the year, readers send me all sorts of messages by email, letter and phone call, most of them complimentary, a few quite blunt and rude. That is gratifying, for the reactions I receive, both pro and con, help to keep me going after more than 11 years.
Often those who respond include in their messages words of wisdom gleaned from here and there, mostly these days, I presume, from that ubiquitous source of information, the internet.
Some are funny, some superficial or twee, some silly and some obscene. But among them, there are always a few rare gems which deserve to be aired.
So with Government in hibernation and business only just getting back into gear after the holidays, in the absence of anything much else to comment on, here are the some of the best of them.
On marriage, an Auckland reader sent me these seven simple rules for success:
(1) Be in love, but better still be best friends. Friendship lasts longer than romantic love and it's better to have both.
(2) Put your husband/wife first, second and third. Mates, sports and hobbies come next, if you have time.
(3) Drop the single person's mentality. Life has changed. Do everything you can from dawn until dark to make your partner's life enjoyable. Your partner is your home.
(4) Share everything. Pool resources, set life targets and ambitions together, share housework and have no secrets.
(5) Always treat your partner better than anyone else.
Be kind, be courteous, be considerate, be aware.
(6) Money helps but it's not everything. The ranks of the divorced are full of the well-to-do.
(7) Always have time for a cuddle anytime, an "I love you" any old time, and always a kiss goodnight.
His own experience, this bloke wrote, was that "if one genuinely cares for another above all else, then everything else falls into place".
Since I am one who seeks to serve the Lord, and am often discouraged by my seeming failure to do so, this gem came as a great comfort:
The next time you feel as if God can't use you, just remember: Noah was a drunk; Abraham was too old; Isaac was a daydreamer; Jacob was a liar; Leah was ugly; Joseph was abused; Moses had a stuttering problem; Gideon was afraid; Samson had long hair and was a womaniser; and Rahab was a prostitute.
Jeremiah and Timothy were too young; David had an affair and was a murderer; Elijah was suicidal; Isaiah preached naked; Jonah ran from God; Naomi was a widow; and Job went bankrupt.
Peter denied Christ; the disciples fell asleep while praying; Martha worried about everything; Mary Magdalene was ... well ... you know; the Samaritan woman was divorced, more than once; Zaccheus was too small; Paul was too religious; Timothy had an ulcer; and, if you please, Lazarus was dead.
As the writer points out, God can use anyone to his or her full potential.
To finish, wise words from what is said to be an ancient Chinese proverb: "If there is righteousness in the heart, there will be beauty in the character; if there is beauty in the character, there will be harmony in the home; if there is harmony in the home, there will be order in the nation; and where there is order in the nation, there is peace in the world."
