The Conchshell Chronicles - Our Newsletter

As we were voting on Election Day in the United States, our students, teachers,  and their  families were  enduring   Hurricane Eta that hit the Nicaraguan coast south of the Coco River as a Category 4 storm with winds of 140 mph. Over the next week, Eta dumped 40 inches of rain on Central America.

Most storms weaken and die out when they hit land. Not Eta. This storm crossed the mountains of northern Nicaragua, passed into Honduras, dumping rain throughout neighboring Guatemala, where over 100 died when a mudslide covered an entire village. There was so much rain that the San Pedro Sula airport was completely flooded, including the International Terminal, with what appeared have water up past the second floor.  Some important bridges over the rivers of northern Honduras were swept away. Eta emerged over the Caribbean, picking up strength, and headed for Cuba and Florida, dumping rain across a 400 mile region, which turned our front yard into a swamp. 

Two weeks later, Hurricane Iota followed the same path with the same Category 4 strength and reeked destruction over an already stressed out region.

 There is a connection present between righteous living and a release of the power of God.  When God’s family dedicate themselves live their lives according to God’s standard of morality, and to do God’s work according to His principles of relationships, usually there is a definite release of God’s supernatural gifting through His people which touch and affect many.

 Jesus spoke about this in His last conversation with his disciples before His crucifixion.

      “I am the true grapevine, and my Father is the gardener. ² He cuts off every branch of mine that doesn’t produce fruit, and he prunes the branches that do bear fruit so they will produce even more. ³ You have already been pruned and purified by the message I have given you. ⁴ Remain in me, and I will remain in you. For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful unless you remain in me.

Free those who are wrongly imprisoned; lighten the burden of those who work for you. Let the oppressed go free, and remove the chains that bind people. Share your food with the hungry, and give shelter to the homeless. Give clothes to those who need them, and do not hide from relatives who need your help. Isaiah 58:6-7

Here God says very clearly that we should be helping those wrongly imprisoned, lightening the burden of those working for you, getting rid of practices and laws that give privilege of some over others, being involved in feeding those who are hungry and giving shelter to the homeless and sharing clothes to those shabbily dressed. When it comes to needs within our family, we should step up and help. 

How does this affect your company employee protocols? Your reaction to seeing homeless in your community? Looking at the overflowing shelves and racks of clothes in your closet? Reading the arrest reports of your local public safety departments? Relating to extended family?

These are very significant questions that I am asking myself! And you all know what Laura and I have been doing these past three decades.

I was bike riding with my dear friend last week out on the south side of Maui. It was a beautiful day with magnificent views of Maui, Kahoolawe, the Pacific Ocean, and even the peaks of the Big Island of Hawaii poking through the clouds. We put the bikes in the car and headed back. On the way, we passed one of my favorite coffee shops on Maui- Grandma’s Coffee in Keokea. It’s been closed since March, but I noticed the front door open. “Let’s Stop for a cappuccino”. We pulled in to a parking area and there was an older man painting some shelving next to us.

As I started to get out, he shouted: “Go on. Leave. Why are you stopping?”

Surprised, I said “We are going to Grandma’s”

“It’s closed. Everything is closed. Why do you think it is open?” he growled.

“Because the door is open.” I answered.

“No, it’s closed. Go on. Get out of here.” He said loudly.

I thought for a microsecond, and formed my response. I planned to ask this grumpy man if he was the owner of Grandma’s, and then point out I was a loyal     20-year customer, and that I had actually helped the barista fix the espresso machine last year. Even if he wasn’t the owner, I was intent on wading through his  hostility in an attempt to arrive at civility.

 Just as I was opening my mouth to speak, my friend sitting beside me said in a rather loud voice “Hey, why are you being so hostile?” It was at that point that my strategy suddenly evaporated and I put the car into reverse, and began backing out.  The painter looked at us with surprise. I put the car into drive and began to move forward onto the road.

It was then that my friend yelled to him “We are very peaceful people.”

What is Truth? It is a question that many of us are asking in these days of fake news and opinions driven by hate rather than reason.

Truth is rarely absolute and often relative, except in aeronautics, banking, gravity, and other such areas of life. One of the definitions of Truth in my dictionary is “values shared by a group”. By this I understand that terrorists, corrupt  politicians, greedy businessmen and sexual perverts all have their ‘truth’ which they conduct their lives by, and we are all living a world that is soured by their societal decisions.

How do you like living in their world?