Avalon Chronicles #36: "A Christian History of Hawaii-Part One"
by Allen B. Clark allenbclark@aol.com
www.combatfaith.com www.combatfaith.blogspot.com
Hawaii. Awesome scenery. Waikiki Beach. Surfboarding. Magical islands. Unparallelled relaxing vacations in the tropics. Hawaii is all that and much more. I had been there seven times before, four times as a West Point cadet when my parents were stationed there, once in 1967 on a medical airlift flight, stopping only with wounded from Vietnam, once as a vacationer in 1979, and once at the 50th anniversary of the Pearl Harbor attack in 1991, when I made remarks at the Punchbowl, National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific for a memorial service.
Linda and I travel often and we have begun to pray that we would experience "divine encounters" on our trips. This we were not denied in Hawaii. On Kauai we stayed on the western side at Barking Sands Navy Base and I had read about a former Congregational missionary church (now United Church of Christ) nearby at Waimea and named the Waimea Church. As we drove up to tour the church, a Bible study was just finishing and the choir director and a local gentleman just "happened" to walk over to our auto and happily opened the church and gave us a tour. The gentleman was a local island literary figure, "Kit" Cook, who just "happened" to be the author of a soon-to-be published book about a Hawaiian, Henry Obookiah. Obookiah actually originally inspired the introduction of Christianity to the islanders because he had been taken from Hawaii as a youth to Connecticutt, became a Christian, and from there an effort began to send the original missionaries to Hawaii. Meeting Cook started me on my quest to learn about the Hawaiian pioneer missionaries. This Waimea church was originally founded in 1820 (two years after Obookiah died at age 26) by two Congregational missionaries, the Reverend Samuel Ruggles and Samuel Whitney and their wives, who had taveled from New England. MissionariesWilliam and Mary Alexander in 1834 left Waimea Church by double canoe and founded a church at beautiful Hanalei Bay on the north side of Kauai. The Waioli Huuia Church still stands in this picturesque old town. A wedding was just finishing when we arrived to visit this church.
This trip, my eighth to Hawaii, was to celebrate the tenth anniversary of Linda's and my wedding on Sep. 11, 2004. The night before our anniversary on Sep. 10th we had attended a Dinner Theatre play of "South Pacific" and on our anniversary we dined at the St. Regis Resort Princeville perched above Hanalei Bay and looking across to the movie scene of the mysterious "Bali Hai." Another "happening" was our waiter was a fellow Vietnam veteran, Tom Hamilton, who was the real-life father of the real-life young woman, Bethany Hamilton, who had been attacked by a shark while surfing. She lost her arm and her story was depicted in the movie "Soul Surfer." Dennis Quaid had played the father in the movie. A writeup for the movie said this, "Rushed to the hospital, she remains calm, and maintains her faith in God." Her father told us she lived only due to her faith in God because she had lost so much blood. These things happen to us! Originally we had been at another table with another waitperson before I had us relocated to have a better view of the bay and the sunset.
We were privileged while in Honolulu to worship on two Sundays at the Episcopal Cathedral of St. Andrew, an imposing and historic cathedral on Queen Emma Square in downtown Honolulu. King Kamehameha IV and his Queen, Emma, were responsible for introducing Anglicanism to Hawii. The King and Queen donated the land for the cathedral site. It was not completed until 1886 after both had died. The Queen had purchased its stone building material from Caen in Normandy. During the greeting period a member of the pastoral staff came down the aisle to greet us and I noticed her ring. It so "happens" she is a fellow graduate of West Point.
The first Sunday we worshipped at the cathedral there was a communion service in the Hawaiian language and we just "happened" to be there for the annual service to celebrate the birthday of Queen Lili'uokalani, the last monarch of the Kingdom of Hawaii, who was deposed in 1893 in a coup of businessmen. On this special occasion a splendidly colorful group of Hawaiians were in the processional as members of the Royal Society (I believe officially the Royal Order of Kamehameha I). The women were elegantly gowned in black and white and the men wore dark suits with colorful short back capes. This organization today continues to guard, maintain, and preserve the rituals and the memory of the ruling chiefs of Hawaii. It was quite a ceremony harkening back to earlier days of Hawaii before the transformation it is today of a tourist mecca.
