Page 2 - MidWeek - Sep 7, 2022

2 MIDWEEK SEPTEMBER 7, 2022
Tending To Kalo And Christ
Hahai no ka ua i ka ulula¯‘au. Rains always follow the forest.
Poetic interpretation — look for the divine, and you will find it.
AHReal Home Run
umility and dominance: A pair of words not often
L ast year, with my par- ents’ help, my wife, Bree, and I bought a home in Wai‘anae. We have
used in the same sentence nor about one entity.
big visions for our home — fruit trees, garden space, chickens and replacing the invasives with native plants, just to name a few. Recently, we bought some starter kalo. After learning everything I could, I dug a hole, shimmied it out of its pot and patted it into one of our beds.
do, whenever we pay atten- tion enough to notice and be a part of it. Whether you are caring for green beings, fur- ry beings or feathered beings — be they two-legged, four- legged or more — you, too, are tending to the very heart of God.
The Rev. Jazzy (aka Jas- mine Botstock), a graduate of Yale Divinity School, serves as kanaka maoli Episcopal priest for two congregations on the Westside of O‘ahu: St. John the Baptist, Mā‘ili, and Maluhia Lutheran, Wai‘anae. She loves to garden, laugh, spend time with her wife, Bree, walk barefoot and feel the warmth of the sun.
Chasing The Light is pro- duced by Lynne Johnson and Robin Stephens Rohr.
But such was the case last month in Williams- port, Pennsylvania, as Honolulu’s Little League team tore through its competition to win a world title. Outscoring opponents 60-5 over six games, crushing home runs with great regularity, the statistical analyses point out the sim- ple fact that while teams knew what was coming, game after game, Honolulu dominated like perhaps no other team in Little League history.
A few weeks later, I noticed it had made some keiki — so, I dug it back up and separat- ed the small corms from the larger one, replanting them in a patch near one another (I’m not sure if this was the right thing to do, but I can re- port that so far the plants are thriving).
We’re thrilled that these boys of summer won, the fourth team from Hawai‘i to win baseball’s 11-to-12-year-old division on the heels of titles in 2018 (Honolulu), 2008 (Waipi‘o) and 2005 (‘Ewa). But the real joy of watching day in and day out, in games and interviews, were the repeated themes of team first, trust, family, love, humility, fun and respect — virtues prized highly here in the islands.
Planting and caring for kalo taught the author a lot about love and caring for others the way Christ would.
gives his life for the life — the nourishment — of the people, through becoming our staple food. There is something reminiscent in this mo‘olelo about the story of Christianity — of a God who comes into our world but ultimately dies, leaving Himself, through Eu- charist, to nourish the people.
KELLEY
Tipping their hats to acknowledge their foes’ fans, high-fiving opponents after they got hits, sharing local-style grinds throughout the monthlong stay in the West regionals and then in Pennsylvania, this team was so good, and it would have been easy for some to paint them as bad guys, as we often do when one is so thoroughly superior in a quest. But from opposing players, managers and fans, all we heard was kudos for the Honolulu players, coaches and parents.
As I worked to separate them, I thought about the sto-
plants without breaking their root system, I began to see the dirt under my nails in a new light. I was caring for my cul- ture — for my people, and the place I come from. And, I was caring, in a way, for Christ.
Often playing in games truncated by the “mercy rule” after four (of six scheduled) innings as they led by 10- plus runs, Honolulu’s Little League kings were routinely dominant. In a state that often sees itself as the underdog in so many areas, having a team like this showcased interna- tionally as gallant Goliaths of the game was heart-warming and pride-inducing.
As my clumsy fingers tried to separate these smaller
ry of Hāloa — the firstborn human, a stillborn child — who was planted and became kalo, our elder brother. Hāloa
We live in a world imbued with the divine. Christ is not simply a figure of history, in a time from long ago. Christ’s love lives and breathes as we
New Century Schoolbook bold (scaled H 73.6)
with Jasmine Botstock
Invariably, the wins almost seemed like cherries on an ice cream sundae. The real soul and merits of this team shined through on the always-smiling faces of our slugging pre-teens, the genuine excitement of yet another home run, incredible pitching performance, or when simply meeting kids from other states and countries.
Over 2.2 million kids play Little League, and last month, Honolulu ruled the junior baseball world with a dazzling display of grace, power, stamina, love, respect and humil- ity — an awesome combination. Oh, yeah, O‘ahu’s Kado Hawai‘i team won the Babe Ruth World Series in mid-Au- gust for 13-year-olds, while also winning the sportsmanship award. Yet another youthful class act. Geev’um, kids!
Think about it.
john@thinkaboutithawaii.com