The Family Letter

I see the concept of stewardship as very strongly connected to the charge God gave humankind in Genesis. I believe that when we were given "dominion" over the earth this wasn't a command to beat it to a pulp just to prove that we were in charge, but rather instruction to care for the planet. The act of naming the animals in Genesis 2 only strengthens that notion. God trusted us enough to name them, and when we fail to care for them we're betraying that trust.

So when I saw a reminder today that it wasn't just people suffering after the hurricanes in the gulf states but also animals, I knew I had to post this. I know I don't have a huge readership, so I would encourage some of you to copy this graphic and link and post it as well.

Please also consider following that link, and donating. Most of us have been part of the relief effort to help the humans. Now let's take a moment to reach out and exercise that stewardship God charged us with over all of creation.

The 2006 Historic Episcopal Churches Engagement Calendar is out! You can order your copy now. (Click here for a PDF order form. Sorry it is kind of large, but I haven't mastered the whole "generation of PDF files" thing just yet.)

Normally this wouldn't be an event I'd blog about. It is a nice calendar, after all, but… So what… Well, here's what:

St. George's, Honolulu, is featured this coming year on the page facing 17 September. Very cool! You can see the images much larger here.

These firsts, however, are not church related, they're activity related. This weekend I had my first hike on O'ahu. The Aiea Loop trail was recommended to me as fairly easy and safe to do alone (as it is well traveled), so I headed there (link #1, link #2, link #3). It was a lovely trail, mostly in shade, with some spectacular views both out towards the ocean and into lovely forested valleys. There was even a stretch following H3 (an interstate highway), but hundreds of feed above the highway. There were a few steep spots (including the last bit, whee), but it wasn't too strenuous. I came back hot and sweaty, but well exercised and relaxed.

(You can also see some photos of recent events.)

That night I joined three parishioners for dinner at Haleiwa Joes, Haiku Gardens location. We sat on a balcony overlooking a lush garden with a pond and stream, and enjoyed good company and great food. But that's getting off topic!

My second first for the weekend was snorkeling. I even had to look up the word to be sure I was spelling it right! Another parishioner, the junior warden, rented a six-man boat at Kaneohe Bay. The marina is on a Marine Corps base up there, so we drove onto base and met two more parishioners. Bill is qualified to pilot the boat, and he took us out to a sandbar. We geared up (masks, snorkels, and fins–someone left fins at the vicarage that fit me perfectly!) and got wet. I enjoyed it, but the sandbar was shallow and there weren't any signs of fish. So we moved the boat to a reef nearby and tried again. That was very cool. Lots of fish (no kids, I didn't find Nemo) and the coral was neat. I'd never seen live coral before.

The only disappointment was the limits of a snorkel. You can pretty much float along looking down. Which is neat, seeing as how you don't need to come up for air, but… I like to be under the water. I did dive a lot, but then you're limited to how long you can hold your breath. So I think scuba lessons, if I can afford them, are definitely in my future.

Very neat!

In order to perform legal marriages in the state of Hawaii you must be registered (at the department of heath). Without reopening the debate about whether clergy should be the representatives of the state in marriages (or, heck, why not… if y'all want to debate, debate away), I decided I'd better go ahead and register.

Registration involves taking a letter from your church (in this case the diocese) stating that you are authorized to do weddings. My letter came from the diocese mid-week last week. Since I was headed downtown anyway on Friday I decided to go early and get it all wrapped up.

So I parked at the diocesan offices here and walked the block to the state capitol, where I thought this was to happen. After wandering around the ground floor a while I realized that there wasn't any way in… I finally found an elevator and figured it was worth a try (it felt a bit like entering some sort of secret underground bunker with just an elevator). I got off at the floor marked "departments," and wandered until I found a helpful woman in the office of the governor. She directed me "across the street" to the department of health building.

So I crossed the street, realized I'd crossed the wrong street, and crossed again. There it was in front of me, the hallowed halls of health! On the front door there was a sign: "All Visitors Must Sign In." The sign was repeated at least twice in the lobby. There was, however, no one behind the desk. There wasn't even anyone official looking in the lobby. Nor was there a clipboard or other means to sign in. So I poked my head beyond the lobby and spotted a security guard. I explained why I was there, and she very helpfully guided me to the right room. Never, I might add, asking if I'd signed in.

I walked up to the desk, got the attention of a clerk, and stated my intentions. She was, however, already married. Um, hang on… My intention to register, that is. She took the letter, examined it, and stated, "Oh, I'm sorry, I can't take this. It is a copy, a Xerox. I must have original."

"Um, ma'am," said I, "that is the original as far as I know. It is the letter they sent to me. I haven't copied it."

"They sent a Xerox then," said she. "Perhaps I will call. Who should I ask for?"

So I gave her the name of the Bp's assistant, and she dialed and chatted for some time. Finally she said, "She