Peeking in an Empty Tomb

     My dad was rushed to the hospital yesterday.  He fell, and his neck hit a chair, which crushed his larynx.  At first he thought he was okay, but once swelling and bleeding started obstructing his airway, he realized he needed to go to the hospital.  The paramedics got him to the Sylva hospital quickly, giving him a tracheotomy in the process.  We got to see him before they then transferred him to Asheville where we are now keeping vigil.  He's in critical condition, and while we are hoping for the best, we are preparing for the worst, or something in between.

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     I didn't find God in any particular way on the corner of Amistad... didn't even find Amistad if there is one in NYC.  But I did find some great street art near the corner of 104th and Amsterdam: a broken t/v tray and an a single shoe.

(C) Michael P. Barham, 2009

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I took this photo in the Whole Foods in New Orleans, LA, while home in Mississippi - I thought it would make a pleasant fall, Halloween contribution to my Facebook page.

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A couple of weeks ago, I broke down and purchased a lovely polynesian-style fish hook, hand made by a local Hawaiian artist.  It's wonderful swirls match my tattoo, and the koa wood that is mixed with cow bone to make a stunning, creative design is endemic (I think) to Hawai`i, and has a beautiful grain.  I bought it to wear on liturgical occasions... occasionally.... part of the emphasis on discipleship I learned as a Methodist, and the imperative of our closing ritual at one of the summer youth mission trips I went on several years - "Mt. T.O.P." - fishers of men.

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Teloschistes flavicans

Looking closely at the lovely orange-yellow growing on branches, I noticed this lichen webbing among the outstretched arms of the trees. I had only noticed this on the very top of Koko Crater, and then again last Friday when I reached rain-forrest height on the Kuli`ou`ou Ridge Trail.

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Sounds like the title of a child's book?  The Canoe and the Church?  Some of the photos on my Facebook page have been of canoes and me canoeing.  

canoe

Canoe 2

Tall Ship (South America)

Hylocereus undatus & MPB

I've added a new photo as a my profile picture, a no-flash late night photo of a night blooming cereus - that wonderfully  fabulous succulent-cactus that blooms only at night, on a cycle that someone told me is lunar-based.  It's flower, fit for crowning Carmen Miranda, and large enough, is like a firework explosion.

Hylocereus undatus

Every day I pass by Punahou school - which takes on a bit more than a full block, failing to notice regularly the green cacti lining its wall.  Yesterday, I saw a couple taking a photo during the day, but was on the way home from dinner and a movie with a friend when he pointed out the cereus, and its beautiful blooms - a block long spray of flowers fit for a royal parade. 

Of course, everything creation sings God's praise, but this reminds me a little of the story of creation - the waiting, the ignoring, the ignorance of the fomentation occurring - until suddenly one finds the most extravagant message of love blooming our of the middle of the night, having been there all along, though we never allowed ourselves to imagine the outpouring of 

Hylocereus undatus with flash

such a gift, nor that it would be from a prickly cactus, or happen in the darker hours - but isn't that when the brightness of the light of Christ is most piercing, when it emerges in contrast to what we perceive as our darkest night?

Maybe we need to become like Nicodemus, and when our heart is troubling us at night, go and seek out the One who brings our heart to bloom.

Saturday, my friend BR took this photo of me just after we had finished the novice B race in the McFarlane - an annual 4th of July race down at Waikiki, a time of year when the surf is up, which makes operating a canoe a little more interesting.

Hui Nalu novice B team

Even as I was exuberant with my first race, coach reminded us that we really weren't acting like a team out on the water.  Distractions, focusing on our own paddling, rather than getting in sync with the team.

Paddling very much reminds me of the Benedicting ways of praying the Psalms, and what a teacher once told me about brothers trying to pray the psalm in a way that was not only rhythmically connected with others praying, but was also in a way that allowed them to hear the voice of the person on either side of them, so that they were neither to little, nor too loud.  This reminds me of the singing rules by John Wesley, in which he talks about neither lagging behind nor running ahead of other singers.

While we are individuals who do not lose our distinctiveness, the gifts unique to our personal creation, we are also called to live into more authentic communion with others; paddling reminds me of the importance of trying to become part of a group motion or a group way of life's fullness, over than an individual self - we cannot live alone.  The boat only moves when we are reality paying attention to one another, timing to one another. 

The empty hull of the canoe fills with six individuals, who either quickly learn to become one, or, who fight against one another and the waves for a muggy, thick trail of sweat lagging behind the tails of faster, more unified teams.

I was recently at a canoe blessing, and felt a calm and beauty there - it was a wonderful day because I began and ended my social outings by standing in a circle of blessing.  In the AM, at a canoe blessing, and in the PM, at the end of our Confirmation celebration banquet.

It's been some time since I forced myself to blog, so I figure now it is about time.  I've had the idea of writing a brief explanation of photos I take and place on my facebook page as my "profile picture."  I'll start with the current, and update you as I change.  When possible, I'll try to go back through some of the photos I have taken.

Michael @ communion