“The Flowers Cover the Earth:
The Time of Singing Has Come!”
(Song of Solomon 2:12)
On Sunday, August 29, our theme was “flowers” and what we learn from them. Flowers appear throughout the Bible, which refers to roses, lilies, buds, blossoms, and more! They are often signs of hope. In many parts of the world, flowers appear in the spring and disappear before a long, cold winter sets in—leaving people for months without their color, sweet fragrances and beauty. In the long love poem, Song of Solomon, the king and the woman he loves long for each other as people waiting for flowers in springtime. When the two lovers finally come together, they describe it as a long-awaited and joyful spring:
The flowers cover the earth:
the time of singing has come!
We have all experienced times of longing and darkness in our lives. The flowers remind us that beauty, joy, and pleasure will return—perhaps differently than before. It occurred to me last week that the flowers are not only signs that bring us hope, but they are actually our teachers as well. In The Book of Awakening, the poet, Mark Nepo, writes these helpful words:
Despite all our limitations,
the most crucial challenge of
being human is to show up
like a rose.
How might we bloom wherever we are planted? How might we simply open up in our own time? How might we bring beauty, pleasure, wonder and hope to the people around us?
A couple of weeks ago, I walked around the church property and took pictures of all the different flowers that are blooming there. I invite you to wander around and notice all that is in bloom. Give thanks for every flower, and ask yourself how you too might bloom wherever you may be and open up in your own time—and thereby be a blessing to others!
Aloha nui loa!
Kahu Alan Akana
“A Message from Kahu Alan Akana” is provided most weeks by Koloa Union Church, an Open & Affirming (ONA) congregation of the United Church of Christ (UCC), a member of the Kauai Association and Hawaii Conference.
To see a video of this week’s worship service, including the message, click HERE. You may see the Koloa Union Church YouTube channel to see previous worship services and many of Kahu’s past messages. You can 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.
You are welcome to join us on Sunday mornings! To learn about our Sunday morning worship service, click HERE.
Kahu Akana is also an accomplished artist! He specializes in creating vibrant watercolors of the flowers of Hawaii and hosts a Sunday afternoon reception in a gallery at his home, the Smith Memorial Parsonage. He also meets visitors by appointment. Most of the profit from the sales go for the maintenance and upkeep of the parsonage. To see a video about his art and gallery, click HERE. To see the gallery website, click HERE.
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