THE PARTY LINE
FRIENDS: this is YOUR
column. Send in announcements, joys,
concerns, whatevers to the church.
Email: ardisg@cchonolulu.org Phone number: (808) 595-7541. Mail: 2345 Nuuanu Ave, Honolulu, HI 96817. Let’s keep in touch!
REFLECTIONS FROM DONNELL
AND EVE ADAMS
The Adams Family: Aloha,
All! We are happy to have this
opportunity for sharing with our CCH Ohana.
We are all smiles in the photo below…one of the rare occasions we’ve
been able to enjoy time with all of us together. Our sons, Keith, Greg, and Jason live &
work in Montgomery County, Maryland, just outside of our nation’s Capitol. During a time of crisis & skyrocketing
unemployment, we are comforted by the fact they’re working. Jason supports a long-term contract with NIH
and Keith, also with NIH, is a career civil servant on the IT side of the
medical research agency. Greg is newly
employed as a contractor with FDA. Both
NIH & FDA are playing a key role toward accelerating medical countermeasures
to treat & prevent COVID-19.
Our family’s overall
experience with this frightening pandemic, however, is far from
comforting. For example…what had been
excitement about daughter-in-love Silvia’s work successes that took her to
Wuhan, China on multiple occasions turned to dread. She was last there in early January, when we
first heard of the Coronavirus outbreak.
While frightening, COVID-19
has emphasized for us how much we have to thank God for. We are thankful Silvia safely returned home to
Paris, France to our son Mark, and that they are both fine. We are blessed to also have her wonderful
family to love. They reside in Umbria,
Italy where, thankfully, they have remained healthy & safe. Like most of us in the U.S., those in France
& Italy are following shelter-in-place guidelines; the difference being,
however, theirs are stricter and country-wide.
Donnell: While Eve & I were able to enjoy a great
“staycation,” along with some wining & dining out with friends before the
shelter-in-place order was in effect here, we are having to cancel travel we
had planned. Instead, we are enjoying
more creative cooking at home…with an occasional glass of red wine, as
we enjoy more time sitting on our front porch, chatting & listening to
music. While my golf is limited to
swinging a club in the living room & chipping on our side lawn, Eve & I
find contentment with each other & our home. The only day we’ve managed to keep good track
of, though is Sunday. We are thankful
for Pastor Holly’s online services, Hari’s beautiful music & song, and
Pastor Frances’ ongoing work with our youth & others … ALL lovingly
supported by so many of you. We are very
thankful for our entire CCH family, and we look forward to the time when we
will see you in person again.
Eve: Firstly, mahalo to our CCH Ohana for your good
thoughts & prayers. Also, Donnell
& I have greatly appreciated calls & emails checking on us. Happily, we’re fine (he hasn’t gotten on
my last nerve … yet). I use to
complain about people texting too much.
You will not hear me complaining about that now! I love the daily texts our kids send, and our
more regular video chats. I am thankful
for Zoom as well…which I’d never even heard of until Pastor Holly & Pastor
Frances employed its use. Also, I was
proud of myself last week, in finally figuring out how to download & use
WebEx. Doing so enables me to keep
occasional touch with fantastic students & staff at Niu Valley Middle
School, where I’ve greatly enjoyed tutoring in a dedicated Special Education
class two days a week since retiring. On
the 1st of April, I celebrated my 10th year tutoring. What is emphasized for me during this
pandemic is how very much I have to be thankful for.
 |
The Adams Family (duh duh duh dum *snap snap*)
Standing behind "Adams & Eve" are their beloved children. On each end are their oldest sons (twins), Keith on the far left & Jason on the far right. Their youngest son, Greg is to the left-next to Keith. Their middle child, Mark is to the right-next to Jason. Mark's wife, Silvia is in the center. (They love finally having a daughter!)
|
EXPLORE ACTION STEPS YOU
CAN TAKE
Lady Gaga spearheaded and
organized a special music concert, “One World Together at Home”, in support of
the World Health Organization (WHO) of the United Nations. Fundraising was not
the purpose of the concert. In fact, before
the concert was livestreamed, $50 million had already been raised for WHO by
the concert organizers. The performers
and speakers at the concert were participating to offer thanks to medical
professionals, first responders, pharmacists, veterinarians, police officers,
sanitation workers, grocery store workers, those delivering food and supplies to our
homes, mail carriers, and other essential workers. Laura Bush and Michelle Obama jointly thanked all these people for maintaining the "fabric of our country."
