On Sunday, Karen Johnson helped us kick off the Season of Advent by reading her beautiful poem, Make Room, in which she encouraged us all to make room for Christ during this time of the year. The poem gave me hope as Karen lit the Candle of Hope—hope that we can always make room for Christ and for God in our lives.
Later in the service, I shared about my maternal grandmother’s life and how she was a model of hope for me. As a young girl, Alice wanted to study agriculture but when she shared this dream with others they either laughed at her or else told her she could not do it because agriculture was “man’s work” and not suited for women. Nevertheless, she ended up as the first female to graduate with a B.S. degree in agriculture from Montana State College (now University) in Bozeman, Montana. After graduation, she wanted to raise her children—my mom and her two brothers. After an abusive marriage and an horrific car accident, in which she suffered a broken neck and burns all over her body, she was told that she would never walk again and could certainly never raise her children. Nevertheless, she went back to college to earn another bachelor’s degree—this one in home economics—and was able to keep her family together until each of her kids graduated from high school. Then she wanted to see more of the world, so she lived on Hawai`i and Kaua`i Islands and also in India. She also traveled extensively in her 50’s, 60’s, 70’s and even well into her 80’s. To this day, whenever I face challenges, just remembering my grandmother gives me hope!
On Sunday, I also talked about our Old Testament reading from Isaiah, chapter 11, which is a vision of hope:
A shoot shall come out from the stump of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots.
These words were written during a time in Israel’s history that seemed pretty hopeless. The armies of Babylon had attacked, burned villages and cities, killed many, and took most of the people back to Babylon in order to serve as slaves to the Babylonians. And yet, the writer of Isaiah had a vision of hope that new life would grow out of what was chopped down, that the future would be even better than the past.
May you find hope in your life whenever you face challenges. May you dream big dreams and commit yourself to those dreams, always remembering that the loving God is always present.
I hope you will join us in church this Sunday as we move from hope to peace. Dr. Douglas Duvauchelle will share with us how the art of music brings him peace. We will also celebrate Holy Communion.
Have a great week as you make room for Christ in your life, and experience great hope and peace!
Aloha nui!
Kahu Alan Akana
Click HERE to see a video of last Sunday’s sermon.
Videos of Kahu’s sermons will be available every week through Christmas Day. Please share these videos with friends and invite them to church.
“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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