What would you like to know about St. Joan of Arc? Do you have a story about our parish or of general interest that you think others would like to hear? For story ideas, contact Jeff Rholl, jeff@stjoan.com.
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Thirty six hours before my families planned exodus to Maui, our severely disabled son died unexpectedly. Despite his very limited intellect he was truly a person of peace and joy. To him there wasn’t any bad news or actions. He loved everyone unconditionally. All through his life he truly walked the walk with God, giving sunshine to all who took the time to meet him.
Maui has been a very different experience for us this year. His love for the island was awe inspiring, the ocean, the warm breezes, the sunshine truly made him sing in joy. Our loss is deep, but aloha (love) from the community has been far reaching and comforting. We were overwhelmed with aloha during the traditional Hawaiian scattering of his ashes. It has helped the feelings of being away and missing the SJA community, who as you would expect, were so loving, comforting and helpful to us during those very hard days. Mahalo (thank you) SJA.
While at our home in Maui, and since the start of the SJA website, I have loved having the ease and availability of staying informed, not feeling that I am missing things by being away. This year I have felt very far away, with the approaching Martin Luther King Jr. weekend, all the talk of war, the activity of the freedom marches in DC, and especially with the inclusion of four bus loads from SJA. Bravo SJA. Finally, my brain kicked in somewhat, that I too could maybe do something, only here. Maui must be involved in some type of peace activity. The beauty of the islands is the slow pace and aloha spirit among everyone. Of course, you lose that when you turn on the TV to watch the only “local” news which comes from Honolulu, the very metropolitan city that it has become. War talk is everywhere.
So, with my writing pad in hand and camera on my neck, I took to the streets, well, really walking the beaches. With no plan in mind, I figured I could do, at the very least, interviews or polls and see how people here felt about war.
As the story unfolded, I discovered that three people, last fall, decided they just had to do something about all of this war talk. “I’m gonna go hold a sign by the side of the road,” said one of them. And so he sent out emails and a press release. The other two went along to make sure nobody ran over their friend. The three friends were amazed to see dozens of people join them to protest the impending war on Iraq. The response from passing vehicles was very enthusiastic! It was almost unanimous support, even veterans, judging by the shaka (aloha hand sign) and thumbs up of passing drivers.
The sign waving happened four more times throughout the fall. They wore white to symbolize nonviolence, and had homemade signs: “Peace is Patriotic,” “No War in Iraq” and “Not in my Name.” So with humble steps in the direction of their beliefs, they began a peace movement for Maui.
“Maui Peace Action” held its first official meeting the first part of January. Over two dozen people came to help plan their first action for 2003, a march to coincide with other actions happening in the US on Martin Luther King Jr. weekend.
Pleasantly surprised I arrived at the march to find between 400-500 people. A man blew the conch shell to signify the start, people then marched along the main avenue, between two towns, waving anti-war signs, flashing the peace sign, and dancing to the beat of drums and gourd rattles. It was a very eclectic group ranging from small children and their parents to an 89 year old man in a wheel chair He told me, “I no like fighting. I kill no living things, not even mosquitoes.” His 69 year old wife said “I’m here because I love the Iraqis as much as I love all Americans.”
Next step will be a “Maui Peace Portrait.” The portrait session in February will gather advocates for peace together for a photo to be made into a postcard that can be sent to friends and to government officials in DC.
This loose knit group admits their anti-war organizing is in the beginning stages. Their individual political views vary. Their rational for coming to the sign waving and the march vary. Some are deeply committed to a new foreign policy and easily name a long list of nations the US has invaded. Others are motivated primarily from a deep moral conviction that war is unethical, the opposite of aloha spirit. Some came only to educate themselves. “I am just looking for information and CNN doesn’t give me any information. What is Bush doing?” Another person stated that when you see it coming and know it is wrong you need to take some responsibility. She had attended a speech in Honolulu, given by Helen Thomas, the ‘grand dame of the White House Press Corp,’ where Helen had criticized the president, saying he was the first and only president that she has ever seen who actually wants to go to war. She has been covering presidents since Kennedy.
While Maui Peace Action only recently came together formally, there are other Mauians doing their part for peace. Iao School students raised their own funds so they could perform for the September 11 memorial in New York and DC last year. Their message was “Peace is Aloha.” They have been invited to Australia to perform for other peace efforts. The idea came from a simple lesson about peace with their social studies teacher in a little elementary classroom in Maui.
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