The Wild Reed

Wednesday, November 04, 2026

“Look for My Light in All Your Circumstances”

A spiritual resource that many of my Christian patients find particularly meaningful is Sarah Young’s devotional, Jesus Calling: Enjoying Peace in His Presence. It’s a collection of daily reflections written as if Jesus himself is speaking directly to us. They are words of encouragement, comfort, and reassurance based on Jesus’ own words of hope, guidance, and peace found in Scripture.

Now, I should say that as a pilgrim on the Sufi Way, a student of A Course in Miracles, and someone who defines their spiritual path as grounded in the “mystico/prophetic” tradition, I don’t share every theological understanding espoused by Sarah Young. For instance, I don’t view the Bible as “the only inspired, inerrant, unchanging Word of God.” Rather, I see the Bible as the word of humans about their experience of the sacred in their lives; as one source of wisdom and beauty among many that seek to document and explore such experiences – experiences that, in many cases, continue to unfold. I also don’t share Young’s atonement theology, believing instead that it is Jesus’ life and message that “saves us,” not his death willed by an angry and violent God. That all being said, I still find much meaning and beauty in Young’s writing.

One of her follow-up books to Jesus Calling is Jesus Always: Embracing Joy in His Presence. It’s also a collection of daily reflections based on the words of Scripture. Although I’ve used Jesus Always less frequently with my patients, I’ve discovered in its pages some reflections that greatly resonate with me. Following is one of them. It’s inspired by Habakkuk 3:18 and 1:6-7; Psalm 107:21-22; and Psalm 100:2.

_______________

I have good intentions for you. They may by radically different from what you hoped or expected, but they are nonetheless good. I am Light; in Me there is no darkness at all. So look for My Light in all your circumstances. I am abundantly present in your moments. Your purpose is to be open to Me and My ways with you. Sometimes this requires relinquishing things you had planned or dreamed. You need to remember and wholeheartedly trust that My way is perfect, no matter how hard it is.

I am a shield for all who take refuge in Me. When you’re feeling afflicted or afraid, come to Me and say: “Jesus, I take refuge in You.” I don’t shield you from things I intend for you to deal with, for you have an important part to play in this world. However, I protect you from more dangers and troubles than you can imagine. So make every effort to live the life I have given to you. Do this in joyful dependence on Me, and your soul will be richly satisfied.

Tuesday, November 03, 2026

Something to Think About . . .

Related Off-site Links:
U.S. Voters Head to the Polls with Control of Congress in the Balance – Associated Press (November 3, 2026).
“Deeply Alarming”: Hours Before Midterm Elections, Trump Bombs Iran’s Qeshm Island – Jake Johnson (Common Dreams, November 3, 2026).
“Democracy Itself Is on the Ballot”: Voters Weigh 150+ Ballot Initiatives, from Wealth Tax to Abortion – Democracy Now! (November 3, 2026).
As Americans Head to the Polls, Here Are the Billionaires Trying to Buy the 2026 Midterms – Jake Johnson (Common Dreams, November 3, 2026).
Latino Voters Swing Away from Trump for “Terrorizing Our Communities”: Marisa Franco of Mijente – Democracy Now! (November 3, 2026).
Bernie Sanders Calls for “Fundamental and Immediate Reform” to Democratic Party If It Wins Elections – Julia Conley (Common Dreams, November 3, 2026).
Democratic Socialists on the Rise: Darializa Avila Chevalier and Claire Valdez Set to Win House Seats – Democracy Now! (November 3, 2026).
Renee Good, Alex Pretti, and Your Undocumented Neighbors Won’t Be Voting, But You Can – Will Bunch (The Philadelphia Inquirer via Common Dreams, November 3, 2026).

UPDATES: Abdul El-Sayed Becomes First Muslim Senator as Democrats Rout GOP Across the U.S. in Rebuke to Trump – Democracy Now! (November 4, 2026).
Trump’s Endless Lies, Deceit, Cruelty, and Corruption Comes Crashing Down – Bradley Blankenship (Common Dreams, November 4, 2026).

See also the previous Wild Reed posts:
• “It’s Very Clear That Something Is Brewing”
• A Spirited Exchange on Voting
• “On to the General!”
• Politics 101

Monday, November 02, 2026

Quote of the Day

A lot of people are saying, “when the rubber hits the road, liberals will always choose fascism over democratic socialism.”

While I agree with this in general, it doesn’t apply with Haley Stevens jumping ship to support Mike Rogers. Keep in mind that plenty of neoliberal, warmongering shitheads like Pete Buttigieg, Kamala Harris, Barack Obama, Chuck Schumer, Jim Clyburn, James Carville, etc. still support Abdul El-Sayed. That’s because El-Sayed isn’t a socialist at all (not by his policies or self-description), and isn’t really an anti-Zionist either. The American political scene is just so fucked up that anyone with normal liberal politics in any other country is considered “radical” in the U.S.

