Dear people of Bethlehem,
In a world that seems discordant, hurtful and harsh, where do we find our hope, our center and ourselves? The answer is often in the unexpected places, in the quiet moments of God’s intervening voice, and in the hearts of those who remind us of that which is of deepest value.
For me, one of those moments came on Maui a week or so ago, as I stood with 23 students and leaders, near the beach in the early morning. We had come that morning to be of service. We had come to work with the Hawaii Land Trust and be of help as they restored the ‘aina. I was ready to work hard, but I was not ready to be blessed.
Isn’t that so often the case. The blessing comes unbidden. We were invited to stand on sacred ground and join our host and his extended Hawaiian family in their morning protocol, before the work began. Protocol is a time of prayer and chant (oli). It is an opportunity to set an intention for the day and to honor all that has come before. As the leader’s voice rose in the air, he was answered by the oli of all those present. The chanting filled the air and filled us completely. Our hosts reminded us that this was our chance to leave all that burdened us there. To lay down the hurt and the pain, so that we might enter the land at peace. So that our hands might carry grace and good as we worked.
What an important reminder. We so often carry the worry and hurt of the world with us. We hold it as some sort of necessary burden. Certainly, we are called to know the pain of the world, but we can only begin to heal that pain, when we claim for ourselves the grace in which we stand. When we allow our hands to carry the hope and promise in which we are grounded. The Hawaiian people reminded me to claim the ancient things that cannot be taken away. They taught me to claim aloha and grace and the beloved community first, and then to walk into the responsibility of the day. They taught me to remember in whose image I am made. I left that sacred ground knowing my place and carrying hope deeply within me. I carry it still.
I pray the same for you. May you feel, this day, the grace in which you stand. The deep knowledge that you are made in the image of God. May you lay down the burdens and the pain, if only for a moment, and hold deeply within you — light and hope. May God’s peace be yours.
Our work on that day was to help in the taro fields (the lo’i kalo). Taro plants cannot grow in isolation. The stems and leaves are too top heavy, and the plants would fall over. They must be planted together, so they can hold each other up. Their roots must intertwine, so that the plants can nourish each other. What a deep truth. I give thanks for you. We are here to hold each other up, to share in our grace and hope and to carry the light together. If you are in need of healing, join us on Sunday, that we might be reminded again of the grace in which we stand.
Aloha, Pastor Laura
