carbonated joy

I think I have a favorite new word…hongi.

(ˈhäNGē)

Here’s what the lovely Wikipedia people say about hongi: “A hongi is a traditional Māori greeting in New Zealand. It is done by pressing one’s nose and forehead to another person’s nose and forehead.

It is used at traditional meetings among Māori people and on major ceremonies and serves a similar purpose to a formal handshake in modern western culture, and indeed a hongi is often used in conjunction with one.

In the hongi, the ha (or breath of life), is exchanged and intermingled. The breath of life can also be interpreted as the sharing of both party’s souls.

Through the exchange of this physical greeting, one is no longer considered manuhiri (visitor) but rather tangata whenua, one of the people of the land. For the remainder of one’s stay one is obliged to share in all the duties and responsibilities of the home people.”

Pretty cool, huh?

Hongi literally means “to share breath”.

There’s nothing to hide when you hongi. You are seriously invading personal space. You can see every blemish and smell what your hongi partner had for lunch.

You literally rub off on each other…you share sweat and face grease. It’s messy.

I actually think hongi is a very cool, deeply significant greeting.

It’s like a super intimate high five, a facial fist bump.

I want to be a practitioner of the hongi.

But, it gets complicated because I’m 5 feet tall.

I would need to carry a footstool everywhere or things could get horribly awkward.

Also, I live in America where we aggressively guard our personal space. If you try to hongi people you might get arrested and you probably won’t get invited to many parties.

But here’s what I’m thinking.

I want to hongi heaven.

I want to live locked into a holy hongi.

I want to press my face into the face of God and share breath.

I want to constantly invade His space and invite Him to invade mine.

I don’t want to be a visitor

I want to be a person of His land.

I want to get in God’s face and stay there.

I find myself when I look into His eyes.

I desperately need to lean in and not back up,

I need heaven to rub off on me, I want God grease all over my life.

I need a holy hongi.