The toddler’s feet kept kicking the tray table attached to the back of my seat. We were only half way to the big Island of Hawaii and now I was worried if the kid would even stop before we landed. The cycle went like this, I would just about doze off when I would awake to tap, tap, tap as the vibrations went through my seat, neck pillow and brain. I understand that kids will be kids and don’t usually think things through or particularly care about others around them but surly one of the parents accompanying them would say something.
The toddler’s feet kept kicking the tray table attached to the back of my seat. We were only half way to the big Island of Hawaii and now I was worried if the kid would even stop before we landed. The cycle went like this, I would just about doze off when I would awake to tap, tap, tap as the vibrations went through my seat, neck pillow and brain. I understand that kids will be kids and don’t usually think things through or particularly care about others around them but surly one of the parents accompanying them would say something. I’m now convinced that it’s all genetics.
My wife had been busy saving up for this trip to Hawaii and was both excited and reluctant to be gone for so long. We have been to the Hawaiian Islands before but not without the company of our four children. In planning our trip very early, we were able to secure some great air fares and our accommodations were also booked in advance on both the Hilo and Kona sides of the island.
You must never travel without a good book so with that in mind I purchased a copy of Mark Twain’s “Roughing it”. The book contains many essays on his various travels and adventures in the American southwest and Hawaii; one of which was where he boarded a small steamer from San Francisco to the Sandwich Islands to write a series of articles for the Sacramento Union. Now some one-hundred and forty-two years later I would be re-tracing some footprints of one of America’s beloved satirist.
The trip Mr. Twain embarked on in 1866 took well over a week of slow ocean travel where now, at two and a half hours into my flight, with my neighbor’s tray table slapping my back, I’m already half way to paradise. Amazingly my flight is taking only a fraction of the time it took Mark to cross the pacific on a steamer. Since the time of the author’s trip the population has grown exponentially making it difficult to save their old culture. All the years of change has brought large resorts and big cities where Mark Twain once rode on horseback across vast open tracts of land to visit empty, pristine white sandy beaches and jungle retreats.
As I’m reading about the islands that Mark Twain visited and explored, I’m quite amazed at the amount change in the population, growth and commerce. I guess there’s no going against time’s arrow, but what I would give to see the Big Island of Hawaii in the day of Mark Twain. Rough, raw and free from the scars of progress, unadulterated land where tall wild sweet smelling grasses swayed in the trade winds like undulating waves on the surface of a vast, endless empty ocean.
The Hawaiian Islands are certainly a taste of paradise. From the abundant colorful ocean creatures to the many fruit trees that fill Hawaii’s steep hillsides, our Creator has blessed the island. Maybe He created this heavenly place as a taste of what life with Him might be like in our future. These beautiful Pacific Islands are a kiss from the Heavenly Father and the faithful trade winds are reminiscent of His presence- Aloha.
Jesus, when He was living here on earth, promised that in Him we can have a more abundant life. He promised that all who trust in Him, though they might die physically, will live on spiritually into eternity. He also promised, in John chapter fourteen, that He would be going away to prepare this place for us and in this place there will be peace, healing and comfort. While the lion hasn’t yet lain down with the lamb there are some parallels we can draw from Hawaiian island culture that hint at what life in heaven might be like.
The ancient tradition of the Luau, where a table is laid out with all sorts of fresh produce, meat consisting of fresh fish, beef, pork, and a variety of desserts, is very similar to what is described in the book of Revelation. Just as in a Hawaiian luau a fanfare is given calling all who were invited to sit down at the table. A conch shell is sounded much like the ram’s horn that will be blown signaling the beginning of a long awaited celebration.
“Let us be glad and rejoice and give Him glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready." And to her it was granted to be arrayed in fine linen, clean and bright, for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints. Then he said to me, "Write: Blessed are those who are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb!”
