A Common Heart Those of you who were present at my ordination might remember the sermon that was delivered by Rev. Christopher Mathewson. He is a childhood friend of mine. But before he was a friend, he wasn’t. Let’s just say that one swim class my freshman year of high school held a pretty painful […]
This Little Light It’s always a bit of a surprise. A pumpkin in a window. A string of electric lights with little plastic jack-o-lanterns illuminated all in a row. It’s going to be Halloween in a few days, but it’s a surprise to me. The holidays I’d known so well on the mainland, the celebrations […]
Heavenly Rest I didn’t want to go on. I wanted to stop and go back…a lot. The path up Ka’ala, the highest peak on this island, was more than I felt I could do. But my friends let me take my time. They called out when I lagged far behind to see how I was […]
The Rose Petal Rebellion The scene was perfect. Rippling water lapped against the shore of the hidden lake. Small beautiful structures, windows and doors wide-open, let guests mingle and move freely with icy beverages in hand. The perfect rows of white chairs gave form to the place where so many have walked so many times […]
What Are You Thinking? I don’t know what has come over me. Last night at the meeting of your Social Justice Council, one observant member noticed that I was yawning. I assured her that I believed my yawning had little to do with exhaustion or boredom and a great deal to do with my body […]
I Can See Clearly Now I have spoken before about the fun we can have when visitors are here and we get to play tour guide. We dip our toes in waters we haven’t in a while, we ascend the heights of hikes we miss, we eat at our favorite spots. It’s a mutual relationship […]
Where We Were Most of us remember exactly where we were when it happened. We remember exactly what we were doing. Though seventeen years have passed, most of us can feel it like its was yesterday, or even today. The faces around the rooms where we were. The images on the television. The inexplicable feelings […]
Patient Patience is a virtue, so we are told. In many of our own personal experiences, this phrase is parroted by people who want us to wait or who want us not to take some kind of action. As wise as the sentiment is in theory, for many this phrase is associated with frustration or […]
Not So Easy This past Sunday I asked for a show of hands during the sermon of people who had seen 13TH by filmmaker Ava DuVernay (Selma, A Wrinkle in Time). From my rough count I saw possibly a dozen hands go up, maybe less. I realize this is not the best way to conduct […]
Manifest Have you seen them? Have you seen the signs? Swirling, driving, building, the signs are springing forth in all corners of these islands. They are bubbling up once more to reveal the truth that we all know: the swirling, driving, and building up are telling us something, something deep and something old, and something […]
A Greater Testament I used to talk to myself. Not a lot, but sometimes. Maybe I was preparing statements I’d present in court. Maybe I talk through parts of sermons to be sure certain points get across. But aside from these, there was a time when I would argue a little with people who weren’t […]
The Story of a Hurricane Since I’ve arrived back home I’ve been hearing some chatter about the hurricane churning off the southerly part of the big island. My friend assures me that the reports of hurricanes here are frequent but rarely come to much. “You’ll see,” he said. This may be true, but the winds […]
I’ll Leave This Here Friends, I’m writing to you from under the gray, gloomy clouds of Portland, Oregon. I am here because over the coming days I will have the honor to serve the UU Musician’s Network as the conference chaplain for the UUMN annual meeting. In my role I have the chance to provide […]
This Guy’s Crazy As I sat in the airport waiting area, we heard the first sign of trouble. “Ladies and gentlemen in the waiting area, we are getting information now from Canada air traffic control that due to weather and traffic over Toronto, we are looking at about a four hour delay taking off this […]
Gone Reflectin’ We have done so much this year together. From bringing joy and music to our community parades, to bringing new and exciting worship experiences to our sanctuary; from bringing fun and engaging lessons to our keiki in worship and the classroom, to organizing our communities for the March for Our Lives and Poor […]
Message Received When I read the news I was trying to eat a bowl of rice and beans. My friend was trying to tell me about the things going on life. I was trying to do anything else but think about it. But I was failing. There it was: “Justice Anthony Kennedy announces his retirement.” […]
When Words Fail As I sit here in the airport, I can’t miss it. Families are everywhere. They are watching bags for each other while taking trips to the kiosks and water fountains. They are checking around them as they get up to board their flights to see if any family member left a toy […]
The Struggle Is Real Friends, you may know that for the last few weeks members of this community have been taking part in planning an event to participate in the national movement of the Poor People’s Campaign. Through organizing meetings, though discussions, and through some laughter and fear, we are approaching a crystallized action that […]
Staycation So, Hawaii is one of the most popular vacation destinations in the world, right? Well, in the spirt of taking part in this worldwide phenomenon, I am taking a vacation in Hawaii this week! Already I’ve had the chance to take in a jog around Diamond Head, a destination for runners around the world. […]
Short Days Ago 2018 marks a century since the end of the first World War, the Great War, The War to End All Wars. This last moniker, The War to End All Wars, is today often used as an indictment of the state of militarism around the globe. What stood once as the hopeful message […]
