"Imagine Your Life without Fear by Max Lucado"

A strain of Asian flu is boarding flights out of China. The plague of our day, terrorism, begins with the word terror. We fear being sued, finishing last, going broke; we fear the mole on the back, the new kid on the block, the sound of the clock as it ticks us closer to the grave. We sophisticate investment plans, create elaborate security systems, and legislate stronger military, yet we depend on mood-altering drugs more than any other generation in history.

Fear, it seems, has taken a hundred-year lease on the building next door and set up shop. Oversize and rude, fear is unwilling to share the heart with happiness. Happiness complies. Do you ever see the two together? Can one be happy and afraid at the same time? Clear thinking and afraid? Confident and afraid? Merciful and afraid? No. Fear is the big bully in the high school hallway: brash, loud, and unproductive. For all the noise fear makes and room it takes, fear does little good.

“Jesus was sleeping” (v. 24 ncv).Now there’s a scene. The disciples scream; Jesus dreams. Thunder roars; Jesus snores. He doesn’t doze, catnap, or rest. He slumbers. Could you sleep at a time like this? Could you snooze during a roller coaster loop-the-loop? In a wind tunnel? At a kettledrum concert? Jesus sleeps through all three at once! Mark’s gospel adds two curious details: “[ Jesus] was in the stern, asleep on a pillow” (Mark 4:38). In the stern, on a pillow. Why the first? From whence came the second?

First-century fishermen used large, heavy seine nets for their work. They stored the nets in a nook that was built into the stern for this purpose. Sleeping upon the stern deck was impractical. It provided no space or protection. The small compartment beneath the stern, however, provided both. It was the most enclosed and only protected part of the boat. So Christ, a bit dozy from the day’s activities, crawled beneath the deck to get some sleep.

He rested his head, not on a fluffy feather pillow, but on a leather sandbag. A ballast bag. Mediterranean fishermen still use them. They weigh about a hundred pounds and are used to ballast, or stabilize, the boat. Did Jesus take the pillow to the stern so he could sleep, or sleep so soundly that someone rustled him up the pillow? We don’t know. But this much we do know. This was a premeditated slumber. He didn’t accidentally nod off. In full knowledge of the coming storm, Jesus decided it was siesta time, so he crawled into the corner, put his head on the pillow, and drifted into dreamland.

His snooze troubles the disciples. Matthew and Mark record their responses as three staccato Greek pronouncements and one question. The pronouncements: “Lord! Save! Dying!” (Matt. 8:25). The question: “Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing?” (Mark 4:38). They do not ask about Jesus’ strength: “Can you still the storm?” His knowledge: “Are you aware of the storm?” Or his know-how: “Do you have any experience with storms?” But rather, they raise doubts about Jesus’ character: “Do you not care . . . ”Fear does this. Fear corrodes our confidence in God’s goodness. We begin to wonder if love lives in heaven. If God can sleep in our storms, if his eyes stay shut when our eyes grow wide, if he permits storms after we get on his boat, does he care?

Fear unleashes a swarm of doubts, anger-stirring doubts. And it turns us into control freaks. “Do something about the storm!” is the implicit demand of the question. “Fix it or . . . or . . . or else!” Fear, at its center, is a perceived loss of control. When life spins wildly, we grab for a component of life we can manage: our diet, the tidiness of a house, the armrest of a plane, or, in many cases, people. The more insecure we feel, the meaner we become. We growl and bare our fangs. Why? Because we are bad? In part. But also because we feel cornered.

Jesus takes our fears seriously. The one statement he made more than any other was this: don’t be afraid.

Fear will always knock on your door. Just don’t invite it in for dinner, and for heaven’s sake don’t offer it a bed for the night. Let’s embolden our hearts with a select number of Jesus’ “do not fear” statements. Fear may fill our world, but it doesn’t have to fill our hearts.

"Congratulations & Best Wishes!"

"Mahalo Nui Loa"

Aloha!

A big mahalo from Lee and I to the whole club for your wonderful participation this past weekend with the 3 fundraising activities. The Koala Moa Chicken Sale this past Saturday from 7:00am to 2:30pm led by Lynn Akeo and Joanne Tano (1,467 chickens cooked!). Also on Saturday at 10:00am, 400 chicken plates were prepared for the "Spirit of Aloha" volunteers led by Arlene and Laurie with their team which included Pastor Rod's wife and Aaron's Kitchen at the Dole Cannery. Much mahalos! Coach Blane and Sam for helping to transfer equipment and the setting up at 3:00pm for the services at Farrington after leaving the Koala Moa site. And again the many paddlers that came that night to help to serve in the food booth. We shut down at 9:00pm that night. And lastly, all the help again on Sunday morning with the set up, serving and breakdown of the food booth during and after the 3 services were completed. People helped from 6:00am until 1:30pm. (450 plates sold) Excellent paddling outside of the canoe. It was encouraging and uplifting to see everyone having fun and working hard at the Koala Moa site. The racing that was going on under the chicken bagging tent was crazy. Still not sure who got Gold or Silver. The bonding and fellowship was heartwarming. The hospitality tent set up by Kehau Bishaw and the 50 women and our wonderful servant waitress in Janice Love who made sure that everyone had something to eat and drink throughout the day. The shuttling of workers coming in and leaving the site was stellar. Even the owners of the Koala Moa site were impressed and it gave them an idea of how to do things better at the site because of the parking and congestion problems. Mahalo again Laurie for making all of this possible. Finally, Uncle George Hom for being who you are and for all that you do for us to remind us of what's important and holding us all accountable to our mission statement. "Paddling with Him, and you, in His canoe!" ...Coaches Cy and Lee Kalama

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"Hokule'a on Makai"