Nani Notes Newsletter » December 10, 2005

Aloha e everyone and welcome to December 17, 2005 of Kaleo O Nani Newsletter!

Mele Kalikimaka e Hau'oli Makahiki Hou! Merry Christmas & Happy New Year to each and everyone of you.

As we enter the Christmas season schedule time to breathe in the wonders of another year together as Ohana. (family) Rejoice and be happy. Embrace the gift of life.

Behold the wondrous beauty of Mother Earth. Walk outside in dawns early light and enjoy the majestic white capped mountains and pale blue sky. Inhale the same dawns light over a blue ocean (kai). Hear the lapping of the wave as ka makani (the wind)whispers a greeting and caresses your cheek.

In the evening watch the soft whispery clouds glide in the warm tropical skies or the eerie curtains of Northern lights as they cascade like curtains of dancing lights in a bright wintry sky. Inhale the fragrance of pine and listen to the crackle of the woodstove in your snowy abode or campfire on whitesands or the sacred black sands beaches.

Pause a moment! Listen to the music of nature or its eloquent symphony of silence. Oh the stars (hoku), brilliant and twinkling no matter what hemisphere. If you are observant you may see a shooting star or the gift of a moon rainbow (anuenue). These are gifts more precious than any brightly wrapped package under a synthetic tree. Gifts often taken for granted. The earth welcomes your respect and simple acknowledgement in this quiet gift of ALOHA. Ke Akua Creator thought of everything.

My prayer for you is that each and everyday, Ke Akua shall grant you enough love and happiness, warmth, family and success beyond riches of material wealth. I wish you"heart"!

As always take what you need and discard the rest. This is your life dear hearts; spend it wisely. Enjoy!

Believing in the Human Spirit Of Hope and the Celebration of life! Nanipuaaalaomaililaulii Aki Linder - White Raven

I think this month I would like to focus on a woman who found herself pregnant, unmarried in a time when woman were stoned to death for such indiscretions. We have come along way haven't we since Mary the mother of Jesus himself went through the realization of becoming the Holy Mother of Jesus!

It is Christmas and those who do not celebrate, are not Christians or just don't believe in a higher being, I invite you to feel free to skip past this month's Magnificent Woman Story. However, if you are curious and care to join us then this is the perfect moment to pause, get yourself a cup of tea and enjoy this magnificent woman story as seen through the eyes of this writers perceptions with a sprinkle of todays perceptions. I call this story

Imagine being chosen to be the Mother of the Christ child. Lets step back in time and as we do, engage your vivid imagination or visualization skills. Ready? See yourself at 16 doing what 16 year olds do. One day an angel appears to you. See yourself speechless, maybe a little frightened - okay allot frightened and thinking "I am going stark raving bonkers, okay bring on the straight jacket, break out the valium I am hallucinating!" But the angel says to you, "be not afraid for I bring you good tidings of great joy!" He continues, " you have been chosen to be the mother of the Christ child, he shall be born and wrapped in swaddling clothes and his name shall be Jesus!"

Don't know about you but If I'm 16, I am thinking, "ya right and my dad will kill me if I come home pregnant! Of course Dad is going to believe in immaculant conception! Not even! I am not married even if God says it, my parents will not believe a word of this. Too boot, my boy friend won't believe me he'll think I am a slut, not to mention the towns people. They are going to stone me to death! Pick someone else, I pass!" And the angel says, "no Mary, you have been chosen amongst all women because of your goodness!" "Don't worry!" He says. By this time my mind would be racing a mile a minute. I flit between, "what an honor !" and "Easy for you to say, I am a single girl, we aren't even allowed to kiss and God is going to place the Christ child into my womb!" Scary stuff for a 16 year old unmarried girl.

Sure enough, Mary finds herself with child, her parents are scared, Joseph is so mad he doesn't speak to Mary actually he becomes pretty hostile. Sure enough the town's people want to stone Mary to death. What is she to do? So Mom and Dad send Mary away to cousin Elizabeth's who at over a 100 is expecting her first child. She walks the many miles to Elizabeth's and when she sees Mary, her baby leaps with recognition. Elizabeth knows Mary is the chosen mother of Jesus because she too has had a dream and is also to be the mother of the Prophet John the Baptist.

