On April 5, 2021, the Safe Travels program was put into effect here on the Island of Kaua`i. Travelers can come here without quarantine, provided they have proof of a valid negative COVID19 test. Some of us our elated and some of us not so much. I am in the elated category because I know how important tourism is to our Island. Many people have been impoverished through the last year of this pandemic, due to lack of work and the shutting down of many businesses. Of course, there have been many blessings, too. The COVID19 cases on our Island are below 300.

So, now what? Safe Travels signifies that we should feel safe. Do we? Those who are vaccinated say that they do feel safe and the tourists are free to come. There are those who are not vaccinated that feel safe also. There are some who do not feel safe at all in either case.

My questions are what is this feeling of safety, when will we feel it, and will we be able to sustain it? I am under the understanding that the COVID19 vaccine doesn’t guarantee that we will not get COVID, but makes it less likely that we will die from it. Do we still feel safe? I am not advocating vaccines and I am not advocating not getting vaccinated. I am just asking a question. When will we feel safe? I’m sure we have all known people who have left their home in the morning, only to never come home that night due to an accident or some catastrophe. Did they feel safe when they left the house in the morning? Everyday we are confronted with many reasons beyond COVID19 that could challenge our feelings of safety. Do we feel safe in this uncertain world?

I guess it depends on what we define as safety. If safety is a sense of feeling free from physical harm, then I would say it would be difficult to ever feel safe. However, if we define safety as knowing that whatever lies before us, there is something within us that always keeps us safe, not necessarily physically, but safe from fear, confusion and all limitations. We feel safe because we know that we walk with and as a Power that is greater than any obstacle in our path. Our feelings of safety comes from faith and trust that we will know what to do in any situation.

I believe that we are coming to a time in our evolution when it is more and more necessary to trust our Higher Power. I believe that a new life is being born and that we are understanding that we are more than these mortal bodies and that the Universe lives within us, with all its powers for life and creation. I believe we are being called to rise above our conditions in the world to a higher consciousness that puts us at the helm of our destiny as a species.

It is a fact that we are on the verge of the sixth mass extinction as a planet. All roads point to it. We cannot solve our problems anymore, nor have we ever, from the same consciousness that created them. We must start living in cooperation, oneness and Love. We must put down our weapons of separation and begin to understand and accept each other right where we are. Let us not use COVID19 or any political view to turn ourselves against each other. Feelings of safety are individual and we can respect each other as individuals.

We live in this world based on our perceptions. The mystics have always known this and the new discoveries in science now concur. It is done unto us as we believe. We all have different views on everything, but it doesn’t mean that we cannot get along. We do not have to be right in order to be safe. As long as we do not live destructively toward others, we can succeed. We can overcome our separation. We can live in oneness. To me, this is the promise of a safety that is indestructible and eternal

Love and Aloha,

Rev. Rita