Mick Duncan: “Location, location”

One Sunday afternoon, while living in Manurewa, South Auckland, I experienced a Bible reference gatecrashing my consciousness. At the time, I was thinking about the rugby, so it really was most unexpected. I pulled out my mobile phone to read the obscure reference in Isaiah and it got my attention straight away. Not quite believing what I saw, I thought I’d better read the verse again in a hard copy Bible.

I picked the Bible up from the bed in front of me and it fell open at the very page where this reference was. One translation has it: It’s time for your ship to leave this harbour and for you to go to your own land (Isaiah 23:10).

Ruby was out at the time and so I decided not to say anything to her straight away but to wait and see if maybe she too had received a “postcard from heaven”. When she came waltzing through the door two hours later, she exclaimed: “I’ve had this uncanny feeling that I would just love us to go to our own people, place and tribe.”

It must be said that prior to our respective postcards, Ruby and I were seriously contemplating doing another five to seven years in Manurewa and had started communicating this to respective groups we were involved with. Now we were at a crossroads: should we stay, or should we go?