Meanwhile, Joseph is being a real dirt bag and isn't supportive of Mary. To be fair, what would you think if your virgin bride to be showed up and said, she has been chosen by God and by immaculate conception, is pregnantand will be the mother of the Messiah? EXACTLY! You would be behaving like a raving lunatic too and maybe doing a little sarcastic name calling, possibly some drinking and definitely taking some unkind "guff" from your guy friends. Its your guy friends who then begin to join in the chorus of stoning your beloved Mary to death.

Eventually Joseph comes to his senses because he is also visited by an angel who tells him the whole scoop. He feels ashamed and asks Mary to get married so she is under his protection from all those who want to see her dead. In their minds, she has committed the sin of adultery. They get married and soon its time to go and pay their taxes. Yep they had taxes even way back then. Mary is near her due date . Now visualize this; Mary gets on a donkey and rides for days through the desert and rocky terrain to Bethlehem where all Jewish people were to pay their taxes. Now I don't know about you but I remember when I was 8 months pregnant. I rode in a little Volkswagen. I was big as a house, my ankles were swollen, my face blotchy I was craving cheese which I cannot eat due to lactose intolerance, and I was anxious for my baby to come out already. But when that happened, I was going to a hospital with doctors and nurses, nice bed and clean sheets. If Ron had suggested that I ride a donkey around for days to another city, camp out in the cold desert air, cook dinner over a campfire after that long days ride, wash up out of a goat skin water bottle. Are ya getting it? This Holy Mary Mother of God was one tough and faith filled woman.

Next, they pay their taxes and baby decides its time to come out. Well after all those days on a donkey is there a wonder to any woman reading this the baby would be coming? So they go to the Inn and there is no room because in those days there were no telephones to call ahead. You took your chances or camped out. No one cared or sympathized because that is how it was. A kind woman sees this and tells her husband there is clean straw in the stable and besides it is out of the cold wind. They can use that to bed down. So Joseph takes Mary to the stable and for company they have all the animals. Wow! The animals were blessed by Creator to witness the Christ Childs birth.

So, without fan fare, no sterile hospital, clean sheets, doctors, nurses, drugs, electricity a tiny baby is born in a stable. The sweetest and simplest of abodes and amongst the animals. And Mary the chosen mother of Jesus who believed and followed his will did hanau the savior of the world. She took care of herself, cleaned herself and the baby Jesus (My heart just skipped a beat and my skin got goose bumps visualizing it) Mary did a wonderful thing! When you pause for a moment and really reflect, WOW! This Christmas day you might pause and say a special thank you in appreciation for Mary the chosen mother of Jesus. Without this event, we would not be celebrating surrounded by Ohana at home sharing the good tidings and blessings.......My prayer this day is that all shall be thankful for what they have and not the things we do not have.

On this day I invite you to celebrate and share something with a stranger, maybe give up only one gift and give that money to someone who doesn't have. Be a chosen one, share and give the gift of LOVE to all just as the Chosen Mother of God did all those years ago.

Right now, Reach over and hug your own child and spouse and tell them you love them. Go ahead, stop reading and do it now.

Independence is the Courage to Stand Alone

Excerpt from Trial By Fire A True Story Of Hope

I can remember the exact moment that I stood tall as a Hawaiian person. I was 10 years old and we were practicing the play Cinderella at Waianae Elementary School. In those days, most people were poor, and we were no exception. We had our school dress and our play clothes. On this day, my teacher wanted me to put dirt on my face and dress as Cinderella, whose part was to clean the chimney and get dirty. I declined because I could not get my school dress dirty. My teacher got so angry, he grabbed my hair and yanked me down to where the dirt was and put my face in it. Then, he rubbed dirt onto my clothes. As he did this, he said, “Aki, you are nothing but a dirty Hawaiian, you will always be a dirty Hawaiian, and this part suits you!”

It was like a physical thing that happened to me... as if a steel rod had gone up my back, and I thought, “You are wrong, I am a good person, and I will show you!”

I have a lot of that 10-year-old girl in me even today. If someone tries to tell me I can’t do something, I will make every effort to prove that I can, and while doing it I can again feel the steel rod going up my back. I never give up, and when I give someone my word, it can be considered done.

