Mauna Kea
If you are watching what is happening on Mauna Kea right now, watch closer. If you are not yet, pay attention.
The call echoed out through collective grieving hearts broken open or set on fire by the cruelty and greed that has brought us to seemingly insurmountable humanitarian and environmental crisis has been answered.
It is standing at the bottom of the tallest mountain on a small island in the middle of the Pacific.
Never have I seen such a beautiful model of humanity as has been made manifest by the Kanaka Maoli (Native Hawaiians) at Mauna Kea these last two weeks.
Never have I seen a group of people embody such dignity, love, wisdom, strength, and compassion.
Never have I seen a group hold themselves to such high principals (Kapu Aloha) -- not as rhetoric or talk or aspiration, but in body, word, and action.
To the Kanaka Maoli at the mountain:
The beauty of your example has moved me profoundly. I know it is not for me, in particular. I know it is only by grace that I have the privilege to witness. But still, I must thank you. I do not exaggerate when I say I am forever changed.
I am deeply humbled. I am grateful. I am in your debt.
To those wondering how we heal the profuse madness that is upon us globally:
It's like this.
Watch the Hawaiians at the mountain. Listen to them. Learn from them. Model them. What is happening here is truly revolutionary.
The late Pilahi Paki, philosopher, poet, and "keeper of the secrets of Hawai'i" once said, "The world will turn to Hawai'i as they search for world peace because Hawai'i has the key...and that key is aloha." She foresaw a world in peril, aloha its remedy.
Though I've lived on this island for over three years now, it wasn't until last week that I truly understood what aloha meant. A spirit more than a word, it is animate, hard to pin down, the kind of thing that must be encountered by the heart rather than the mind.
After spending time at Pu'uhonua ' O Pu'u Huluhulu myself and experiencing the tremendous force of goodness with which Hawaiians have risen to protect Mauna Kea, the 'aina (land), and their sovereignty, I believe this to be the truth: aloha really does have the power to save the world.
It just might be the only thing that can.
xx