Interview: Niki Harré talks about The Calling: A year exploring what the secular world can learn from religion

Professor Niki Harré is a community psychologist and head of the School of Psychology at the University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau. She has published over 200 scholarly articles and chapters and is the author of Psychology for a Better World: Working with People to Save the Planet and The Infinite Game: How to Live Well Together, both published by Auckland University Press. Niki talks to NZ Booklovers about her latest book.

Tell us a little about The Calling.

The Calling describes a year in which I set myself up as a self-declared secular ‘priest’ with three vows – simplicity, hospitality and pause – and offered services, ceremonies and personal conversations. The year was 2021 and it is set in Auckland, so it took place during intermittent Covid restrictions.  

What inspired you to write this book?

In the 2023 census 52% of New Zealand residents indicated they had no religion, up from 30% just two decades earlier. I was one of the 52% but sensed that we atheists had lost something by abandoning religion in droves. Not too long ago, it was possible to talk of contribution and even duty (imagine that!) in ways that are difficult now.  I wondered if there was a role for a priest without God, and suspected that I was ideally suited to the job. Alas, my priestly aspirations didn’t work out quite as I hoped, but I learnt a great deal about humility, acceptance of the unknown, compassion and what it is to live in service to others. I wanted to convey what I learnt by writing about my year.

What research was involved?

The project had several threads. I kept detailed notes of what it was like to live my vows and deliver priestly offerings; and conducted two surveys of participants in my services. I also wanted to learn from an established religion. Christianity was the obvious choice as it is the religion of my cultural heritage and still by far the biggest religion in New Zealand (32% of people identified as Christian in the 2023 census; the next largest religion was Hindu with 3%). So, I interviewed Christian ministers and other leaders and attended a Christian church for the year. I also read a great deal of Christian literature and listened to podcasts.

What was your routine or process when writing this book?

Most weekdays I get up just after 5am and either ride my bike to the university where I work or go for a run. By around 6.15am I have made coffee and am ready to write. While writing The Calling, I used an app to mark 25-minute blocks of time, with five-minute breaks between, but I often did two writing blocks in a row. If my day allowed – which most did – I would not open email until 9am or 9.30am. Tip: once you open email, it’s all over. I find that early mornings have a certain quality that lends itself to writing, reading and thinking about deep, elusive topics. Not only are there few interruptions, but I can also take myself seriously in a way I find more difficult later.

If a soundtrack were made to accompany this book, name a song or two you would include. 

My first pick would be Leonard Cohen’s Hallelujah. I especially like the line ‘I tried my best it wasn’t much’ as it pretty much sums up this project. Not only did I have patchy success as a secular priest, but the priestly role is not a grand one in largely secular societies like ours. The real priests and other Christian leaders I got to know go about their roles without fanfare, looking for where the need is, and trying to articulate the struggle to be good and real and loving in the world we share. Another song is Pass It On by Bob Marley and the Wailers. It’s a song about service to others and includes the lines ‘We’re not here to judge what’s good from bad, But to do the things that are right.’ Those lines capture a fascinating paradox that runs through the Abrahamic religions – that as people our notions of goodness are always partial and subject to the fashions of our time (we are not God), but we must still try to be good as we understand it.  

What did you enjoy the most about writing The Calling?

I spent a great deal of time editing in an attempt to capture the quality of a religious orientation as I experienced it. I wanted the writing to be clear but also to convey the sense of enchantment with which I started to observe the world. I love it when the basic outline is in place and the task becomes to select the most precise words possible to describe an experience or idea.

What did you do to celebrate finishing this book?

Ah, a book has many phases in which it is finished, only to be unfinished again. Last year I spent the Easter break doing the final substantial edits. I then went camping at Hot Water Beach for Anzac weekend with my husband, our daughter and her family. I’m not sure if that counts as a celebration!

What is the favourite book you have read so far this year and why?

 I greatly enjoyed The gentle art of Swedish death cleaning by Margareta Magnusson. It’s a simple, compassionate book which looks life in the face: yes, there is loss, yes you have too many possessions, and yes, it is your job to let most of them go.

What’s next on the agenda for you?

The vow I found easiest during the year was simplicity and I am oddly keen on housework. I’m playing around with a book on the joys and planet-saving possibilities in looking after your stuff.

Auckland University Press