The difference perspective makes

Aloha!

Last night I returned the Cathedral of Our Lady of Peace which this weekend celebrates the one hundred and sixty-ninth anniversary of dedication.  I'd like to say I planned it this way, but it really is just a matter of coincidence.  Then again, Blessed John Paul II used to say there is no such thing as coincidence, only providence.

Earlier this morning I celebrated the 7:30 a.m. Mass and soon I will celebrate the Noon Mass, after which the festivities begin with food and games.  It's a celebration I'm very much looking forward to.

This evening I'll join a few friends for luau on the beach, which I'm also looking forward to.

After Mass this morning, several parishioners asked how long I would be staying this time, which brought again to my attention the difference of perspective.

"Seventeen days," I would say.  "It's my longest stay yet."

To a person, every one sincerely asked, "Is that all?"  Others said something like, "Just a short visit, then."  Back on the mainland, a seventeen day trip to Hawaii seems like a long time, but here in the islands it's really only a brief stay.

Someone else came up to visit with me and said, "You're the priest who likes chocolate and pineapple and Dr Pepper, right?"  (My reputation precedes me.)  To him, the combination of pineapple and chocolate or pineapple and Dr Pepper seemed quite bizarre.  His wife, though, loved the combination of pineapple and hamburgers, but back on the mainland most people I'm quite bizarre for even suggesting it.

It's a good reminder that many things in life are a matter of perspective.  In some places, you're sane; in other places, you're insane.  The trick is knowing where you are.