BASIC Action Ohana Group

I have uploaded the pictures of us shooting pool for all of you to peruse here. You can read all about the event here.

I just had a wonderful discussion with someone regarding how different it is shooting pool in Aiea that I wanted to share.

Let me begin by saying that pool is all about the laws of physics. Vectors, drag force, kinetic energy, gravity, motion, velocity, friction, mass, and deflection affect how pool balls respond to our efforts to control them. Added to this is faith that if we do the same thing every time, the same end will result. For example, if you shoot the cue ball from one end of the rail straight across to the other rail, the ball will rebound directly back toward the tip of your stick not because it wants to, but because it has to. It is the law.

Well, I just found a place in Aiea where there is one more law of physics, the law of pool physics, or “Pool Law”. Here it is, each shot in the beginning goes in without any problems. We are hitting our angles, slicing our shots, and englishing our, umm, english. We appear to be heading towards a victorious end. But then, the last few shots become increasingly difficult, and the very last ball invites another law, “Murphy’s Law”. In fact, “Pool Law” is worst than “Murphy’s Law” because no matter what we do, we can’t get that last ball in except by accident. This isn’t bad luck, it’s just the law.

I’m not the only one who has witnessed this law, am I?

This post was suppose to be about our Ohana having fun bowling. I was going to write a witty piece about how hard bowling was. It was going to describe what the losing team was going to do, meet up with our KCC staff members and buy them a drink from the corner market.

Thankfully, nothing went right.

We begin with half of the group finding themselves at Leeward bowl. I didn’t even know there was a Leeward bowling alley. And when we finally all got together at Aiea bowl, a tournament was going on. In fact, they were going over time. Now, I know that the alleys makes most of their money from league play, so of course, if you have the chance, you have to reserve the lanes for them. But please, don’t take on any reservations in case the league finishes early so that you can make more money. It isn’t fair to us, who’s time is very precious, to have to wait on the side while the league finishes up. We would have made other plans if we couldn’t be accommodated. I’m sure Leeward bowl, Kalihi bowl, or even Fort Schafter would have accommodated us. Add to the fact that the manager wasn’t very apologetic or, in my mind, really cared if we had reservations or not, makes it really difficult for me to recommend Aiea bowl to anyone.

Again, thankfully, everything went wrong.

Because of this, I remembered how much I love life when I get to hang out with my friends! My friends make me happy. Instead of stressing about not bowling, we spent time playing pool. I got to meet new people, “Hey Lisa”, and renewed an old one with someone whom I haven’t seen for a month, “Hey John”. I got to know a first grade teacher, a waitress, a caregiver, and a dental hygienist even better, “Hey Autumn, Katrina, Lan, Nancy”. I now know that I really want to desperately retire, “Hey Sharon” and I now have someone to help me with remodeling of the bathroom, “Hey Richard”.

But the thing I came to learn was that playing pool with a tech, “Hi David”, and an engineer, “Hi Ann”, wasn’t the best ego thing to do.

This past Sunday (July 1), our group was blessed to hear a visitor from India, Ramchand SARANU, share a little bit about himself. He was raised in a high caste Hindu family in the southeast city of Vijayawada but became a follower of Christ during his college age years when he was in the midst of personal despair due to drug addiction. Ramchand is currently the director of the YWAM (Youth With A Mission) branch in Indore, central India (between Bombay and Delhi). His group does considerable outreach among the poor and despised tribal groups of that area. Although Mr. Saranu comes from a high caste background, he personally feels a great deal of sympathy towards the “dalit” class, which means “untouchables” in the Hindi language. If you want to learn more about what Ramchand’s group is doing, please go to the www.ywamindore.com website.

As some of you know, my Korean-born wife and I spent 4 weeks in October 1999 in the central Indian city of Bhopal on an outreach trip with YWAM. It was interesting to see how people live in that part of the world. India is part of Asia but very different in many ways from Korea or Japan. I would not say that India is a dirt poor nation. I saw people driving small cars and nice homes. However, there appears to be a problem in equal distribution of wealth and differences between life in the rural areas and life in the cities. In regards to religion, I would say that most Indians do not have many opportunities to hear an accurate presentation of the gospel message, whether via mass media or personal interaction. Of course, even those who have heard about Christ may be reluctant to give up some traditional Hindu practices such as praying to idols in order to become Christian. The Christians our group met in India were mainly those who were raised as Hindus and did not come from Christian family backgrounds. So, they made a conscious decision as adults to become followers of Christ. I think there is a lot we in America can learn from Indian Christians in regards to how firm they cling to Christ in spite of the amount of social pressure they endure from others in their community for actively practicing their faith.