“Life is short, break the rules, forgive quickly, kiss slowly, love truly, laugh uncontrollably, and never regret anything that made you smile. Twenty years from now, you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails: Explore. Dream. Discover.”  Mark Twain

On Monday night, we got a call to go to Jai Roberts’ home. She had suddenly passed away. As we stood over her body and prayed, the fleetingness of life on earth became enlarged, as if under a huge magnifying glass. She was gone, and she was just here yesterday.  We’d just had fun with her on Saturday at our CSL Bazaar, where she sold many of her beautiful jewelry pieces for which she was known. On Sunday, she was dancing with us at Celebration Service. She came up to me after service to let me know that she could not work with the kids next week, as she had promised or come to the women’s luncheon. She had a family event that she couldn’t miss. Family was important to Jai, and I know she was the most amazing grandmother to her grandchildren. They were the central point of conversation on many occasions and she always had a picture to share.

CSL Kaua’i was important to Jai, too, and she was a vibrant member of our community. She volunteered her time with our children and taught them to paint. She worked with us in our Kids in Arts program. Sometimes, it was enough for her just to sit and check kids in. She just wanted to be with the children, she said. There were times when we had to ask her to jump into the drama exercises and she always did with a full heart.

We were always blessed by Jai’s flowers at special events. I will always remembering her dragging in huge vases that were more than half her size, and then filling them with the abundance of flowers that overflowed on her property. She never said no to bringing flowers.  Last birthday celebration, she held a lei-making workshop and made sure all our practitioners had lei for the Sunday celebration at Lydgate Park. She allowed our Sacred Journey participants in 2018 to go to her property and plant beautiful ginger plants in a closing ceremony.

Jai took Science of Mind classes with us. Her last and favorite class was Self-Mastery, which ended the day before Halloween. She would come to class every week with another amazing manifestation. She was definitely working our Principles.  She loved Dr. Joe Dispenza, whom we studied in that class, and we know she’d incorporated the meditations into her life.

Jai is missed. I am sad. We all feel her departure in different ways. One of the things I’ve noticed about experiencing the death of our loved ones is many times the hardest thing for us is the regrets we feel for things undone or left unsaid. I hear “I should have…” from many. What I’ve come to learn through my many experiences and through reading and study is that I do not think once we are gone we hold anything against anyone.  Studying Anita Moorjani’s work, she makes this very clear. We are pure love to to love we return. I believe this. I feel this. And yet, I have chosen the quote by Mark Twain above to remind us that we should embrace life to the fullest while we are here. Jai reminded me of that strongly this week and I am taking it even more to heart than ever. Let us not leave a dream un-turned or a word that needs to be said, unsaid or a forgiveness held back.

A new year approaches and the world continues to turn. Jai is on to her next adventure, but we are still here. Let us feel our grief and help each other heal. Let us love each other. Let us bless her continued journey. Let us live life to the fullest finally.

Love and Aloha,

Rev. Rita

PS: Jai will have a Celebration of Life at CSL in a few weeks. We will let you know the date as soon as we have it.

(Picture of Jai Roberts taken on Saturday, December 7 at the CSL Kaua`i Holiday Bazaar)