I guarantee that if there were an actual threat to capitalist order in the U.S., all the major Democrats – including the “progressive” ones – would link arms with the GOP to protect their property rights. Stevens’ defection is not about maintaining capitalist order – it’s just rank opportunism and careerism.

– Ben Marenlensky
via Facebook
November 2, 2026

Related Off-site Links:
Haley Stevens Endorses Republican Candidate in Michigan Senate Race, Spurning Abdul El-Sayed – Sam Gringlas and Barbara Sprunt (NPR News, November 2, 2026).
El-Sayed’s Primary Opponent Stuns Democrats by Endorsing Republican Opponent in Michigan Senate Race – Joey Cappelletti, Corey Williams, and Mike Householder, (Associated Press via PBS Newshour, November 1, 2026).

UPDATE: Abdul El-Sayed Defeats Mike Rogers Despite Haley Stevens Drama – CK Smith (Salon, November 4, 2026).

See also the previous Wild Reed posts:
• Abdul El-Sayed: The Disruptor Michigan (and the Country) Needs
• Why the American Political Establishment Is Panicking
• Four Political Commentaries Worth Viewing
• Abdul El-Sayed and the “Unforgivable Rehabilitation” of Kamala Harris

Sunday, November 01, 2026

Photo of the Day

See also the previous Wild Reed posts:
• Kyrie and Penny
• An Inquisitive Little Visitor
• Sleepy Eddie and Wide-Awake Ziggy
• Photo of the Day – October 27, 2012
• Photo of the Day – April 4, 2012
• Photo of the Day – July 15, 2010

Image: Michael J. Bayly.

Saturday, October 31, 2026

“It’s Very Clear That Something Is Brewing”

I think most of us here in the U.S. sense that in the political sphere, something indeed is brewing. I appreciate how Marianne Williamson writes about this without fear-mongering or going into panic mode.

Following (with added links) is an excerpt from her latest Substack post.

Our democracy, and at this point the security of our country, is threatened by a cabal of people deeply unworthy of the power they now hold in this country. This isn’t a moment to further analyze how we got here, however; it’s a moment to analyze where things have to go from here. Democrats gaining back the House and Senate will be a powerful win, if it occurs, but it in no way means that all our problems will be over. First of all, should that occur we have no idea what President Trump’s response would be. Many speculate he would become apoplectic, doing anything from suing State election officials to seizing ballot boxes and voting machines to even declaring martial law and seeking to interrupt the certification process. It’s long past time when any reasonable person should assume the rule of law means anything to Donald Trump. In his mind, the highest law is himself.

[. . .] Somehow, someday, we will get through this dangerous period.

Whether it will be sooner or it will be later, I do not know. But we should start articulating now what we want on the other side of it. Christopher Life, founder of United Independents, has said the values which should guide all policy decisions – independent of the limitations and biases of either major political party – are the following: 1) to prevent harm; 2) to reduce human suffering; 3) to increase the quality of life; and 4) to steward well the natural world. I could not agree more.

Having had my own experiences trying to articulate a more enlightened politics, I received regularly the mockery of those who run the political game as it now exists. Notice that to them it is a game, while to us it is our lives. It was said repeatedly that I was naive to think we could shift our political bottom line from corporate profits (in this case, the profits of war manufacturers) to humanitarian and democratic values. I said then, and I say now, that what’s naive is to think we will survive another hundred years on this planet if we don’t at least try.

We’re more than playing with fire at this point. The fire is already burning. May there be a concomitant fire within ourselves, as beginning now we rise to the challenges of this moment, preparing for next Tuesday, engaged on that day and every day thereafter in whatever way conscious citizenship demands.

The Pentagon has instructed major U.S. military bases to prepare to be able to function independently for ninety days. Several Western countries have warned their citizens to keep 3 to 10 days worth of survival supplies on hand in case of major disruptions. It’s very clear that something is brewing. Some believe that in the event of an all out war, the President might shut down the power grid to prevent Iran (or anyone else) from being able to attack it.

When reading about the Cuban missile crisis we learn there were people around Khrushchev, as well as Kennedy, pretty much gunning for nuclear confrontation between Russia and the United States. Yet there were also those around both of them who more than anything were citizens of the world, successfully advising both leaders to come back from the brink of nuclear war. Had the champions of brute force prevailed, it’s possible that none of us would be here today.

I was ten years old during the Cuban missile crisis, and I remember my parents glued to the TV news one night as events unfolded. I remember the seriousness of the looks on their faces, and one of them saying that we might go to war. I remember when my mother saw me standing at the door she said, “What are you doing up, Marianne? Say your prayers honey and go back to bed.”

