• Editor’s note: “Spiritual leaders answer” is a weekly column inviting Kaua‘i’s religious and spiritual leaders to share their doctrine’s perspective on a suggested subject. Every Friday, a topic is printed, inviting a response. Due to space limitations, submissions are
• Editor’s note: “Spiritual leaders answer” is a weekly column inviting Kaua‘i’s religious and spiritual leaders to share their doctrine’s perspective on a suggested subject. Every Friday, a topic is printed, inviting a response. Due to space limitations, submissions are edited. Thoughts or suggestions for future topics are always welcome. Next week’s subject is on the ‘aina. The topic at the end of the column is for the following week.
Rev. Dr. James Fung
Lihu‘e Christian Church
The treasures of life are more accessible to us than we realize, but we may be distracted by the more obvious trinkets that catch our attention. They distract us from the abundance that could really make a difference in our lives. They are seductive enticements that urge us to settle for less than what can deeply satisfy our soul.
The philosopher, Blaise Pascal, spoke of “the hole in the soul” — that vague, gnawing sense that something important is missing at the core of our lives. The hole accounts for the emptiness that there must be something more — something more than work, more than fulfilling our roles and responsibilities, something more than the fleeting moments of happiness that last all too briefly, only to dissipate like the morning mist, revealing the ongoing humdrumness of life.
Call it by different names — happiness, purpose, abundance, fullness. It’s what people yearn for. But the great irony is that in the very pursuit of happiness we miss it. Jesus, who was the master of paradoxical truths, taught that “they who seek their life (happiness/security) will lose it and they that lose their life (in worthy pursuits) will find it.
The abundant life is not a life composed of material comforts or secured by money in the bank. It has more to do with being surprised by what happens with us when we, expecting nothing in return, use our gifts in ways that improve the life of another person.
Jesus said, “I came that (you) may have life and have it abundantly” (John 10:10)” It was an invitation for people to let him be a spiritual guide who could lead us to discover the richness that is at hand, but not yet within our grasp.
The Baha’i of Kaua‘i
True wealth is not defined by an abundance of our material possessions, but rather in the love that we have for our creator. Those who love God are the possessors of all things, and those who do not know and love Him are poor and needy. God’s grace and love for us is unlimited and unconditional. However, if we do not love Him, we cannot feel His love or benefit from His grace. This is succinctly stated in the Baha’i Writings: “O Son of being! Love me, that I may love thee. If thou lovest me not, my love can in no wise reach thee. Know this, O servant.”
Topic for two weeks
from today:
•Will you speak to us on
the salvation?
•Spiritual leaders are invited to e-mail responses of three to five paragraphs to pwoolway@kauaipubco.com
• Deadline each week is Tuesday, by 5 p.m.
