Aloha mai kākou!
I honor your Gods,
I drink at your well,
I bring an undefended heart to our meeting place,
I have no cherished outcomes,
I will not negotiate by withholding, and
I am not subject to disappointment.
This is a prayer often called “A Prayer of Approach” attributed to the Celts. I’m not sure exactly where it comes from, but when I first met Aunty Pua she often used it to open a circle, with each person reading a line, and the poem continuing on and starting over until every voice in the circle had been heard. In our cohort meeting this past week, we reviewed this poem and appreciated its sentiment. Poems are an important part of ceremony; they can tell a story quickly; they can distill down to an essence, a situation, a feeling, a need; poems are vital in building beloved community. I wonder, from this prayer of approach, what does it truly take to maintain an undefended heart, to not negotiate by withholding? I think we are not often allowed to soften and be vulnerable; this can be so hard in today’s world.
I’ve spent the last week in NYC, and among other things met with a group of young and energetic citizens of Hawai‘i who mostly live in the diaspora. Thanks to my friend and collaborator Sean, we were able to meet wt NYU and talk about ‘āina, maps, identity, belonging, and more. At the end of the circle, our NYU host said that they don’t often get to have that kind of circle in the city. In our conference room we had created a wahi pana, a sacred moment and space of memory, connection, belonging, and sharing. The participants in our circle had wonderful ideas to help move our work forward, and we asked them to be advisors, bringing their energy, creativity, and ea to our work. These days, I feel like I know at least a handful of young kānaka from the diaspora moving home to Hawai‘i, and that excites me to see this crosscurrent.
Our long standing Building the Beloved Community cohort has decided to review the sessions Aunty Pua would hold with her Zoom cohorts during the pandemic. Like us! Our group is just one branch of Aunty Pua’s beloved community members—we know that there are many others in diverse contexts. I’ve written about our group before. We hold on to our relationships with each other, and these have lasted and lasted, truly a beloved community. Kelley reminded us that our first session as a group was May 11, 2020. So much has happened between then and now.
This past Monday, went through the map of the day, reading the poem “Calling the Circle” together like an old friend. Our ancestors are indeed cheering us on. Then we shared our familiar practice, our Weatherball and Blue Sky Moment. I’ve been traveling and got to see one of our cohort members who is on the continent. My Blue Sky Moment was hearing the youth in his program share their own Blue Sky Moments—this practice has ripples. Blue Skies are contagious.
Then we did Guts on the Table. We shared deeply about our names, our families, our communities, what makes us, us, and we also listened deeply to each other. It was like a multi-course meal by the end, so satisfying, so full. I always say that relationships take time and consistency, another thing that can be hard in today’s world. But in the well-worn ceremony of the circle, with each person taking their turn, there’s a familiar comfort in listening and being heard. Every time we share our stories there’s a new tidbit, a new detail unlocked, details to marvel at in the miracle of the unfolding of each other’s lives.
Even without our full group present we went over time. This first Map of the Day is ambitious—it covers four poems, six principles, and two practices. Wow! We were able to cover two poems and two practices in our two-hour session. Do you remember the story of Poha and Popo? How about “…and be creative!”, or the Sylvester Stallone Principles 1 & 2 (with that Banderas guy)? Then there’s Aunty Pilahi’s explanation of Pono, the Tanouye Roshi Principle 1, and Boy with a Gift. So much to remember, learn and share.
I’ll try to review some of these in the coming weeks and would love to reminisce and remember them with you if you’d like—which one is your favorite?
For now, I leave you with the poem Cargo by Greg Kimura that is part of the group of poems shared for this first Map of the Day. It was written for Malidona Somé, an amazing leader from Burkino Faso with an amazing life story. His autobiography changed my life, and so reading this poem dedicated to him always makes me happy and reminds me to embrace the world I can’t see and don’t understand, and to never make assumptions about what is real, who we are, and how we heal and become.
Cargo
(For Malidoma Some’, Loon Lake 2000)
You enter life a ship laden with meaning, purpose and gifts
sent to be delivered to a hungry world.
And as much as the world needs your cargo,
you need to give it away.
Everything depends on this.
But world forgets its needs,
and you forget your mission,
and the ancestral maps used to guide you
have become faded scrawls on the parchment of dead Pharaohs.
The cargo weighs you heavy the longer it is held
and spoilage becomes a risk.
The ship sputters from port to port and at each you ask:
“Is this the way?”
But the way cannot be found without knowing the cargo,
and the cargo cannot be known without recognizing there is a way,
and it is simply this:
You have gifts.
The world needs your gifts.
You must deliver them.
The world may not know it is starving,
but the hungry know,
and they will find you
when you discover your cargo
and start to give it away.
Spring evening in NYC 4/19/25
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