A Note from Kahu Alan Akana
Very early in the morning, while it was still dark,
Jesus got up, left the house and went off
to a solitary place, where he prayed.
(Mark 1:35)
On Sunday morning, I talked about the increasing noise in our society. I am astounded at how noisy our lives have become, especially compared to that of our grandparents’ generation. When my maternal grandmother was born on a farm in south-central Montana in 1900, there were no cars driving by, no airplanes flying over, and no electricity or running water in the home. My grandmother grew up with the sound of farm animals, the stream which ran through their property, birds, and chores. Today, there is the constant noise of cars, machines, appliances, as well as the noise of our cellphones which we often carry with us wherever we go. It seems that the amount of noise and the noise level just keeps increasing, and the trend seems to be continuing.
When the author Diana Butler Bass was asked by a student in January 2001 what she thought the 21st century would be like, her instantaneous reply was: “Noisy. It will be noisy.” And, so far, I think she has been right on target! Making time for peace and quiet seems to me to be more important than ever. Jesus certainly took time to escape the hustle and bustle of the city. In our reading on Sunday from Mark’s Gospel, we find Jesus getting up early in the morning while it was still dark and spending quiet time alone in prayer. This is sometime hard for us to do in today’s noisy and fast-paced world. However, it is so important for us to carve out space in our daily and weekly routines for times of peace and quiet, prayer and reflection, and sometimes just listening to the sound of the ocean waves or our own breath.
Aloha nui!
Kahu Alan Akana
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Our Kahu (Pastor) offers a weekly message in church most Sundays during the year. Click HERE to see a video of his message from this past Sunday. 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.
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