And what's more, for the first time, they'll have a chance to be sociable afterwards, to let go, ``go to town'', as we say. For the old repressive atmosphere and regulations have gone for ever. Even in good old traditional Dunedin.
What am I on about? Well, you must have heard, surely. We are opening up our shops on Good Friday now, and permitting the pubs to operate far into the night over Easter. We are a secular country, after all, as every sane commentator has pointed out. We've moved on. We are sensible about things like Good Friday and Easter these days. And why not? We have to provide for those who visit us, who'll flock to the stadium. They need somewhere to go afterwards, to relax. Gives the local economy a real boost, too. We've followed our high priests, the honourable Chamber of Commerce, and bowed down before our cosmic father, the market. So the stone is rolled away this Easter. We're liberated. We've come of age at last.
Don't get me wrong. It's not that we don't believe in anything any more. Of course we do. We respect the religious types. The churches can continue to do their thing at Easter. Good on them.
We have begun, though, to develop our own Kiwi rituals. We follow our own calendar, so to speak. Whenever there's been significant social change in the past, the calendar marks it. At the Reformation, saints' days disappeared. After the French and Russian revolutions, calendars were rewritten. Same with us. At Christmas the Santa Parade is the star attraction, and we offer up the most generous oblations of credit cards in the shopping malls. Our costly sacrifice of praise.
We've become more down to earth, you might say. We know our place in the scheme of things. Our children grow up believing that they deserve the best that money can buy. They know the price of everything. Every child, too, knows about Easter, the famous chocolate festival.
In these enlightened times we may no longer pay much attention to traditional religion but all of of us benefit from the ever improving range of beers and wines. Southern Man and all that.
We embrace the world of the spirit. The great Hogmanay tradition. Come summer we gather around the barbecue and celebrate life's magic with steaks and sausages. It binds us together. Sort of tribal. Our paschal mystery, you know.
Our calendar, these days, to sum up, is a liberated one. It reflects, you might say, our quiet satisfaction with ourselves as we are. We love the great outdoors, are big on sport.
Our happiness is consumer proofed. Come Anzac Day we may get serious, but we are content to leave the so-called big questions to those who like that sort of thing. Philosophers and the like.
Most of us, though, just want to get on with life. It's a transient affair. So let's make the most of it. It'll come to an end soon enough. And as has been said before, we're pragmatists. When the final whistle is blown we prefer our departure to be a private affair. No fuss. Game over. We'll have done our dash. Let's drink to that.
So there it is. Lent's already on us. This Easter is really going to be great.
- Peter Matheson is a Dunedin historian and theologian.
