~ by Father Ron Camarda

Seven years ago, I visited the big island of Hawaii. I had the privilege and honor of visiting my friend Father John in Oahu. Padre John was the chaplain at the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy when I arrived in 1977. He was awesome. He was the first priest I ever experienced who preached in the center aisle. He was a diver in college and taught me a few things. He was always at one of the pools talking to my classmates of all denominations. He was Jesus to me. I remember him walking the dorms all the time and lifting the spirits of us young midshipmen who were struggling. His dumb jokes and wiggling of his ears would lift the heaviest hearts. Many of my classmates kept up with him these past 32 years.

He moved to Kailua, Hawaii in 1980 to serve with the Marines as a chaplain. He stayed there after retiring up until he died on February 6, 2009. I miss him tremendously. In February of 1983 on my way back from three months in Korea with the Coast Guard I visited him for the first time in Hawaii. My fiancée flew out to meet me, but something mysterious happened during my visit with Padre John that helped solidify my desire to enter the seminary and ask forgiveness from my fiancée. Padre John never said a word, but there was something about his priesthood that attracted me. We became friends and kept in touch via snail mail and very rare phone calls. Back then, phone calls to Hawaii were not cheap.

The next time I visited Padre John was twenty years later in January of 2003 and 2004. This was becoming an annual visit and retreat for me. My recall to Iraq prevented my return in 2005. My last visit was in 2006. Father John’s health rapidly declined a few months after my last visit up until his death. He was about 86 years young.

When I visited him in 2003 and 2004, Padre John encouraged me to take a flight to the big island of Hawaii. There was a military lodge on the side of the volcano that had very reasonable rates for active and reserve military. Like a father, he drove me to the airport both times and was waiting for me at the airport when I returned three days later.

Father John, a night owl, got up at around noon every day and we would often celebrate Mass just the two of us. In the afternoon we would go swimming at the Marine Base pool. Some days we would go body surfing. In the evenings we would watch old movies and play computer games like hearts and twenty-one on an old machine. Those days were quite precious to me. When I returned from Iraq, I was able to fly out to Oahu for one last visit in January of 2006. That was my last visit before he died.

In January of 2004, I spent three days on the big Island of Hawaii. Unbeknownst to me, it was just six months before I would be called to go to Iraq. God was preparing me and emptying me for the horror and graces I was about to encounter.

January 20, 2004 (Flying to Hawaii from Oahu)

God is like water in our need.

We all need water daily to survive

and even if we go with out water for a day or two

water still circulates in our cells and veins.

People often complain of not being able to pray.

May I suggest drinking a glass of water with gratitude?

We need God, like we need water

It is essential.

God desires a relationship with us,

at all times and for ever.

God is abundant.

The generosity of God has been abused and taken for granted.

Drink of the Lord of All.

Don’t contaminate your water with too much carbonation, caffeine,

sugar, chemicals or too much alcohol.

Allow Jesus to turn your water into wine

and let Jesus pour out his blood and water from his side,

freely and abundantly given to all!!!

Water—Awesome!

January 21, 2004 5:21 pm

I am sitting in a crater

It is starting to get dark

I am all alone

Steam rising

Volcanic rock, singed grass

Rosary in hand

Yahweh is contemplating me

I am so insignificant but love raises me up

a friend of Jesus

a brother

a father

a pilgrim

Alone, really alone

Where sounds are quite distinct

I can really hear the sound of silence

eerie yet gentle

kindness, gentleness, generosity,

patience, peace, faithfulness

self-control, joy and love

This is quite joyful

I love you God

“As a child rests in his mother’s arms…even so my soul.”

Ron Moses, trust in the Beloved both now and forever!

Wow and ooh and o my!

8 pm (Volcano House Restaurant)

Having dinner in a restaurant with no background music

Good food for a hungry body

Incredible hike…20 decades of the Rosary

Finish in darkness

Thank God for flashlights

I was pretty focused until the last few tenths of a mile

I was looking for my rented jeep

Mostly time with my Lord

How blessed I am

And yet how lowly and insignificant I am

My body is quite tired

A glass of wine was perfect

Water turned to wine…significant

I shall sleep good tonight.

January 21, 2004 8 pm (KMC Lava Lounge)

I’m exhausted physically, spiritually, and emotionally

God woke me up at 4 or 5 am, I can’t remember

It’s okay, because it was my gain.

A dark night, ah the sheer grace

I went out into the starlight darkness

My house now all still

I had to resist leaving the place and time,

thinking of the future and all the things I could do

on this incredible and diverse island called paradise

It turned out great

Yet, I noticed how tempting it was to leave…

.

Here is what happened…

Last year there was a lava flow into the ocean.

It was hot, dangerous, fascinating and once in a lifetime experience.

I heard last night over a glass of wine there was “nothing happening”

How wrong they were…

Happening is only the beginning

.

Truly I have set my soul in silence and peace

As a child rests in her mother’s arms

So too, even so my soul…

I was awoken

I went out

Stunned by the star-studded sky.

I actually saw lava in the distance

Pele dancing in red!

.

So quiet, so… so silent

I was drawn to the bottom of the road

Where the sea and land last year

had been raging

heat of passion

But not now

I was totally alone

No one else was awake

I stopped the jeep,

I walked out over the lava now cooled

Past the trail

I could barely see…forgot my flashlight

and then I stopped close to the sea

where the lava had erupted

yet now frozen

I prayed…started praying without words or thoughts

It was as if I was led here without knowing it

My father held my hand, my mother pushed me into the dark night

And yet I still resisted

wanting to be somewhere else

And God was patient, kind, gentle

God was loving, peaceful and joyful…yes joyful

God was generous with gifts of creation and interior thoughts

God was and is faithful and didn’t obliterate me

Who really, am I, but nothing

except in the eyes of God?

It is remarkable to me

How much God wanted to meet with me?

this morning

alone?

.

God loves me,

I have nothing to fear

God whispered my name…”Ron Moses”

Awesome

And then in the middle of nowhere on a lava flow

I obediently took off my shoes and socks

and curled up in the arms of the Beloved

Never have I ever felt so at peace…so secure

The sun rose on me…as

the Son rose within me

I curled up on that lava rock prepared for me…

I was just a speck in the universe…yet whole

Anything else that happened today was pure extra blessing—

.

Funny, I’m at KMC Lava Lounge as people sing Karaoke on a cold night

Horrible yet wonderful

Sipping on wine, pleasantly enjoying and reflecting on this morning—

.

I made a simple altar of seven rocks

worship…simple…pure… with my friend Jesus

I am still almost in disbelief…

…air cool, sounds of water crashing into rock

Mystery of Light

My water was turned into wine by our Lord and Savior

Called, baptized, transfigured with Jesus

“You are my beloved child, son, with you I am well pleased.”

How could this be?

Because God took the initiative…that’s how

God loves us, and God desires to spend lots of time with us

First fruits

Let the journey begin

.

God is Love

After this beginning, I drove around the island of Hawaii today

I saw so much…

flowers, cold, fog, sun, beach surf, sky, coffee farms

Pure Kona coffee on the ledge of Captain Hook’s

Bought some coffee from a local family

.

I love you Jesus!

Aloha State of Mind!

And now I’ll sing some silly songs

Life is good!

All the time.

I am loved by God

What more do I need?

What could I possibly be afraid of?

.

Love, joy, peace,

Father Ron Moses +

www.tearinthedesert.com

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