Captain Cook

Captain Cook is a well known figure in the history of Hawaii. Although he is credited with discovering the Hawaiian Islands in 1778, that is only from a European perspective. In reality some very brave and adventurous navigators who possibly originated from Fiji, navigated their way in canoes across the Pacific until they came to the beautiful Hawaiian Islands and settled there.

The Polynesians had chanted geneologies going back to creation and stories telling of their expulsion from the Garden of Eden, the great flood, Abraham, their ancestor and their migration from the middle east to India to the islands of the South Pacific and from there to the Hawaiian Islands that were so similar to the Garden from which their ancestors had been expelled.

These original Hawaiians worshipped 'Io the 'Most High God' who was a benevolent and loving creator. But they did not remember Him well, nor did they know about His Son Jesus. But they had prophecies that had been passed down by the priests of 'Io that the day would come when the knowledge of the true God would return and that would come via a ship with "white wings." That ship would bring a book that would teach them about their true creator God and would set them free from the "Nats" (demons).

Captain Cook's arrival fulfilled some of their prophecies, but not all of them. They initially considered him a deity. But when he set sail and then returned to repair a broken mast, his return was unwelcome and resulted in fights between the Europeans and the Hawaiians. Captain Cook was killed in one of those fights. There is some controversy as to whether the Hawaiians did indeed deify Captain Cook and then took his life when they realized he was not a god. Nevertheless, the Hawaiians continued to wait for the fulfillment of their prophecies.

What do you know about the true history of Hawaii? Is your knowledge based upon the errant "facts" from Michner's historical novel, Hawaii? Find out more about the true history of the Hawaiian people.

Get ready for future posts.

This week:
Monday - Captain Cook
Tuesday - the Ditch
Wednesday - Eternity
Thursday - Friends and Family
Friday - Gratitude
Saturday - Hope, Hilo and Heiau

Big Island

The Big Island of Hawaii is the largest of the eight major islands that make up the state of  Hawaii. The state counts a total of 137 islands including Midway which isn't technically part of the state. Only seven of the eight major islands are populated.

There are approximately 20 of the world's 26 climatic zones found on the Big Island. You can go from desert to savannah to subtropical to tropical rainforest in no time at all. On all of our visits to Hawaii we have been impressed by the non-commercial nature of the Big Island. On our last visit we still found roadside fruit and vegetable stands that were completely unattended, leaving to the honor system the exchange of cash for produce. It had a neighborhood atmosphere that was appealing to us and made us feel right at home unlike Oahu which had much more of a cosmopolitan feel.

Our first visit to the Big Island was December of 1999. Our son John had gone in September to work as an intern there and we kept promising him that we would be coming out to see Hawaii while he was there. Unfortunately, our visit was to try to find him, not to visit him. In that process of searching for him we grew to love the Big Island and its inhabitants.

We've had the privilege of returning to the Big Island twice since then and each time has been special. On one of those occasions we had the opportunity to take a spin around Oahu as well.

Have you ever visited the Big Island? What did you like best about it?

The meaning of Aloha

Aloha is a word that means so much more than simply "hello" or "goodbye." The Hawaiian dictionary translates "aloha" as love, affection, compassion, mercy, sympathy, pity, kindness, grace, charity and beloved.

Daniel Kikawa states in his book Perpetuated in Righteousness that "aloha is the Hawaiian word for God's unconditional love; what the Greek Bible calls agape." In addition he says, "Aloha means literally, 'The Spirit of the Son of God.'"

So the next time you say or hear the word "aloha" think about its profound meaning. That is why we chose to give our book the title, Aloha is Forever.

What does "aloha" mean to you?

Are You Saving Time?

Daylight savings time always throws me for a loop. I'm waiting this time to see how long it will take my body to adjust to the one hour time change. When the alarm went off this morning my internal clock was so mis-aligned with it that it took me forever to realize it was the alarm and then even longer to get it turned off. To add insult to injury, my daughter was just getting up herself at the time I got to her house to babysit so she could go to work.

As she got ready we began to reminisce about the one and only time we had "daylight savings time" in the Amazon region of Brazil where we lived for almost 30 years. Most of you may not have stopped to think about this, but the sun rises and sets near the equator at almost the same time of day every day of the year. So when all the clocks were moved forward an hour the only thing it accomplished was to make everyone one hour late for everything. People still ran their lives by the sun, not by the clock. I hate to think how many man hours were wasted instead of saved as a result. We were all oh so thankful when the clocks went back to normal and life did, too.

Since I garden, daylight savings time is actually helpful to me as it is to many people who like to get outside work done after they get home from their day job. But it's never an easy transition...

How about you? What unusual or difficult situation has daylight savings time caused in your life? And does it really save you time?

Interview with the Authors

Last week a pastor contacted us through The Book Marketing Network. He asked if he could interview us for his blog. This was the first time we had ever been approached about an interview and the result is on now on Pastor Bobby's blog.

We were very gratified by his comments. I'd like to quote just the final paragraph of his comments after the interview as this expresses our hearts in a way that we ourselves hadn't been able to verbalize quite like he did. And it's so true.

"A friend of mine told me one day, not too long after my mother passed away, that he felt sorry for my losing my mother. I politely thanked him and quickly responded that when you lose someone or something, you do not know where they are. But I know exactly where my mother is. Knowing that she was a very devout Christian believer, she is with Christ (to be absent from the body is to be in the presence  of God.) Knowing where she is and my father is and my brother is reassures me that I have not lost them."

For more of the interview, go to Pastor Bobby's blog.