Once again we’re in this terrible place, where the purveyors of war are on an outrageous rampage. In so many ways we’ve simply circled back to where this country has a habit of finding itself far too often. But I’m not ten years old anymore, and neither are you. Our mission now isn’t to pray and go back to bed. Our mission is to pray and wake up.

– Marianne Williamson
Excerpted from “To War or Not to War”
Transform
October 31, 2026

Related Off-site Links:
How Trump and His Allies Seek to Interfere in the U.S. Midterm Elections – Sam Levine (The Guardian, October 31, 2026).
The Pentagon and Britain Are Bracing for the Power to Go Out – Sydney Lake (Fortune, October 30, 2026).
What We Know About the Pentagon’s FORTRESS Initiative to Keep Military Bases Running Off-Grid – Laerke Christensen (Snopes, October 26, 2026).

See also the previous Wild Reeds posts:
• Choosing to Awaken
• “A Very Insightful and Constructive Discussion”
• Marianne Williamson on Staying Grounded Amidst the Chaos

October Vignettes

Hallowtide Musings

As Samhain approaches, we arrive at one of the most sacred turning points on the Wheel of the Year.

Long before Halloween became a celebration of costumes and candy, Samhain marked the end of the harvest and the beginning of winter. The fields had given what they could. The animals were brought in, food was stored, and families prepared for the long, dark months ahead.

It was also a time of remembrance. In ancient Gaelic tradition, this turning of the year was associated with the Otherworld, when the boundary between the living and the dead was believed to grow thin.

I find something beautiful in the way our ancestors understood these transitions. They lived close enough to the rhythms of the earth to recognize that darkness was not something to fear, but a necessary part of the cycle.

Samhain invites us to consider what we've gathered, what we've lost, and what we wish to carry forward. To honor those whose lives made our own possible, and to recognize that not everything is meant to flourish in every season.

There is wisdom in knowing when to harvest, when to release, and when to rest.

May this turning of the year find you grateful for what has sustained you and gentle with yourself about what must be left behind.

~ Ella
via Rebel Thriver
October 30, 2026

Samhain means “summer’s end” It is a gateway between the half-year of light and the half-year of dark. On this day the veil between the worlds thins. The lower astral realms walk close, ancestors visit, and spirit guidance comes through more easily. That’s why families set an empty place at the table for their departed. It’s also why people wore masks (dressed up): so wandering spirits wouldn’t recognise them.

The Church marked All Saints’ Day (November 1) and All Souls’ Day (November 2) right on top of Samhain, and Asia has the Hungry Ghost month. Across the world, humanity knows this season as the time to honour the dead. That isn’t coincidence. The gateway is real, and every tradition found it.

The true meaning of Samhain is death before rebirth. The harvest is in, the fields go bare, and nature lets go. It asks you to do the same: let the old self die so the new year can begin.

~ Jodi Childs
via Facebook
October 31, 2026

What if we brought reverence back into Halloween?

Learning about and teaching the roots of ancestral holidays that capitalism has twisted is a responsibility we owe to our children.

And not only to our children but to our earth – honoring ancestors.

Educate yourself. And start where you are curious. . . . If you have living relatives, who remember the stories of your people, go and record them! Trace your Roots.

Put out photos. Light candles. Speak to your ancestors. Place a small portion of your meal on an ancestor plate to feed them.

It doesn’t matter where you start. . . . Just start where you can, and the ritual will expand with each year.

Let’s raise a generation of children who know how to honor the ones that prayed for their lives.

~ Wakeful Nature
via Facebook
October 27, 2026

The dead are not distant or absent. They are alongside us. When we lose someone to death, we lose their physical image and presence, they slip out of visible form into invisible presence. This alteration of form is the reason we cannot see the dead. But because we cannot see them does not mean that they are not there. Transfigured into eternal form, the dead cannot reverse the journey and even for one second re-enter their old form to linger with us a while. Though they cannot reappear, they continue to be near us and part of the healing of grief is the refinement of our hearts whereby we come to sense their loving nearness. When we ourselves enter the eternal world and come to see our lives on earth in full view, we may be surprised at the immense assistance and support with which our departed loved ones have accompanied every moment of our lives. In their new, transfigured presence their compassion, understanding and love take on a divine depth, enabling them to become secret angels guiding and sheltering the unfolding of our destiny.

~ John O’Donohue
From Beauty: The Invisible Embrace
Harper Perennial (2005)

Make sure you do not let tonight pass without pausing. Samhain is the night the old year ends and the new one begins, and the veil between worlds is said to be at its thinnest. Make sure you step away from your phone. Make sure you light a candle. Make sure you sit in the quiet for a few minutes and let yourself feel how far you have come this year. Tonight is not about doing more. It is about stopping long enough to hear what your intuition has been trying to tell you.

