If you come to the windward side of O’ahu, you are welcome to visit “Akua’s sanctuary” there. (Akua is Hawaiian for God). Today, the weather is rainy and windy. However, you can still see the waterfalls flowing down the 2000′ cliffs of the forest-covered Ko’olau…

In the movie “Chariots of Fire,” an outstanding British runner becomes an Olympian. He explains the connection between his faith and his running, “When I run, I feel His (God’s) pleasure.”   I can relate to this experience. As a lifelong athlete, I have played…

As we gather this Thanksgiving at the table, I am acutely aware of the relatives who will not be there and whom we cannot phone anymore. My throat tightens up and my eyes water. Absence is like a silent presence in the room, when I…

In September, an old friend had an emergency surgery, which was quite major. Her primary doctor told her to expect to be back to normal sometime in December. She is slowly healing and eager to be back to her routine life. When I was healing…

Retreat Centers are always in beautiful places. Serra Retreat Center is on the top of a mountain in Malibu overlooking the ocean and looking down on the mansions of the rich and famous, like Mel Gibson and Dick VanDyke. I think that Serra was a…

A man in his twenties was headed home on foot from a friend’s house one night in San Francisco. He had walked home this way many times before, never having any trouble. However this time, he was attacked by thieves, who stabbed him repeatedly, took…

On our tenth wedding anniversary Let us vow to encourage all virtues in each other For we are each perfect as we are And we could use a little improvement. We are each broken And we are whole. May we serve each other For all…

Dear Mom, It is a bit wacky to write to you now that you are gone from this life. I do talk to you when I am alone, as many people talk to their loved ones, I understand. On this Mother’s Day, I wanted to…

This is an excerpt from my to-be-published book “From Fear to Eternity: Embodying Grace to Those Who Suffer.” It is part of a chapter about my mother and me, after my father died. Wayne is my older brother and Sharon is his wife.   Eventually,…

Susan looks like a blond opera singer, but she actually does jazz standards, pop and gospel. House-sitting and water aerobics are currently her “real” jobs.  When I started “Music Is Good Medicine,” a program to take volunteer musicians to individual patients in the hospital, she…