´e Tutto Buono... It's All Good: June 2018

We recently visited Waianapanapa State Park in Maui. And this is just one of the many glorious, mind-blowing viewpoints from this incredible park. Literally, we got out of the car and from the moment we started walking along the trails all I could say was WOW! The combination of black volcanic rocks, the bright green foliaged, the white sea foam, and brilliant blue ocean water was just so visually stunning that I was at a loss for words. It is a place that calls for you to stop and just breathe it all in.

Places like this constantly amaze me. I find myself in awe at the creativity God used when he made this amazing planet that we live on. The views so are varied and diverse.

The view from the Danube River in Austria.

A view of Venice from a canal bridge.

A large Sociable Swallows Nest in a Camel Thorn Tree in the Kalahari Desert in South Africa.

The Sawyer Glacier in Tracy Arm Fjord in Alaska.

Each of the views in the above photos are (in my opinion) stunning. But they are beautiful in vastly different ways. I have found in life that people are drawn to certain views. Some people are what I call "mountain" people-- they have a deep love and appreciation for mountain views. Other's are "Ocean" people-- they are drawn to and enjoy views of the ocean. And some people are drawn to great architecture, some to deserts, and on and on.

Now, if I am an "ocean view" person, does that mean that what the "mountain view" person views as beautiful isn't beautiful? I'm going to ask you to hold that thought for a minute and follow me to a seemingly different conversation.

Ephesians 2:14-18, the Message

"The Messiah has made things up between us so that we're now together on this, both non-Jewish outsiders and Jewish insiders. He tore down the wall we used to keep each other at a distance. He repealed the law code that had become so clogged with fine print and footnotes that it hindered more than it helped. Then he started over. Instead of continuing with two groups of people separated by centuries of animosity and suspicion, he created a new kind of human being, a fresh start for everybody. Christ brought us together through his death on the cross. The cross got us to embrace, and that was the end of the hostility. Christ came and preached peace to you outsiders and peace to us insiders. He treated us as equals, and so made us equals. Through him we both share the same spirit and have equal access to the Father."

This was the scripture that our pastor started out with on Sunday. I had been giving this blog some serious thought for a month or so now, and here comes this amazing piece of scripture... that I had probably read several times before, and yet it hadn't hit me or grasped me yet. I love that when it happens!

But, back to the story...While our pastor was talking specifically about racial issues, this scripture hit me on a broader level. Everywhere I turn I am inundated with disagreement. Don't get me wrong, it's not that disagreement is wrong. It's just that the level of disagreement seems to have taken a decidedly hostile turn. And when I read this scripture, the word hostile stuck out.

The word hostile is defined as: unfriendly, antagonistic, opposed. It is also defined as unkind, bitter, unsympathetic, malicious, vicious, rancorous, venomous, poisonous, and virulent. Wow! Does this definition strike a cord with anyone else out there? It sure does with me. I watch the interactions between people who disagree play out on T.V., on social media, even in traffic, and it feels very much like hostility.

And let's be clear, this isn't a blog about how we should all come together and agree on everything-- because I don't believe that's realistic. Instead, I want to address why we feel so comfortable with reacting in a hostile way towards each other.

I think the problem is in our view--we have somehow lost focus and we have forgotten to look at this amazing view right in front of us. It's like standing upon a cliff, overlooking a green valley, with the most amazing sunset of all existence right there in front of us- and instead of looking up and seeing the beauty, we are instead looking down at the dirt beneath our feet and thinking about how dirty our shoes are going to be when we leave. We are missing it!

What's the view we are missing? We are missing that every person we meet, every single one, is made and deeply loved by God. And not only that, but that God's whole purpose of the cross was not to bring more division and disagreement into this world, but instead to unite us. For although we may still have vastly different viewpoints, we can all be reconciled through our love for God and through God's vast love for us.

Once we change our viewpoint to where the first thing we see when we look at each other is that this person in front of me is God's beloved, we can then take steps towards appreciating other viewpoints. Some of the most incredible interactions with other people have taken place when I have taken the time to sit down with those who are different than me and listened to their stories. When I become more focused on them as a human, rather than focusing on wether or not we agree or view things in the same way, the peace that is talked about in the above scripture comes into play. I learn the most amazing things about people when this happens.

I'll share just a few stories:

Recently I met an incredible woman from Germany. This woman is a Geothermal Scientist. She came to Hawaii for a conference ( I can only imagine the way-over my head discussions that took place at this event). She (along with her husband) had decided that since they were traveling so far, they might as well vacation there following the conference. Oh, did I mention that I met her while putting on wetsuits (which is a vastly humbling experience, especially when doing it in a group of 20 or so strangers) to prep for our night time Manta Ray snorkel. She had come by herself because her husband was not into the water thing. And this was only her second time snorkeling in all her life. She confessed to being extremely nervous, but also excited to try something different and new. Let me interject that Manta Rays can get up to 14 feet across and weigh well over 1,000-2,000 pounds. And this was happening at night. In the ocean. I have no idea what her beliefs were. No idea where she fell politically. No idea what she thought about the U.S. as a country. I had no idea where she fell socioeconomically. She is certainly by far much smarter than I will every be-- Geothermal Scientist, remember? But what we had in common? Besides being human, we were in it to see some amazing Manta Rays. And see them we did! And in this random hour and a half I spent with her I learned from her. You know what I learned from this lady? How to be brave. How to take risk. How to embrace where you are wholeheartedly. Here she was, in a foreign country, speaking a language that was not her native one, trying something new-- that was a little frightening to her, and doing it on her own, with a group of total strangers.

While in Croatia, we had the privilege to visit and eat at a local family farm just outside the town of Dubrovnik. This family had an amazing and heartbreaking story. In the early 1990's they went through the Croatian War of Independence. During this time, their family farm was burned to the ground, including all of their Olive Trees, which was their source of income. Forced to leave their home, along with many others, they crowded into local hotel rooms trying to avoid the fighting and keep their families safe. They lived for several years, inside these cramped hotels, until the fighting was finally over and they were allowed to return home. Upon their return, they found that everything had been looted and burned. They had to start over. And so they did. They rebuilt the farmhouse and other structures. They replanted their fields, but because of the soil conditions, and how long it takes Olive Trees to bear fruit ( from 5 - 12 years), they had to change what they grew. As you can imagine, they needed to figure out a way to generate income. Interestingly enough, Croatia had now become a sort of tourist destination now that the war had ended. And so this enterprising family came up with a plan. Not only were they going to grow and sell what they could produce on the family farm, but they were going to open up their facility and host tourists for dinners. While we ate this amazing fresh farm to table food, several family members played and sang music. And they were incredibly gifted. I learned resilience, perseverance, and the value of joy through hard circumstances from this wonderful Croatian family.

Those are just a few of the many stories I could share. People are amazing! Their stories are amazing!

My prayer and challenge for myself and for you is that we don't miss it! That we don't get so caught up in hostility, so focused on our differences, focused on being right, focused on justifying our position, so focused on being righteous, that we miss the view. And all you have to do is to remain focused on the right view, focus on viewing people the way God views them.

I may still be drawn more to "ocean views" but that doesn't take away from the beauty of the "mountain views" that you love. And we can all agree that God has given us an incredible world with some amazingly breathtaking views!

I'll leave you today with a few more photo's of some more gorgeous (in my opinion) views. Have a great day!