Kauai! ~ The End of the Rainbow

I've been to Hawaii three times in my life. Considering how much I seem to love the place you'd think I'd go every chance I could. Lately Hawaii has been on my mind again and since the weather here is getting wintry this weekend I'm headed back to Kauai for a bit. I believe that the mystery and beauty of that Island is almost a picture of my spiritual journey, especially of late, and especially this trip. More on that to come or as they say in Jamaica, soon come :O). Since I have to leave for the SuperKids program in Jamaica on November 4th guess I can't stay in Kauai too long this time. Gosh this "retirement" thing is hard work! :O) Back to Kauai and Hawaii. Considering the beauty of Creation, The beautiful linguistic use of the same word to describe Love, Hello, and Goodbye (that's not even considering the beautiful job they do with only a 13 letter alphabet)(that may also say volumes about the efficaciousness of the plethora of philosophical, theological, etc works out there at the hand of man), The commingling of so many races over the centuries to give the image of homogeneity. If one is to look closely these are the flesh of many of the parts of the body of thought I'm trying to express. The connectedness of all creation, Love being the center of all beginnings and departures, and the all of humanity being one big family. The thought has occurred to me that Paradox has also been a big part of Hawaii which is also a big part of the Emerging movement in recognizing the non dualistic, non judgemental, balance of apparent opposites in the biggest picture of the "Cosmic Christ". I see that paradox in the beauty born from the relationship of Fire and Water, and Air. I see that paradox in the plain fact that in spite of the image we have today of this Idyllic Paradise one can readily see, in the not so distant past a very tribal and violent lifestyle, not so distant at all if one is to wander off the beaten track into a natives "herb" garden. The same beach upon which Sherita and I were married in 2004 and where her ashes were scattered last year was also the scene of a major massacre in 1796 when King Kamehameha tried to conquer Kauai. It is becoming very clear to me that Kauai is playing a significant part in my growth for the future. It has been the site of Great Love and Great Suffering and possibly Great Love again. Death (the ultimate frontier) and New Beginnings. The "Circle of Life" goes around again. Hang on and keep rowing! Aloha, ALOHA, A LO HA! Mahalo E ka Haku! Roberto Vincente

An Eagle Soaring!

The past couple of months have been very meaningful for my path. During this time I have traveled through the period of the second years anniversary of Sherita's passing, her memorial, both of our birthdays and the ripening of the fruit of the spiritual path upon which I've been of late. Actually that path started so many years ago. I have recently felt an amazing gift of connection with creation and I feel very blessed to be present in God's Creation at this time, if time has anything to do with anything. A close friend stated that "I don't do Old, I just do Happy"! Very profound; In that if we stay as active as possible (mind,body, and spirit) from a cup 1/2 full perspective the negative aspects of mortal life will have a very hard time catching up with us. This perspective of looking at the whole of creation, relating to that creation, gliding forth on our flight with the eddies and thermals (of the breath of God) is very well exemplified with the image of the Eagle in flight. In this part of Southern Oregon that same image could come from the Osprey, which are also very special, but the Eagle is very special indeed. Much more will be posted here in the near future as I am confident of the opening of a new phase of my journey which I choose to record here and hope to share with many. During the balance of the year(there goes that time thing again) I hope to find great joy in experiencing not only the "mentoring of youth" from the local corrections department (via the Foster Grandparents Pgm) but also a revisit to Kauai leading to a fresh direction, a literacy project for "Superkids" in Jamaica, Thanksgiving and Christmas celebration with family, and Lord only knows what else, and that pleases me very much. Hope you're along for the ride! !Pax Christi! RV