•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.
•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 trust. The topic at the end of the column is for the following week.
The Baha’is of Kaua‘i
In the writings of the Baha’i faith the tree is used as an analogy to illustrate the oneness of the world of humanity. Addressing mankind, Baha’u’llah, the prophet founder of the Baha’i faith says: “Ye are all leaves of one tree and the fruits of one branch.” By this it is meant that the world of humanity is like a tree, the nations or peoples are the different limbs or branches of that tree and the individual humans are as the fruits and blossoms thereof.
In this way Baha’u’llah expressed the oneness of humankind. In all religious teachings of the past the human world was represented as divided in two: One known as the people of the book of God or the pure tree; the other the people of infidelity or the evil tree. The former were considered as belonging to the faithful and the people of infidelity to the religious. One part of humanity was considered the recipient of divine mercy and the other the object of the wrath of their creator.
Baha’u’llah removed this by proclaiming the oneness of the world of humanity. Some people are asleep and need to be awakened. Some are ailing and need to be healed. Some are immature and need to be trained. But all are recipients of the bounty and bestowals of God.
Kahu Dr. James Fung
Lihu‘e Christian Church
Imagine a stately tree in the middle of the desert providing shade against the heat, providing shelter from the storm, providing luscious fruit for the hungry and thirsty traveler.
A tree with roots that go deep is a symbol of much more. It speaks of an unshakable strength that is able to withstand the harshness of adversity. Consider this poem in the Bible: Blessed are those who trust in the Lord, whose trust is the Lord. They shall be like a tree planted by water, sending out its roots by the stream. It shall not fear when heat comes and its leaves shall stay green; in the year of drought it is not anxious, and it does not cease to bear fruit. (Jeremiah 13: 7-8)
The secret to a tree that has the capacity to thrive, even in times of drought, has to do with roots that go down deep. The theologian Paul Tillich said that depth was the missing dimension of life. It’s the lack of depth that result in our anxious living. As long as we live on the surface and don’t go deep, we will always be susceptible to what is frivolous, superficial or temporary.
There are those who thrive when things are going well, but a person with a depth of faith, character and values will endure even when challenges and hardships appear along the way of life.
Pastor Wayne Patton
Anahola Baptist Church
When God created the universe, He used the same pattern for the physical world and for the spiritual world, and there are many parallels between them. The Bible compares us on several different occasions to trees.
Psalm 1 says that when we meditate on scripture, we are like fruit trees planted by rivers of water. The writer of Psalm 52 compared himself to an olive tree in the house of God. Psalm 92 compares us to trees that still bear fruit in old age and who stay fresh and green. Jeremiah 17 says that when we trust in the Lord we are like a tree planted by the water, the leaves of which are always green even in drought times. The blind man who Jesus healed said at first that he saw people like trees walking.
Christians who abide in Christ are those who produce genuine character qualities that the Bible calls the “fruit of the Spirit.” In the physical realm, the real fruit, the true fruit, the nourishing fruit has to grow from within as the sap takes the nutrients from the soil and water and sends it into the branches and leaves. As that happens, a sort of miracle occurs. The leaves have little flowers that are very beautiful. The flowers fall away and little nubs appear. These nubs become tiny fruit, which become green fruit, which become ripe fruit, which become harvest.
In the spiritual realm, if we are rooted and grounded in Christ, then the sap of the Holy Spirit is taking the nutrients of the Word, disseminating it through our systems, and the result is a life of growing fruitfulness. The evidence of the person who is walking in the Holy Spirit and keeping in step with the Holy Spirit will be a growing set of distinctive attitudes: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. (Galatians 5:22-23)
And Jesus urges us in John 15 to abide in Him and He will abide in us. We need to stay connected to Jesus like a branch stays connected to the tree.
Topic for two weeks from today
• Will you speak to us on food?
• 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.