When I told my grandpa about the Cinderella episode, he asked me, “Is it true?” about Hawaiians being dirty or somehow bad.

I answered, “No, everyone I know is Hawaiian and they aren’t bad!”

So grandpa stated, “Then don’t repeat, when you tell, you make important. When you throw rubbish out, it not important.” I acknowledged his words, and walked tall for us both.

Being Hawaiian is fun and interesting. Once someone asked me (upon hearing that I was Hawaiian), “Are you dirty or clean?”

She responded that in her experiences, Hawaiians were either “very dirty or very clean, and which are you?” That was one of those times when you just wanted to pound that person, despite knowing that the ignorance was hers, not mine. Once I was refused service for being a minority. I was labeled a “descendant of savages” by a teacher colleague. On frequent occasions I’ve been called a “chink.” I’ve also been called “gook” a lot, and once a white male who identified himself as a “skinhead” yelled in the grocery store that the “store should be shut down for selling food to gooks.” He then shoved me and my friend standing in line with our food baskets.

I’ve also been accused of stealing... not because anything was missing, but because the clerks thought I had come from the Reservation, and made the generalized statement that “all Indians steal.”

I’ve been called “half-breed,” and I’ve been informed on more than one occasion that I should “know my place and get to the back of the line.”

In 1995 I was physically assaulted at a store because the man thought I was a “squaw” and that I should move out of his way. My husband and I thought “da buggah” had broken my arm during that incident. Luckily, he had only severely bruised it. Funny how the other shoppers who witnessed the assault didn’t bother to speak out or help in my defense. (Not funny really, odd may be a better word.)

Hawaiians have had the “privilege” of looking like many races, and so wherever we move to (on the mainland), people tend to assume we are whatever ethnic group also occupies the territory. It can be a good thing, and sometimes a detriment, only because some people have small minds and there are so many prejudices in the world. I must make it clear that I have never been offended when mistaken for another ethnic group. I have only felt pity for those who believed that coming from a different culture was somehow a negative, shame for those who engaged in racial putdowns and name calling, and absolute disdain for that person who dared to strike me.

Talking is very different from hitting. The man who struck me after calling me a “squaw” brought fear to my heart, because he was pure Hate staring back at me. There are ignorant people everywhere in the world, but people who hate because of skin color are in a different class because they are dangerous.

Shortly after the assault incident occurred, my dad-- for the first time in my life--suggested that I return to my homeland, Hawaii. “What if that man had held a gun or a knife? No one stopped to help you! I think you better come home now.”

My dad had been in such a state of sorrow when he’d spoken to me. It had been difficult for him to imagine that such blatant racism was still alive and well in America. As a young man, he had been segregated to the back ends of buses while working in the Southern states on TDY, and had figured that this type of discrimination was now over.

My paternal grandfather, whom I will speak of frequently, once lay in a gutter for hours after suffering an aneurism because people thought he was a drunken Hawaiian. He was, in fact, crossing the street to get his driver’s license renewed. As far as I know, he never drank alcohol.

* * *

The world has come a long way, but not far enough, it seems. How can we combat this type of behavior? I believe that the best way to confront any act of discrimination is by speaking up when you see something wrong. People who choose to ignore a wrongdoing become part of the problem they consent to the act with their silence. When my dad asked me to return to Hawaii, I told him that I could not run from this problem. By leaving, I would be “losing to the bad deed.”

By sharing my story I am keeping my promise to speak on what can only be described as some pretty wonderful miracles of life. Throughout this shared journey, I ask that my readers keep an open mind. Some will listen, while others will act rude and hateful by choice. This journey is not so much about me, as it is about the hope, love, and peace that Creator God extends to all. In those moments of physical or emotional exhaustion that makes life difficult, I invite you to ask Creator God to hold us in the palms of his hands until we can stand alone again. His power is greater than any circumstance we may encounter.

Celebrate life! I learned as a child that Jesus loves, Jesus saves, and be not afraid! I pass these words onto my readers so they can remember that “God does not make junk” and that all people are valuable, right where they stand. With God, nothing is impossible.

Mele Kalikimaka e Hauoli Makahiki Hou
from our hale to your hale!
Merry Christmas and Happy new Year
from our house to your house.

