To all of us who have arrived and drunk deeply of the gifts of these Islands and the Native Hawaiian people who have tolerated and embraced us – tourist and settler alike – this is a time for gratitude. And that gratitude is not equivocal.
Blame has no place on these Hawaiian Islands.
My husband, Native Hawaiian cultural practitioner ‘Iokepa Hanalei ‘Imaikalani reminds me. In these days of our universally shared grief at the unimaginable losses (yet, with a clear “before” picture of our life lived in Lahaina those years ago, all too imaginable) he reminds.
“Gratitude…faith…isn’t a drive-up window. We don’t get to choose when we turn it on or off. With each living breath, Native Hawaiians celebrated life with gratitude. We saw and continue to see the whole of the Creation story – and It’s much larger than any passing moment.
“Too often people come to these Islands, accept what we have always given freely and think themselves knowledgeable about my Islands and my people. But they are not. That requires more.
“Faith is only faith in action. Otherwise, it is meaningless, just a word.
“When we see ourselves only in this singular moment on Maui, in this tragedy, in our losses, then we are living something other than the ancestral wisdom. We are feeding fear in the “not having” versus faith in the abundance.
“My Native people have lived the truth of this for thousands of years. We are intent, in this our moment, when the entire world turns its compassionate heart to our Islands (for other than a week’s vacation), to challenge that world to listen to our ancestors’ living truth.
“Faith is a motion. Like every gift of Creation, we peel back the wrapping paper, untie that bow and use it. Then we celebrate the gift and offer gratitude.”
I concur and add. Not only on the sunny days.
Maui in flames
Hawai'i Community Foundation – Maui Strong Fund
Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement – Kāko'o Maui Fundraiser