Prayers for "divine encounters" were answered and always are for us.
Thursday, October 16, 2014
Sunday, October 12, 2014
Avalon Chronicles #35: "They Rode to the Sound of the Guns"
Avalon Chronicles #35: "They Rode to the Sound of the Guns"
by Allen B. Clark allenbclark@aol.com
www.combatfaith.com www.combatfaith.blogspot.com
"Oz," "Tig," and "Tanto," sat before the crowd of upwards of one hundred or more, seated and standing, squeezed into a narrow space at the Plano, Texas Barnes and Noble. As I walked in, I spotted the uniformed security guard. Upon noting my limped gait, an observant and thoughtful employee directed me to be seated in a chair in the front section.
The three, definitely "warriors" as I had known them to be beforehand, during the presentation, and definitely as depicted in their book they were there to publicize, displayed no bravado or outsized pridefulness. They were jocular with each other, as only men who had served in combat with each other can be. They were humble, open in answering questions with candor, very regular, and definitely likable, not cold, callous killers. As I commented to "Oz" as he signed my book, I said, "It is good to be around real men."
In the 1969 movie "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid," the two bank robbers were played by Paul Newman and Robert Redford, relentlessly pursued in Bolivia by a posse. I recall one of them saying, "Who are those guys?" I knew before I arrived who were these three "guys." They were in a band of six brothers, "...a band of elite warriors who'd left the United States military and had joined a clandestine organization that protected American covert intelligence operatives abroad." (Zuckoff 4). "Oz" and "Tig" were Marines and "Tanto" was an Army Ranger. On Sep. 11, 2012 when the U.S. State Department Special Mission in Benghazi was attacked, "Tig" and "Tanto" and three other members of the Global Response Staff of the CIA rode to the sound of the guns to extract five Americans who had basically become hostages after the terorist attack on the besieged Mission. They had been based at the CIA Annex complex a little over a mile away.
By the time they arrived at the Mission Ambassador Stevens' body was not found. State Department communications officer Sean Smith was dead, asphyxiated by the smoke after the compound had been set on fire by the attackers. "Oz" had arrived back at the Annex after having been in Benghazi and began to prepare the defense of the CIA facility, which later that night also came under attack. The book I was there to purchase was 13 HOURS The Inside Account of What Really Happened in Benghazi by Mitchell Zuckoff and published by Twelve of the Hatchette Book Group. I had previously read three other books on Benghazi, renditions of what I would personally term, and what may eventually be called by history, "The Battle of Benghazi, " but this is the first one to personalize the combatants, combatants whom I had assumed were permanently "muzzled" by non-disclosures.
"Oz" was Mark Geist, "Tig" was John Tiegen, and 'Tanto" was Kris Paronto. Two days later my speedreading capability or lack thereof being what it is, I have not yet read their story, but I know it will be educative, engrossing, and inspiring. It will go to the top of the stack of approximately fifty other books awaiting my attention. The question and answer with the three was illuminating and I got three questions in. They were open, affable, and sincere. One of their six, Tyrone Woods was killed later in the Annex battle along with fellow SEAL Glen Doherty, who had come from Tripoli later that night. All of us filed by their table to obtain their signatures. I am sure their publishing company "handlers" would have preferred a more speedy signing process, but these gentlemen would have none of that. They chatted casually with all and paused for photos. They were my kind of Americans, members of that special fraternity of those of us who have served our country in uniform.
When the three had signed my book, I circled around behind them for the most important signature of all, that of Sean Smith's mother, Pat, seated off to the side. I thanked her for her contribution. She said she gave nothing. I said, "You gave everything, you gave your son."