Nani e Lona

I have decided to share excerpts of my book Trial By Fire A True Story Of Hope in the next few issues. This book was written to bring hope to anyone who has suffered racial discrimination, bias, serious illness, depression, despair, poverty. It speaks to getting up as many times as it takes and keeping on keeping on because dear hearts your are worthy and Ke Akua Creator does not make junk.

This story is a living testament that being born poor doesn't mean you have to stay poor or because a doctor tells you there is no hope doesn't mean there is no hope. The human spirit is a remarkable part of YOU! With work, diligence, tenacity, persistence and absolute faith YOU can over come anything even the worse disaster. What is the secret? Never ever giving up! Standing up and looking to the end of ones sleeves!

Wisdom from my Na Kupunas. "when you learn to fish Nani girl, you own yourself. If you let others give you the fish they own you." Learn to fish!

* * * *

“Da body it need wadda, da spirit it need aloha, wen you get dis two you one rich buggah. Dat make you rich, Nani Girl.”

~Grandpa Aki

* * *

For immediate press release:

Nani Aki Linder named President of Changing Winds Corporation a 501c3 educational group whose home base is Fairfield, Connecticut.

Nov. 14, 2005: Christine Rose, Founder of Changing Winds Corporation announced today that Nani Aki Linder, Founder of University of Life & Hope, published author and professional speaker, has accepted the position of President of this educational seminar corporation. Linder began her tenure as Changing Winds President on Nov. 15, 2005. Nani, Rose said, has the full authority of the Executive Board Of Directors and Founder to build this educational team for the purpose of uplifting the lives of Native American Children through educational seminars, lectures and summits. Mrs. Linder shall play a pivotal role in developing the curriculum and set the vision of this corporation towards inclusive diversity. She will be responsible for daily operations of the corporation hiring staff and administering the program as outlined in the by-laws and 501c3 mandate," Rose said.

NATIVE COMMANDMENTS
TREAT THE EARTH AND ALL THAT DWELL THEREON WITH RESPECT.
REMAIN CLOSE TO THE GREAT SPIRIT.
SHOW GREAT RESPECT FOR YOUR FELLOW BEINGS.
WORK TOGETHER FOR THE BENEFIT OF ALL MANKIND.
GIVE ASSISTANCE AND KINDNESS WHEREVER NEEDED.
DO WHAT YOU KNOW TO BE RIGHT.
LOOK AFTER THE WELL BEING OF MIND AND BODY.
DEDICATED A SHARE OF YOUR EFFORTS TO THE GREATER GOOD.
BE TRUTHFUL AND HONEST AT ALL TIMES.
TAKE FULL RESPONSIBILITY FOR YOUR ACTIONS

* * * *

" We are not victims of circumstances; we are quitting is not an option, sweetest lemonade making, problem solving people of hope. In order to win, we must refuse

to lose!" ~Nani Aki Linder

IMPORTANT Announcement

The date of the summit has changed please read this entire notice of change: Change your calendars from Jan. 27-28 to the new date of February 17-18 2006.

The Summit:

Changing Winds Courageous Dialogue &

The Women's Summit

"Courageous Dialogue & Culturally Relevant Teaching Skills"

When: February 17-18

Where: Spokane ,Washington

Due to circumstances beyond our control we have had a change of venue and dates. The hotel we were scheduled to have a conference at is no longer doing conferences after 2005. Our goal is to present you with the best speakers, best venue and best opportunity to uplift, enhance and build your own business, classroom, city, boardroom of hope. Scrambling to find a new place that couldn't accommodate the best for you was not a good plan. So ladies and gentlemen we did the next best thing. We re-scheduled so we might stand and deliver a summit worthy of YOU!

Join us Feb. 17-18, 2006

All information including the class schedules, registration website, and list of activities and speakers will be sent out and announced in our January 10, 2005 newsletter.

Mahalo for your understanding and kokua!

Sponsored by Woman's Business Center, Deb Barnes Executive Director, University of Life & Hope, Nani Aki Linder Founder, & Changing Winds Institute, Nani Aki Linder President have created an alliance to present this community all inclusive event. FYI: ceu's are available for this event from EWU. (Eastern Washington University)