Today is the last day of my vacation. While a tiny part of me does not want it to end and wishes I could live here (I really love Hawaii), most of me is looking forward to going home.
This, here, is not real life. It is more like a beautiful dream, to be savoured for all the wonderful experiences I have been gifted with, but nonetheless, a dream. Fleeting, perhaps prophetic, but it is only by waking up from my dream can I fully participate in life.
My family, my friends, my work, my ministry, all these exist back home in Singapore. I can make a difference at home. I matter most to people back home. Singapore is where my mission fields lie right now, so homeward bound.
P suggested I go round-island on one last jaunt today, but I prefer to spend the day in solitude and minimal activity, to say goodbye by remembering what I have been given on this trip and to dwell on what gems I take home with me.
The natural beauty - from the crystalline azure waters, to the lush, emerald volcanic ridges on the windward side reaching into the brilliant blue skies - has assaulted my senses, making me realize that I need to do more in terms of stewardship.
To help preserve nature and do more in terms of going green. This was what the ancient Hawaiians embodied, and this love and respect for the land still rings loud and true today.
Thank you Kumu Sam Ohu Gon III for the deeply spiritual Huli Kauwela that marked the changing of the seasons, and for showing me how one lives and breathes passion and commitment.
In keeping with loving the earth, I can also do more to honour the dignity of others, especially the lepers of today, people who are persecuted, rejected or forgotten by others. On a more personal level, people whom I avoid or find hard to love, I should do more to befriend them, making time for them. I draw inspiration from Saint Damien and Saint Marianne of Moloka'i who loved with such supernatural compassion and heart.
What struck me while reading the stories of those who were sent to Moloka'i in the Damien and Marianne of Moloka'i Heritage Center was the Hawaiian concept of 'ohana, family. How strong the bonds were between husband and wife, parents and their children, and how they did everything possible to be together, sacrificing much, and how heartbroken they were when separated. Although I love and treasure my family ties, I can see I can always do better in terms of nurturing those relationships. I have to admit I have let the busyness of life be my excuse quite frequently.
Finally, the Gospel readings on the Good Shepherd this week have given me a renewed sense of mission and brought into focus what the fifth decade of life holds for me. It certainly pays to bring Jesus on vacation for He reveals such delightful gifts each day, and shows me how much He loves me in extremely creative and numerous ways.
The sense of freedom I have embraced these last two weeks is one I bring home with me to take up the tasks and responsibilities of my vocation, my life. As Jesus said in John 10:11-18:
This is why the Father loves me,
because I lay down my life in order to take it up again.
No one takes it from me, but I lay it down on my own.
I have power to lay it down, and power to take it up again.
This command I have received from my Father.
My brief sojourn in Hawaii can best be summed up in one thought: When I choose to love in Christ's Spirit, then I will be given the power to love unreservedly and unconditionally, healing and liberating not just others, but myself, in the process. Freedom rules.
This, here, is not real life. It is more like a beautiful dream, to be savoured for all the wonderful experiences I have been gifted with, but nonetheless, a dream. Fleeting, perhaps prophetic, but it is only by waking up from my dream can I fully participate in life.
My family, my friends, my work, my ministry, all these exist back home in Singapore. I can make a difference at home. I matter most to people back home. Singapore is where my mission fields lie right now, so homeward bound.
P suggested I go round-island on one last jaunt today, but I prefer to spend the day in solitude and minimal activity, to say goodbye by remembering what I have been given on this trip and to dwell on what gems I take home with me.
The natural beauty - from the crystalline azure waters, to the lush, emerald volcanic ridges on the windward side reaching into the brilliant blue skies - has assaulted my senses, making me realize that I need to do more in terms of stewardship.
To help preserve nature and do more in terms of going green. This was what the ancient Hawaiians embodied, and this love and respect for the land still rings loud and true today.
Thank you Kumu Sam Ohu Gon III for the deeply spiritual Huli Kauwela that marked the changing of the seasons, and for showing me how one lives and breathes passion and commitment.
In keeping with loving the earth, I can also do more to honour the dignity of others, especially the lepers of today, people who are persecuted, rejected or forgotten by others. On a more personal level, people whom I avoid or find hard to love, I should do more to befriend them, making time for them. I draw inspiration from Saint Damien and Saint Marianne of Moloka'i who loved with such supernatural compassion and heart.
What struck me while reading the stories of those who were sent to Moloka'i in the Damien and Marianne of Moloka'i Heritage Center was the Hawaiian concept of 'ohana, family. How strong the bonds were between husband and wife, parents and their children, and how they did everything possible to be together, sacrificing much, and how heartbroken they were when separated. Although I love and treasure my family ties, I can see I can always do better in terms of nurturing those relationships. I have to admit I have let the busyness of life be my excuse quite frequently.
Finally, the Gospel readings on the Good Shepherd this week have given me a renewed sense of mission and brought into focus what the fifth decade of life holds for me. It certainly pays to bring Jesus on vacation for He reveals such delightful gifts each day, and shows me how much He loves me in extremely creative and numerous ways.
The sense of freedom I have embraced these last two weeks is one I bring home with me to take up the tasks and responsibilities of my vocation, my life. As Jesus said in John 10:11-18:
This is why the Father loves me,
because I lay down my life in order to take it up again.
No one takes it from me, but I lay it down on my own.
I have power to lay it down, and power to take it up again.
This command I have received from my Father.
My brief sojourn in Hawaii can best be summed up in one thought: When I choose to love in Christ's Spirit, then I will be given the power to love unreservedly and unconditionally, healing and liberating not just others, but myself, in the process. Freedom rules.
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