P.S. They have signed a movie deal I believe they said with Paramount. So stay tuned to see these "guys" on the big screen some day.
by Allen B. Clark allenbclark@aol.com
www.combatfaith.com www.combatfaith.blogspot.com
"Oz," "Tig," and "Tanto," sat before the crowd of upwards of one hundred or more, seated and standing, squeezed into a narrow space at the Plano, Texas Barnes and Noble. As I walked in, I spotted the uniformed security guard. Upon noting my limped gait, an observant and thoughtful employee directed me to be seated in a chair in the front section.
The three, definitely "warriors" as I had known them to be beforehand, during the presentation, and definitely as depicted in their book they were there to publicize, displayed no bravado or outsized pridefulness. They were jocular with each other, as only men who had served in combat with each other can be. They were humble, open in answering questions with candor, very regular, and definitely likable, not cold, callous killers. As I commented to "Oz" as he signed my book, I said, "It is good to be around real men."
In the 1969 movie "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid," the two bank robbers were played by Paul Newman and Robert Redford, relentlessly pursued in Bolivia by a posse. I recall one of them saying, "Who are those guys?" I knew before I arrived who were these three "guys." They were in a band of six brothers, "...a band of elite warriors who'd left the United States military and had joined a clandestine organization that protected American covert intelligence operatives abroad." (Zuckoff 4). "Oz" and "Tig" were Marines and "Tanto" was an Army Ranger. On Sep. 11, 2012 when the U.S. State Department Special Mission in Benghazi was attacked, "Tig" and "Tanto" and three other members of the Global Response Staff of the CIA rode to the sound of the guns to extract five Americans who had basically become hostages after the terorist attack on the besieged Mission. They had been based at the CIA Annex complex a little over a mile away.
By the time they arrived at the Mission Ambassador Stevens' body was not found. State Department communications officer Sean Smith was dead, asphyxiated by the smoke after the compound had been set on fire by the attackers. "Oz" had arrived back at the Annex after having been in Benghazi and began to prepare the defense of the CIA facility, which later that night also came under attack. The book I was there to purchase was 13 HOURS The Inside Account of What Really Happened in Benghazi by Mitchell Zuckoff and published by Twelve of the Hatchette Book Group. I had previously read three other books on Benghazi, renditions of what I would personally term, and what may eventually be called by history, "The Battle of Benghazi, " but this is the first one to personalize the combatants, combatants whom I had assumed were permanently "muzzled" by non-disclosures.
"Oz" was Mark Geist, "Tig" was John Tiegen, and 'Tanto" was Kris Paronto. Two days later my speedreading capability or lack thereof being what it is, I have not yet read their story, but I know it will be educative, engrossing, and inspiring. It will go to the top of the stack of approximately fifty other books awaiting my attention. The question and answer with the three was illuminating and I got three questions in. They were open, affable, and sincere. One of their six, Tyrone Woods was killed later in the Annex battle along with fellow SEAL Glen Doherty, who had come from Tripoli later that night. All of us filed by their table to obtain their signatures. I am sure their publishing company "handlers" would have preferred a more speedy signing process, but these gentlemen would have none of that. They chatted casually with all and paused for photos. They were my kind of Americans, members of that special fraternity of those of us who have served our country in uniform.
When the three had signed my book, I circled around behind them for the most important signature of all, that of Sean Smith's mother, Pat, seated off to the side. I thanked her for her contribution. She said she gave nothing. I said, "You gave everything, you gave your son."
P.S. They have signed a movie deal I believe they said with Paramount. So stay tuned to see these "guys" on the big screen some day.
Wednesday, October 1, 2014
Avalon Chronicles #34: "Martyrs of the Faith-Part One"
by Allen B. Clark allenbclark@aol.com
www.combatfaith.com www.combatfaith.blogspot.com
It has been ten months since Linda's and my return from our trip to England in Nov. 2013. Before our travels there from where many of our own ancestors originally lived, we viewed the almost forty episodes of The Tudors, a rendering of the history of King Henry VIII, his break with Roman Catholicism, and formation of what evolved to be the Church of England and Anglicanism, which is the tradition in which we both worship today. We learned of the horrid history of "burnings at the stake" perpetrated against religious reformers, Roman Catholics, Protestants, and proponents of Henry VIII's brand of Catholicism. The persecutions became an equal opportunity effort by all branches of so-called "Christianity."
