It has been an amazing three weeks on the East Coast! The highlight was the wedding of my son Palani to Isobel Mifsud in New York City! The wedding was beautiful, and it was so nice to gather with family and friends, and finally meet Isobel’s parents and sister who flew over from England! From there I took a train to Philadelphia to see the sites for a couple of days and then onto the D.C. area for an entire week. I then drove in a rental car to southern Virginia to see more historic sites and also visit the Norfolk Botanical Garden where they will feature my art when they celebrate the opening of a state of the art conservatory that will feature tropical plants and trees! On my final day, I took a leisurely drive through Maryland and Delaware to catch my flight home from New York.

Except for NYC, it was my first time to visit these places. There was a lot of history to take in from all the museums, monuments, statues, battlefields, historic homes, and so much more. I look forward to sharing some of my thoughts on Sunday mornings during the coming weeks, especially from my time in Philadelphia and D.C. One thought in particular that stands out to me is that there are many ways to be a democracy and even more ways to structure a government—and some of those ways are certainly better than others.

In the meantime, I look forward to celebrating Pentecost on Sunday as we consider what it means to be filled with Spirit. Just as there are many ways to understand democracy and government, there are also many ways to understand God’s Spirit and be the Church—and some of those ways are better than others!

Let us discover together how we can be filled with the Spirit and honor the life and teachings of Jesus!

Aloha nui loa!
Kahu Alan Akana

Recognizing Jesus

On Easter morning, Mary Magdalene did not recognize Jesus, who was standing there in her midst and talking to her. Seven of the male disciples did not recognize Jesus when he stood on the lakeshore and had a conversation with them. Throughout history, church leaders have failed to recognize Jesus as he appeared over time. And today there are times when we too do not recognize Jesus as he shows up in our midst. One reason is because Jesus shows up in so many different ways, and we all have our preferred ways. I’m guessing most of us also can think of ways that we would rather Jesus not show up—for most instances of divine presence and direction tend to be inconvenient, to say the least, and possibly even disorienting or causing us to live our lives in a completely different way!

One thing I am pretty confident about is that Jesus always shows up in love: love for me and love for you, love for family and friends, love for strangers and enemies, love for those who make important policy decisions and those on the margins of society. My prayer for you is that you would be open for any way that Jesus shows up in your life and in the world, so that you will both recognize Jesus and joyfully serve him!

Aloha nui loa!
Kahu Alan Akana

The Season of Easter

You may have heard that I have been rather sick the past couple of weeks. On Wednesday evening before Easter, my throat was sore and I was rather tired. I figured I was pushing myself a bit too hard and my allergies were kicking in but, just to be safe, I took a Covid test…and it came out positive. I thought it might be a “false positive” as I wasn’t feeling that bad. Since I was planning on serving communion at our Maundy Thursday service the next day, I decided to test again in the morning—but there was no need. When I woke up I felt like I had come down with the worst flu of my life. For a week and a half, I felt sick and had very little energy.

When I went to bed that Wednesday night, I was all ready for Maundy Thursday, looking forward to hanging out with the kids as they colored Easter eggs on Good Friday, and my message for Easter morning was nearly complete. I was looking forward to it all! Once I started to feel a bit better, one of my first thoughts was, “I have missed Easter!” However, as I looked at the church calendar and continued preparing worship services for the upcoming weeks, I was reminded that Easter is a season! Yes, I missed the first day: Easter Sunday. As I spent most of the next week lying in bed and on my couch, I missed some more days. However, I am now “up and about” and looking forward to celebrating the rest of the Easter Season with more energy!

As I have been reading over the Scriptures for the upcoming weeks, I am reminded that, throughout the Gospels, Jesus kept showing up to his disciples. Sometimes they recognized him; sometimes they did not. Sometimes they seem to understand who he was; sometimes they did not. Sometimes the path seemed clear; sometimes it did not. That continued to be the case even after the resurrection; and it continues to be the case today. However, now as then, Jesus keeps showing up. Sometimes he does so in ways we expect; sometimes in unpredictable and surprising ways. Regardless of how the Risen Christ appears, and whether or not we recognize him, I am grateful that he keeps showing up, in fact, that he never leaves us—not even in our sickness, or when we face the death of loved ones, or when we confront our own mortality.

May we keep our eyes and our hearts open so that however Jesus shows up, we will say the words of the disciple whom Jesus loved, “It is the Lord!”

Aloha nui loa!
Kahu Alan Akana

“Lost & Found”

Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost. (Luke 15:6)

A lost sheep. A lost coin. A lost son. Three parables in Luke 15. In each, there is something that is lost and then found—and there is incredible joy!

On Sunday, I talked about how Luke shares these parables in order to shift away from the common way of looking at people as good and bad to a brand new way of seeing people as sometimes lost and sometimes found. We have all been the lost sheep who wanders off…the lost coin that rolls away into a dark corner…the lost son who selfishly makes unwise decisions and hurts himself and others along the way. There are also times when we find ourselves just where we belong and we act with grace and compassion for ourselves and others.

It’s a pattern in our lives, a cycle, a repetition. We move between lost and found throughout our lives; and a key message from the three parables is to learn from our mistakes and poor choices in order to live with more love. Another important message is to stop seeing people (including ourselves!) as good or bad, but rather beloved children of God who attempt to wander off less and less, receive God’s love and pass it on to others more and more. This is something we can improve on throughout our lives.

If you are feeling lost at the moment, may you find your way back into the welcoming arms of a loving God. If you are feeling like you are just where you belong, may your cup of joy overflow!