Page 30 - Dainfern issue 10 2021

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

A WHALE OF A

CHRISTMAS

BY PETER STOFFBERG

very now and then the thought occurs to me
that I have no idea why I’ve chosen the words
Ethat I’ve just used. Have you ever had a ‘whale
of a time’? And have you ever wondered why a
whale would be used to describe a particularly good
experience?
If you like whales or just like having a time like them,
you’ll probably enjoy reading about the marine
biologist and the humpback whale. It’s a story
that inspires hope, something we could all use as
Christmas draws near, especially given the kind
of year or two that we’ve had. So, as you read on,
may the story of Nan Hauser, the marine biologist,
inspire you with hope for a wonderful Christmas.
Let’s start with the idiom.
DAINFERN COLLEGE AUDITORIUM
The earliest use of the phrase ‘whale of a time’ EVERY SUNDAY @ 9H30
stretches back at least a century and a half. It
seems to draw on the sheer size of whales as 5 DEC | Carols by Glowsticks | Dainfern College | 18h00
a metaphor for the quality of an experience. A 25 DEC | Christmas Family Service | 9h30
large time was a good time and whales are really
large. Nan studies these enormous creatures and
understands the idiom better than most. You can
search for a number of interviews (on YouTube)
with her in which she describes an encounter like
no other in 28 years of studying them.

Nan was filming in the Cook Islands and swimming www.familychurch.online
with a 14m humpback whale. The whale drew
unusually close and began acting weird. First it
tried to squeeze her under its enormous pectoral wasn’t for her up to this point, but then she saw
fin. Whales look smooth but are covered in sharp something else. Swimming towards her was the
barnacles, and the shells cut into Nan as she tried largest tiger shark Nan had ever seen. The whale
to escape. Her love for whales gave way to the fear again lifted her onto its head and away from the
of being injured or even killed. When she wriggled approaching danger. It saved her life.
free of the whale’s fin, it changed tack and tried to lift
her out of the water using its massive head. You’re Nan isn’t the only person to witness altruism in
probably wondering how this experience could humpback whales. Altruism is an act of kindness,
possibly be construed as inspiring, and it certainly protecting someone without asking or expecting
anything in return. It’s inspiring to the human soul
on a very deep level, perhaps because of God’s
great act of altruism that we celebrate at Christmas.
The God of incomprehensible glory became
human to give His life to save ours. As you listen
to Nan’s story and the way she later got to hug the
whale in gratitude, reflect on God’s great gift and
our opportunity to thank Him with our own acts of
altruism.

Have a whale of a Christmas!

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DPL