Our visit stimulated intensely my appetite to learn about the king's schism, the Protestant Reformation, and even earlier the history of the faint evolution of the light of Jesus beginning to shine forth brightly after the Dark Ages. Upon my return I found a long-ago acquired copy of John Foxe's Book of Martyrs and expanded my understanding of the roots of the Protestant Reformation and the challenges of bringing alive to the people the Bible in their own written languages and the person of Jesus Himself as a real Being, and not just some historical figure. John Foxe was an Englishman, who lived from 1516 to 1587, through the reigns of Henry VIII, Catholic Queen Mary, and Protestant Queen Elizabeth. In chapter 16 of the Gospel of St. Matthew Jesus was first acknowledged by Peter to be the Son of God and proposed that His (Jesus') church would not only be established and would come under intense attack, but would prevail.
Our Christian Church has indeed prevailed, but many of its adherents have suffered with their very lives for their beliefs, which perhaps could be termed in today's phraseology as not being "politically correct" at that time in history or under that religious/political state. Actual persecution of Christians began in the Roman Empire when the Emperor Nero set Rome afire and blamed it on Christians. Martyrdom of Christians began with Christ's crucifixion and continues today with the horrendous atrocities being perpetrated by the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria. The stories of horrific martyrdom of the early Christian missionaries would take up an entire volume all by itself. Foxe wrote that Jerome related the story of Apostle Andrew, Peter's brother. In 80 AD Andrew had preached the Gospel as far away as Ethiopia.
The story of Andrew, one of the first Christian martyrs, gives me, and should give all Christians, great heart and motivation in defense of our faith and beliefs. We have evolved today threatened in America only by secular society, atheists, "lone wolf" Islamic jihadists, and our own lack of dedication to the principles and precepts of our Christian faith, but so far are not subjected to beheadings and burnings at the stake. What our Christian brothers and sisters suffered up into the 1600s is unimaginable today.
The story of Andrew ended in Achaia in modern day Greece on the island originally popularized and populated by the Spartans. He was crucified by the region's governor, Aegeas. Andrew boldly spoke of Jesus to this Roman proconsul Aegeas. Andrew spoke of spiritual warfare when he spoke to Aegeas, saying:
"Andrew did plainly affirm that the princes of Rome did not understand the truth and that the Son of God, coming from Heaven into the world for man's sake, hath taught and declared how those idols, whom they so honored as gods, were not only not gods, but almost cruel devils, enemies to mankind, ...and so by the wicked service of the devil, they do fall headlong into all wickedness, and, after their departing, nothing remaineth unto them, but their evil deeds." (Foxe 8).
Obviously this was not taken well by the proconsul and it is no different today when we boldly proclaim the tenets of our faith in dedicated fashion. History is just new dates, but old bad people, and those who do not wish to be told of Jesus and what He came in to the world to change. On the way to his own crucifixion Andrew was calm, cool, and collected and is reported to have proclaimed, "O cross, most welcome and long looked for! with a willing mind, joyfully and desirously, I come to thee, being the scholar of Him which did hang on thee: because I have always been thy lover, and have coveted to embrace thee." (Foxe 9). (In a footnote Foxe writes that the accounts of the martrydoms of the apostles are mainly traditional). Andrew was buried at Patrae on the north part of the island. There were ten waves of persecutions of Christians through succeeding Roman Emperors until approximately 300 AD when Constantine came to power.
