Pastor’s Corner: I’m Not Really Here

August 19, 2020

Don’t look. I’m not really here.

As you read this, I am enjoying what my family and friends in other places surely envy right now: a Hawaiian vacation. Imagine me, if you will, soaking up the sun’s rays on the beach (covered in sunscreen because you know if I don’t that won’t end well), or browsing through the shops (masked, of course), or taking in the sunset at a restaurant (with nobody seated closer than six feet away).

Or, perhaps, try not to imagine those things, because I’m unlikely to do much of them on this vacation.

Imagine, instead, that I’m taking some time to breathe in, hold it, and breathe out. One, twice, three times – as many times as it take to loosen the tension in the shoulders and the knotted muscles in my neck. Imagine that I’ve paused to listen to bird songs in the forest, paused long enough, perhaps, to see one of two them hopping about in the trees. Imagine that I’m going to sleep early. Imagine that I’m have a few “come to Jesus” conversations with God.

Imagine that I’m soaking in the beauty of our island.

That’s pretty much what I’ll be doing.

I can’t imagine that these last months haven’t been hard on you. I don’t know how much opportunity you’ve had to pause, to breathe, and to let the tension fade. I fear that it’s been less than you want and less than you need.

All too often, preachers say things like, “Do as I say, not as I do,” because we don’t always match our actions to our words. This time, I think I may be setting a good example.

Make the time to breathe. Make the time to release the tension. Make the time for conversation with God. Make the time to soak in the beauty of our island. Make the time to be renewed.

With aloha,

Pastor Eric