Last summer, my family and I vacationed to Hawaii.  When we returned I started a blog, writing about my experience there:

July 26,2015

Aloha!  While vacationing with my family in Hawaii I learned there’s an entire sermon packed into that one little word. The explanation I heard and like most is that Aloha is a positive exchange of energy. 

Aloha is a greeting used to express affection and wish someone love and peace. Aloha is not taken lightly on the island of Kauai. It’s taught as a lifestyle and passed on through generations, traditions, signs and books. It cannot help but seep into every aspect of living when practiced intentionally.

Upon arriving on the island of Kauai, I told my husband I thought we’d found Eden. It felt like paradise. I wasn’t sure why at first, but I knew there was something special about Kauai. The weather was nice, the island was beautiful, the people were friendly and, of course, we were on vacation but all of that has been true for us in other places before. As days passed, it became clearer to me what was so special about this island.

At the hotel where we stayed, there was a courtyard with a cockatoo, geese, koi fish, a swan, and occasional wild birds. The cockatoo named Kukui greeted us enthusiastically and spent a good 10 minutes talking and entertaining us. He seemed to enjoy interacting with people. The next day there was a sign up saying Kukui had the day off and would be back “tomorrow.” Kukui had every other day off. The swan and fish were also friendly. I hung out in the garden some mornings and after sitting on a rock near the swan and talking briefly to it, it began following me around. The humane society looked vastly different from our own and had a large field where dogs could run and play. There were often people in the field with them throwing balls when we passed by, and we saw a flyer advertising a program allowing people to take a shelter dog out for a day.

Everywhere in Kauai you could find wild chickens and stray cats. But the chickens and cats all looked healthy and were quite friendly. We’d often see businesses leave cat food out, and we never saw anyone shooing them away (except one tourist), even at the restaurant onsite at our resort. The animals associated people with something positive.

The entire time we were there, people spoke kindly to us and often went out of their way to help. We were treated as friends, not as strangers. In fact, I never saw or heard anyone from the island speaking crossly or impersonally. There was a sense of harmony, genuine caring, and community. We noticed stores, restaurants, and even tourist businesses closed early or had entire days off. Houses and cars were sufficient, but not grand. It seemed the people of Kauai were well practiced at balancing work, play, and family/community time.

All life was valued and respected: plant, animal, and human life. Each living thing was treated with care and respect. As a result, peace and harmony flourished and the air was filled with a positive and tangible energy, encouraging more growth and abundant living.

This idea should not be foreign to us. Peace, harmony, love, respect, and abundant life should feel like home. I suppose the concepts were, and that’s why Kauai felt like home to me. That’s why it felt like Eden. These are at the heart of Christianity. These are the teachings of Christ. Perhaps we can start spreading the spirit of aloha here and begin building our own community of abundant life. *

Read Genesis 1-2, and remember: God loves YOU unconditionally!

Annie

*thoughtsexperiencesinspiration.wordpress.com

Today’s reading: https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis+1-2&version=NRSV