August 13, 2023
Genesis 37:1-4, 12-28
Romans 10:5-15
In the old days, ‘elepaio followed the canoe makers through the koa stands as they searched for tree trunks that were suitable for a canoe. They were and are curious birds, and they would watch the trees fall and the people removing the limbs and branches so they could bring the trunk down to the shore for a canoe.
The people watched the ‘elepaio, because as well as being curious, they were hungry. If an ‘elepaio settled onto a koa tree and began to chase bugs and spiders, or if an ‘elepaio did the same on a log they’d just cut down, the canoe makers would move on. If the ‘elepaio was interested, they concluded, the tree must be too full of burrowing bugs to make a good hull.
People don’t cut koa for canoes much any more, but the ‘elepaio are still curious and will still follow people through the forest.
Which doesn’t have much to do with this story, because there aren’t any people in it. There’s an ‘elepaio, of course. And there are koa trees. There is one specific koa tree, and one specific ‘elepaio, and that koa tree was his favorite koa tree.
I’m not sure why. There were plenty of koa trees in that part of the forest, and to my untutored eye they looked rather the same. Oh, some were a little taller, and some were a little shorter, and some were wider, and some were thinner, but his favorite tree wasn’t the tallest or the shortest or the widest or the thinnest. It was just his favorite tree.
When people choose things as their favorite, they tend to act differently around it. It turns out that ‘elepaio do, too. On all the other koa trees he would search long and hard for the bugs and spiders that made up his breakfast, lunch, dinner, and any-time-of-the-day snacks. On his favorite tree, however, he’d sit quietly. It was too special, he thought, to be hunting on it. To his distress, the tree wasn’t doing well. Some of its leaves were turning brown.
“What’s wrong with my favorite tree?” the ‘elepaio asked himself out loud one day. “I think it’s sick.”
“What have you been doing to it?” asked an ‘akepa who overheard.
“Nothing,” said the ‘elepaio. “It’s my favorite tree. I don’t even hunt on it.”
The ‘akepa hopped over to the favorite koa, and said, “That might be the problem. There are lots of bugs in this tree. I don’t think that’s good for it.”
Sure enough, the bugs the ‘elepaio hadn’t been hunting on his favorite tree were making that tree rather ill.
“How can I treat my favorite tree just like everything else?” he asked.
“What about if you thought about it the other way around?” asked the ‘akepa. “What if you treat your favorite tree as well as you can think of – including cleaning off all the bugs – and then treat all the other trees as well as you treat your favorite tree?”
“You mean, treat all of them really well?” marveled the ‘elepaio.
“Treat all of them really well,” agreed the ‘akepa, and that is what the two of them did.
by Eric Anderson
Watch the Recorded Story
I write these stories ahead of time, and then tell them in worship without the manuscript or notes. As a result, the telling is somewhat… improvised.
Photo of an ‘elepaio (not in a koa tree) by Eric Anderson
ordainedgeek 
Another one for tears!
Thank you, Maren!