We are so comfortable to worship in freedom today in our land, but I became motivated to learn of the pioneers of our faith who gave their very lives to pave the way for us today.
www.combatfaith.com www.combatfaith.blogspot.com
It has been ten months since Linda's and my return from our trip to England in Nov. 2013. Before our travels there from where many of our own ancestors originally lived, we viewed the almost forty episodes of The Tudors, a rendering of the history of King Henry VIII, his break with Roman Catholicism, and formation of what evolved to be the Church of England and Anglicanism, which is the tradition in which we both worship today. We learned of the horrid history of "burnings at the stake" perpetrated against religious reformers, Roman Catholics, Protestants, and proponents of Henry VIII's brand of Catholicism. The persecutions became an equal opportunity effort by all branches of so-called "Christianity."
Our visit stimulated intensely my appetite to learn about the king's schism, the Protestant Reformation, and even earlier the history of the faint evolution of the light of Jesus beginning to shine forth brightly after the Dark Ages. Upon my return I found a long-ago acquired copy of John Foxe's Book of Martyrs and expanded my understanding of the roots of the Protestant Reformation and the challenges of bringing alive to the people the Bible in their own written languages and the person of Jesus Himself as a real Being, and not just some historical figure. John Foxe was an Englishman, who lived from 1516 to 1587, through the reigns of Henry VIII, Catholic Queen Mary, and Protestant Queen Elizabeth. In chapter 16 of the Gospel of St. Matthew Jesus was first acknowledged by Peter to be the Son of God and proposed that His (Jesus') church would not only be established and would come under intense attack, but would prevail.
Our Christian Church has indeed prevailed, but many of its adherents have suffered with their very lives for their beliefs, which perhaps could be termed in today's phraseology as not being "politically correct" at that time in history or under that religious/political state. Actual persecution of Christians began in the Roman Empire when the Emperor Nero set Rome afire and blamed it on Christians. Martyrdom of Christians began with Christ's crucifixion and continues today with the horrendous atrocities being perpetrated by the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria. The stories of horrific martyrdom of the early Christian missionaries would take up an entire volume all by itself. Foxe wrote that Jerome related the story of Apostle Andrew, Peter's brother. In 80 AD Andrew had preached the Gospel as far away as Ethiopia.
The story of Andrew, one of the first Christian martyrs, gives me, and should give all Christians, great heart and motivation in defense of our faith and beliefs. We have evolved today threatened in America only by secular society, atheists, "lone wolf" Islamic jihadists, and our own lack of dedication to the principles and precepts of our Christian faith, but so far are not subjected to beheadings and burnings at the stake. What our Christian brothers and sisters suffered up into the 1600s is unimaginable today.
The story of Andrew ended in Achaia in modern day Greece on the island originally popularized and populated by the Spartans. He was crucified by the region's governor, Aegeas. Andrew boldly spoke of Jesus to this Roman proconsul Aegeas. Andrew spoke of spiritual warfare when he spoke to Aegeas, saying:
"Andrew did plainly affirm that the princes of Rome did not understand the truth and that the Son of God, coming from Heaven into the world for man's sake, hath taught and declared how those idols, whom they so honored as gods, were not only not gods, but almost cruel devils, enemies to mankind, ...and so by the wicked service of the devil, they do fall headlong into all wickedness, and, after their departing, nothing remaineth unto them, but their evil deeds." (Foxe 8).
Obviously this was not taken well by the proconsul and it is no different today when we boldly proclaim the tenets of our faith in dedicated fashion. History is just new dates, but old bad people, and those who do not wish to be told of Jesus and what He came in to the world to change. On the way to his own crucifixion Andrew was calm, cool, and collected and is reported to have proclaimed, "O cross, most welcome and long looked for! with a willing mind, joyfully and desirously, I come to thee, being the scholar of Him which did hang on thee: because I have always been thy lover, and have coveted to embrace thee." (Foxe 9). (In a footnote Foxe writes that the accounts of the martrydoms of the apostles are mainly traditional). Andrew was buried at Patrae on the north part of the island. There were ten waves of persecutions of Christians through succeeding Roman Emperors until approximately 300 AD when Constantine came to power.
We are so comfortable to worship in freedom today in our land, but I became motivated to learn of the pioneers of our faith who gave their very lives to pave the way for us today.
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