Sunday, September 7, 2025
By Rev. F. Vernon Wright V
Good morning! Here we are to gather our waters and share a little of who we are and where we’ve been over the summer! What kind of idea underlines what we are doing here today? We say goodbye to all of our wonderful summer time places, hello to our community once again, and celebrate the power and beauty of her.
I just happen to be the kind of geek that asks what kind of ancient yet living linguistic notion is this idea? I thought about this for a while and came upon a progression of ideas. You mind if I share them with you?
Shalom would convey the essence of water communion. Shalom is Yahweh’s hard working, peace making presence that is never done. And yes it also is said when people say hello and goodbye to each other. In Arabic the notion is known as Salaam. In English we just say peace- the absence of conflict but it is a far far more static word than Hebrew or Arabic notions.
But some here are trying hard to escape biblical ancient near eastern concepts. We have many religious refugees and some of us are just plain old atheists. A meditation on shalom or salaam might not be all that desirable.
So why not something from Hawaii? Why not Aloha. Aloha is at least as dynamic as the concept of shalom or salaam- maybe more so. Yes water communion is an act of Aloha.
Aloha can mean peace, good bye, I will really miss you to pieces, I want to gobble you up I’m so happy to see you. I pray to the gods that you live so that I can see you again. It can mean peace but also I love you. It can be a verb or a noun. Is not aloha the essence of water communion as we share all the beautiful waters we have visited over the summer, wish it good by and say hello to each other, celebrating our togetherness? “Woah I’m so glad to see you, I missed you, I hoped you were well, here’s something of me to share with you while we were gone!”
But if I really wanted to get to the gist of cultural meaning, it is not the religious or the cultural anthropology scholars, but the poets who have the most to contribute. As I looked to the subject of water and aloha, I couldn’t think of a better embodiment than W.S. Merwin. He never wrote about aloha per se but he certainly conveyed it in so many ways. He did live in Hawaii for at least a few decades.
Merwin was raised in New York City, the son of a minister. He was educated at Princeton and came of age as a writer in the late fifties and early sixties. He lived in France and later moved to Hawaii. He has won every literary award you can think of including two pulitzers and was voted US poet laureate under Obama.
Standing on the shoulders of people like T.S. Elliot, he sought to reduce poetry to its fundamental roots in order to convey the essence of how words can best transport the listener to the source of reality. It is a poetry of ideas more than words. His early work experimented with ancient cultures, their ideas, and the spiritual core of them beyond language. His later work rested on the natural world of Hawaii and the essence of that which stirs us to our core. In the mornings he wrote poetry, in the afternoons he converted an old Pineapple plantation into a forrest for endangered trees. He hand planted each tree. He embodied the essence of his words.
Hear again Merwin’s words “All day the stars watch from long ago./my mother said I am going now/when you are alone you will be alright/ whether or not you know you will know/look at the old house in the dawn rain/all the flowers are forms of water..”!! If that’s not the essence of eloquence conveying grief and the unity of nature in the same breath, I don’t know what is!
Look around at all your fellow water bearers. See the starlight, stardust from so long ago, that assembled them. Notice the water as old as the first water mostly composing them. Think of the stories and heart ache and love each person really is. Think of the fragility of each person and the challenges of the day, and the dire problems facing our nation. This vital aloha work of this community, to provide a safe place, and lift up the dignity of each person, shall thrive!
All the water is one. Aloha to you. Let us share this Aloha water communion. Aloha, peace, love and welcome to our new year together as a church.
