Page 2 - MidWeek - June 1, 2022

2 MIDWEEK JUNE 1, 2022
TJune Lampoon
ries as a result of my mother’s spiritual work. Her prayers worked in other ways, too. One example stands out.
oo much heaviness too often can make the weights seem too great to bear. Inflation, war in Ukraine, omnipresent omicron, American tribalism, health care — the beat
On a particularly wet win- ter day in Pacific Palisades, California, my mother had me and my Cub Scout troop sculpting figures from multi- colored modeling clay while rain poured in buckets out- side our downstairs rumpus room. Suddenly, we felt wa- ter flowing around our feet. We turned to see Mom rush- ing down the stairs with an armful of brooms. “Three of you grab a broom and sweep out the water!” she said. “The rest of you help me find where the water’s coming from.” We soon discovered that the whole back wall was seeping water.
est. She trusted that divine intelligence was available to help in any situation if we al- low ourselves to be still and listen. I like to think that she is right. What could have been a disaster became one of my fondest childhood memories.
John Stephenson is a writer, filmmaker, artist, and spiritual teacher who has lived most his life in Ha- wai‘i. His book “Fullness of Joy: A Spiritual Guide to the Paradise Within” is available on Amazon. More work is on his website alohamystics.com and his YouTube channel “The Alo- ha Mystic.”
Chasing The Light is pro- duced by Lynne Johnson and Robin Stephens Rohr.
goes on. This week, in tribute to the great George Carlin doc- umentary that recently debuted, we go from the sublime to the ridiculous! Americans love to identify, celebrate, be festive and fête just about anyone and anything.
So here are a few (I kid you not) “official” things celebrat- ed in June, besides those items really worth noting this month (LGBTQIA Pride Month, Father’s Day, Men’s Health Month, et al.). With tongue firmly planted in cheek:
After being still and listening, the author’s mother came up with an ingenious way to temporarily stop a leaking wall: bubblegum.
National Give A Bunch of Balloons Month. No joke here, this is about giving a seriously ill kid or one going through rough treatments a bunch of balloons — just because. I love it.
clay! Everybody grab their clay and fill the holes.” She showed us what to do: Dry a hole with a paper towel and then stuff it with clay. With- in 20 minutes, we had every crater and blemish in the wall filled with multicolored clay. This was a victory! The water had been stopped ... for now.
turned with a large bowl of bubblegum. It was left over from Halloween, but we kids did our duty, chewing madly, drying a hole and stuffing it with stale bubblegum. The water stopped.
National DJ Month. Where would we be without those peri- patetic platter spinners? Let’s rave about raves as you celebrate your favorite local techno stylists.
National Accordion Awareness Month. As if you’re not famil- iar with the omnipotent, omnipresent squeezebox. And a “Weird Al” Yankovic biopic debuts this fall, starring Daniel Radcliffe — aka Harry Potter — so bone up now on your zydeco and polka.
It wasn’t the final solution — we eventually learned that the contractor had failed to seal the outside of the wall. Still, it was ingenious. My mother never panicked or ap- peared worried in the slight-
National Candy Month. Celebrating its 38th year! Dude, some of us celebrate this every day. C’mon, a few Kit Kats, almond M&M’s, Raisinets, Skittles, li hing gummies, lychee jelly and Yan Yans are surely part of mental health. Floss and brush, of course.
Seeing this, Mom went right into prayer mode. She stood still, closed her eyes and then yelled, “The
Another big downpour hit and water flowed from new holes. Mom prayed again, then ran upstairs and re-
Bubblegum To The Rescue
When the solution is simple, God is answering. – Albert Einstein
Growing up, I was healed of various illnesses and inju-
National Dairy Month. I speak of this with complete and “ud- der” respect for Lani Moo.
KELLEY
New Century Schoolbook bold (scaled H 73.6)
with John Stephenson
National Papaya Month. Probably not a big deal in Kentucky or Maine, but locally, this bulbous delight is about as good as it gets. National Mango Day is July 22. Ho-hum.
Turkey Lovers Month. No, this is not about fans of the U.S. Congress. But why is this celebrated in June, as the cross-mar- keting effort to get people stuffing turkeys outside of November has failed miserably? Seventy-seven percent of turkeys are sold in November. I’ve kept abreast of when people hoard (turkey) breasts.
National Homeownership Month. Well, it used to be a worthy dream, didn’t it?
National Pollinators Month. We need more busy bees, please.
National Safety Month. Because I guess we simply let our- selves go the other 11 months annually. But, what the heck, check those smoke alarms and first-aid kits at home.
So much to celebrate and so little time. Enjoy June (carefully, of course).
Think about it ...
john@thinkaboutithawaii.com