A Message from Kahu Alan Akana

by admin | Mar 13, 2018 | Message from Kahu

Time on Hawai`i Island

I began last week by flying to Kona on Monday morning to the annual Hawai`i Conference (United Church of Christ) Clergy Retreat. Whenever I attend this event, I find something inspirational and something new to learn. I was especially encouraged to gather with colleagues and Cynthia Scherr, the consultant whom the Conference hired to lead us in creating a strategic plan for us all. The strategic planning committee is considering a new mission statement and vision, as well as areas of focus so that our efforts and budget of our Conference might clearly reflect our values as the people of the Hawai`i Conference– for we are the Conference! On Tuesday, March 13, Cynthia will be joining us at Koloa Union Church to hear our thoughts and the thoughts of people on Kaua`i regarding vision, mission and priorities.

After three days at the clergy retreat, I headed up to Volcano for some hiking, visiting friends, reading, and searching for new flowers. I intend to paint the `ohi`a lehua blossom sometime this year, so I walked around Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park for some inspiration. I love how its striking bright red blossoms stand out against the black lava of Halema`uma`u Crater (the photo above). I also saw a species of the rare hau kuahiwi flower, which I had never seen before.

One of my great surprises to come across an `io–the rare Hawaiian hawk, which used to inhabit all of the islands (including Kaua`i), but now is only found on Hawai`i Island. The majestic bird I saw was covered with mostly light-colored feathers and stood nearly a foot and a half tall, as it perched in the branches of an `ohi`a tree for about ten minutes before flying off. It is a royal symbol in Hawaiian lore and is sometimes called `iolani, meaning “exalted hawk” or “heavenly hawk.” I was so grateful to see this bird for the first time!

I had a wonderful week retreating, hiking and resting. Now, it is good to be back. I enjoyed visiting with the men this morning at our weekly men’s breakfast. I look forward to seeing everyone at tonight’s strategic planning gathering, tomorrow’s soup supper and Lenten reflection, and (of course!) Sunday morning worship!

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Our Kahu (Pastor) offers a weekly message in church most Sundays during the year. You may see the Koloa Union Church YouTube channel to see many of his past messages and subscribe in order be notified when a new message is posted. Please share these videos with friends and invite them to church. Please feel free to “Like” any of the videos you see and share them on social media, such as Facebook, so that others will notice them.

“A Message from Kahu Alan Akana” is provided most weeks by the Kahu (Pastor) of Koloa Union Church, a congregation of the United Church of Christ (UCC), a member of the Kauai Association and Hawaii Conference.

A Message from Kahu Alan Akana

by admin | Mar 7, 2018 | Message from Kahu

Melicent and James Smith

“A Blessing at the Threshold”

It takes only a couple of seconds for a life to change irreversibly.

Suddenly you stand on completely strange ground

and a new course of life has to be embraced.

Especially at such times we desperately need blessing and protection.

An excerpt from To Bless the Space between Us

—John O’Donohue

[This past Sunday, we continued our Lenten theme of “Blessings,” based upon the late John O’Donohue’s book To Bless the Space between Us: A Book of Blessings. The topic was “Thresholds.”]

When James and Melicent Smith stepped onto the 96-foot brig Sarah Abigail in Boston in May of 1842, they had crossed a threshold. They had left the life which they had known in New England and they would never go back to it. They moved to Koloa where they spent the rest of their lives. James was the only Western-trained physician on Kaua`i and he served the entire island, as well as Ni`ihau. He came here and he saved many lives—mostly Native Hawaiians.

The Old Testament text was the well known passage of the Ten Commandments from Exodus 20. The Hebrew people had just crossed their own threshold when they left Egypt where they were slaves and crossed over onto a journey where they were headed to the promised land of freedom.

Both the Smiths and the Hebrew people had left the life they knew behind and entered an entire new way of being, of seeing, and of relating to the world. I pointed out that the Ten Commandments did not start out as just a big set of rules. They started out ontological.Ontology is the study of being, of identity, of understanding the essence of a person or community. “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.” These are the opening words of the Ten Commandments! It starts out with who God is, who the people were and are, and (by implication) who they are becoming. Only after the ontological words come the practical words. “You shall have no other gods before me….”

It is important whenever we cross our own thresholds in life that we remember first who we are, what our identity is, how we relate to God, the earth, and other people; only then is it important to consider our actions. In our Gospel reading (Matthew 5), Jesus made it clear that if our focus is on the rules, we have missed the entire point. What is way more important is what is in our hearts. After all, we can still follow the rules (for awhile) and hate people in our hearts. Jesus and his followers know that our actions are best motivated by love, by grace and compassion.

As you cross over any thresholds in your life, I invite you to begin by asking who you are and how you relate to God, the earth and others. I invite you to allow love to motivate your actions.

Aloha nui!

Kahu Alan Akana