Bill and Melinda Gates spoke
about the coordinated worldwide efforts of the scientific community to develop
a cure. They stressed that this work
must lead to a vaccine that will be accessible to all people free of
charge. “Our response to this pandemic
won’t be effective unless it is equitable.”
The concert also encouraged
all of us to take action steps in addition to showing gratitude to those on the
“front lines.” You can explore different
action steps by exploring (click link to open):
SOME GOOD NEWS
1. Be careful to avoid
watching just the “news.” There are
many, many acts of kindness and heroism that do not get widely reported. (For example, shouldn’t the news about
Principal Mew and Kaiser High School be front page headlines?!)
In a previous article, Emily
Murakami urged us to watch John Krasinski’s “Some Good News Network.” This week’s episode was a GEM. NASA astronauts from the International Space
Station joined John Krasinski this week in sharing Some Good News! Looking out the window and seeing our planet,
they said: “An Earth in crisis is still an Earth worth returning to.”
2. On April 24th,
New York Governor Cuomo, tweeted:
I
received this letter from a farmer in northeast Kansas. His wife is ill and he
is aging. He sent me 1 of 5 N95 masks he
has from farming to pass on to a doctor or nurse in New York. This is humanity at its best. I share his
letter as inspiration.
MUSIC TO SHARE (click on the links to open)
1. Goodnight Moon
‘Goodnight Moon’ (Eric
Whitacre). Live by Lina Dambrauskaitė (soprano) and the Lithuanian Chamber
Orchestra (artistic director Sergei Krylov), conducted by Eric Whitacre; written
by Margaret Wise Brown and illustrated by Clement Hurd
2. Even If by
MercyMe
Goodnight Moon was so
evocative of loss and longing that I needed Even If to try to heal.
3. Good Job
“I wrote this for all the people that work so hard & never hear the words Good Job. I believe in us though, I believe in the way we are showing up for each other & caring 👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽.
“Whether you’re on the
frontlines at the hospitals, balancing work, family and homeschool teaching,
delivering mail, packages, or food, or facing other personal difficulties
because of COVID-19, I feel you. You are seen, loved and deeply appreciated,”
said Keys.
4. Empire State of Mind
by Alicia Keys
Alicia Keys sang this in tribute to New York City during the "Saving Our Selves: COVID-19 Relief Effort" special on BET, Black Entertainment Television.
A nurse tweeted: “Since I got
here @ 10 am I have heard @aliciakeys Empire State of Mind played twice. Our hospital @MontefioreNYC plays the song in our PA System every time a
COVID pt is extubated or discharged. ❤️ @aliciakeys”
5. We Shall Overcome
by The Aeolians Oakwood University Alumni 2020 (Oakwood University is a Seventh-day Adventist
university and is among the historically black colleges and universities)
“The world-renown Aeolians choral group has performed at the Kennedy Center and Carnegie Hall, and won multiple choral competitions. Despite the acclaim, their website shares: ‘In everything that the Aeolians do today, service is first. Whether it be sharing in worship during rehearsal, or ministering at church; whether it be competing in a world class competition or embracing little children on the mission field, the Aeolians are there to answer the call and to, “‘Do the will of my Father who sent me!’” Many lives have been touched all over the world by what this choir has done for the last 70 years.”
(accessed:
Sunday, April 26, 2020)
6. Dharti Ma - A
Tribute to Earth - Official Music Video | Earth Day Network
“The
theme for Earth Day 2020 is Climate Action. It has become increasingly
important for us as world citizens to raise awareness, and in-turn trigger
action towards creating sustainable living and business processes. “Dharti Ma”
literally translated to Mother Earth is a tribute to our planet, and to
commemorate Earth Day’s 50th anniversary.
In an amalgamation of styles, the song has been rendered in eight
languages by some of the finest musicians of India.”
Music Composed, Arranged, and
Produced by Amrit Ramnath
7. Andrea Bocelli: Music for
Hope - Live from Duomo di Milano
“On
Easter Sunday (April 12, 2020), by invitation of the City and of the Duomo
cathedral of Milan, Italian global music icon Andrea Bocelli gave a solo
performance representing a message of love, healing and hope to Italy and the
world.”
This video has been viewed
nearly 39,000,000 times!
You can sing along with this
hymn sheet:
Program:
1:34 Panis Angelicus (Franck)
5:28 Ave Maria (Bach)
8:56 Sancta Maria (Mascagni)
12:59 Domine Deus (Rossini)
18:55 Amazing Grace (Newton,
Ross)
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