A man of Hawaii — a painting in the Art Deco Hawaii exhibit at the Honolulu Museum of Art
Good Evening, God!
Recently, I went to the Art Deco Hawaii exhibit with our daughter Suzanne and I found the art troubling. Much of it depicted idealized Hawaiians looking oh so happy at being part of America. But, of course, it wasn’t quite like that. After the overthrow of the Queen in 1893 ruling elite were — as most Westerners were at that time — racist. They were also sexist and class conscious.
Come to think of it, God, those are still problems for us all around the globe — problems of judging and not respecting.
But, I digress. The piece of art that captured me was of a man who seemed to me to be unhappy at best and perhaps even angry. He was depicted as he was — a real person — not an idealized one.
All of which prods me to be real. Under stress, God, I get “irritable.” But, both of our daughters had a different word for what I was doing. Sigh. They said I was bullying.
And, I was — I was bullying my wonderful husband. The second or maybe it was the third time they called me on it I heard them, and I stopped appalled! I realized that I was calling it being irritable — but it really was worse than that. I was using an acceptable word to cover an unacceptable behavior. Sigh. I’m thankful, God, for daughters who speak the truth in love.
As it happens, Bullies are close to the top of my “despise” list. So, I guess, I should have suspected I was harboring a Bullying Spirit down in my Shadow Self. They say: Make a list of what we dislike MOST in others and that is what is waiting deep inside us — waiting for us to acknowledge them — waiting for us to come — with them — to You for healing.
A Moment with God 