December 14, 2025 Luke 1:46-55Matthew 11:2-11 The kolea is a pretty mellow bird. They’re not terribly skittish, though some will keep a sensible distance from people. We are a lot bigger than a kolea and probably look kind of scary to them. The myna, on the other hand, is not a mellow bird. They sing a fair amount, but they also screech and argue.

"When John heard in prison what the Messiah was doing, he sent word by his disciples and said to him, 'Are you the one who is to come, or are we to wait for another?'" - Matthew 11:2-3 John, there you are, imprisoned by a kingwhom you had castigated for a sexual misdeedand took it badly. Beyond the stony walls,

I'm a neophyte birder. I give credit for prescience to former Connecticut Conference Minister the Rev. Dr. Davida Foy Crabtree, who gave me Hawaii's Birds (Audobon, 1997) as I was moving to Hilo. As I've said elsewhere, I began learning about local birds in order to tell stories during worship services. Most of the creatures that I grew up learning and knowing about simply don't live here.

December 7, 2025 Isaiah 11:1-10Matthew 3:1-12 An ‘apapane wanted to know what the best way to be a flock is. There are plenty of examples if you journey around the island. He found an i’iwi, who said, “Keep it small, less than ten. And chase everybody else away. Speaking of which, ‘apapane, it’s time you got out of here!”

A shoot shall come out from the stump of Jesse,    and a branch shall grow out of his roots.The spirit of the Lord shall rest on him,    the spirit of wisdom and understanding,    the spirit of counsel and might,    the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord. Isaiah 11:1-2 I hate to break it to you, Isaiah.

November 30, 2025 Isaiah 2:1-5Romans 13:11-14 Caterpillars don’t have the easiest life. They don’t get around very much – but then, when you move mostly to find another leaf to eat, you don’t need to move very far. There are things about that, while you’re eating leaves, would be very happy to eat you, and that makes for more than a few anxious moments.

"Many peoples shall come and say, 'Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob, that he may teach us his ways and that we may walk in his paths.'" - Isaiah 2:3 A mountaintop is the House of God,a place of mystery. A mountaintop lacks human homes,for it is foreign ground.

Join the UCC Washington D.C. Office for a conversation on Project 2025 and how the policy landscape and the UCC’s faith-based responses have evolved over the past year since the election. By…

November 23, 2025 Jeremiah 23:1-6Luke 23:33-43 The common waxbills may be the smallest birds in Hawai’i – meaning how big the adults get. Newly hatched chicks even of very large birds can be smaller. But if you see a very small bird with a rosy beak, it’s likely to be a common waxbill. They like to eat the small seeds of grasses and herbs, and they tend to move about in flocks of anywhere from a pair up to thirty or forty birds.

And the people stood by watching, but the leaders scoffed at him, saying, "He saved others; let him save himself if he is the Messiah of God, his chosen one!" - Luke 23:35 I sometimes ache for your pain, O Savior,tortured there upon the cross,and I, without the mocking, echo thosecruel words of long ago, and urge you, "Save yourself!"

The capital city is Finnish’ed with car-related fatalities.

November 16, 2025 Isaiah 65:17-252 Thessalonians 3:6-13 It’s been a while since I’ve talked about nene school, which hasn’t changed what’s gone on there a bit. Goslings have gone to school, they’ve learned about advanced eating and flying, and some of them have wondered about becoming nene teachers themselves. There was a time when there were just two nene teachers.

"This was not because we do not have that right but in order to give you an example to imitate." - 2 Thessalonians 3:9 We have the right to claim whatever we want.We say.We have the right to say offensive thingsand sneer at those who hear.We have the right to say to one, "Go here,"and to another, "Go there,"