Tonight, make sure you say out loud what you are leaving behind in the old year. Make sure you thank it. Then make sure you say what you are calling into the new one, clearly and without apologizing for wanting it.

Pay attention to the thoughts, signs, and dreams that arrive tonight, because they are not random.. And tomorrow, the 1/11/1 portal opens a fresh beginning, so make sure you go into it lighter.

Release tonight. Receive tomorrow.

Your new years starts in the dark, and it was always meant to. Trust.

~ The Spiritual Magic
via Facebook
October 31, 2026

Samhain is here . . . and darkness falls.

Traditionally, Samhain is a time of divination, of communicating with absent friends or the deepest parts of ourselves, the still silent waters in our spirits. . . . The water of Samhain is motionless, reflective, and we can look into its mirrored surface and see all the mysteries that lay beyond life. At Samhain, the past year finally slips away, and with one last breath we close our eyes . . . only to open them again at another time, another place, another life.

Water is usually associated with the west, the land of sunset, and Samhain is the moment when the sun’s last rays disappear behind the horizon and twilight drops its misty veil. We can look behind the veil and see things that were hidden by the light of day.

– Dianne Sylvan
Excerpted from The Circle Within”
Llewellyn Publications (2003)

Friday, October 30, 2026

The Quiet Art of Cultivating Stillness and Peace

The stillness of the
peace of God is mine.

– A Course in Miracles
Lesson 273

This time last week – Friday, October 23, I turned 61.

I took the day off work not only to mark my birthday but to attend my dear friend Brigid McDonald’s funeral. Later in the day I did some errands, put my car through a car wash, and visited the Prayer Tree. That night, my friends Noelle and John hosted a lovely dinner for me with our mutual friends Fred and Madeline.

All in all, it was a quiet birthday, which suited me just fine.

That’s because the “quiet art” of cultivating stillness is something that’s been an important focus in my spiritual life of late.

I’m thinking you’ll agree with me that there’s way too much noise, chaos, and uncertainty in the world right now, more so than usual these past few years. As a result, I’m feeling the need to be extra mindful of creating time and space to take that “sacred pause” so as to align myself with the “living light” both within and beyond me.

I’m reminded of how author Marianne Williamson writes that the cultivation of stillness is the best preparation for our response to the unsettledness and urgency of the times we’re living through. This is because the inner peace that results from our connection and alignment with God through stillness, builds “non-reactivity.” In other words, it keeps us calm and focused in the midst of upheaval, division and uncertainty. This non-reactivity is what I want to embody (and convey to others) in these troubling times.

Williamson also reminds us that the divinely-inspired and -infused inner peace we cultivate through times of intentional stillness, builds courage, insight and intuition. It deepens the mind and expands the heart. And through us – our thoughts and actions – this peace contributes (in ways known and unknown) to the building of a new world; a less selfish and fearful world, and a more loving and peaceful one.

I trust this to be the case, which is why I continue to engage in things that matter – including my work as a Palliative Care chaplain. I also continue to stay informed and involved as best I can in the political scene. But I do so from a place of inner groundedness and a certain loving detachment from the need to control each and every outcome. Because, more often than not, I can’t control outcomes; I can only open myself to being guided by the sacred source within to “show-up” in ways that extend the love, understanding, and peace of this same sacred source.

I’ve discovered that to both receive and extend the flow of transforming Love that is God, the sacred, the living light, the Beloved – whatever name we want to give it, I need to cultivate times of stillness and quiet.

As has been the tradition at The Wild Reed, I mark the occasion of my birthday this year by sharing a song that I find particularly meaningful; that speaks to where I’m at on my journey. This year, given everything I’ve just said about quietude and stillness being important aspects of my spiritual life and journey, I’m sharing “Quiet Art,” one of a number of stand-out tracks from Wendy Matthews’ 1992 album, Lily. I hope you find it as beautiful and meaningful as I do.

You show astounding grace
Among these dislocated souls
You’re not of this world
Where everything is bought and sold

I have tried but thankfully I’m flesh and soul
You’re just standing quiet
Another lost forgotten art
Either way you miss
For you are neither slave nor free
If you can stay with me
Talk about the things that you most want to be
The quiet art of standing still

Hold on tight
We can withstand the coldest hearts
Just a world weary smile
You feel there’s nothing left to give
I want to help you carry this
If silence is consent
Then I have nothing left to say
If you can stay with me
Talk about the things that you most want to be
Well, it’s not past you yet
It’s the quiet art of standing still

This must be a test
I pray you can find the strength
Like moments you regret
Nothing can be done they’re gone
Sleep come take me quick
To the quiet art of standing still

Try and touch the place
Where everything was broken
By all that you resist
You cannot make a deal with God
I want to help you carry this
If silence is consent
There’s nothing left I have to say
If you can stay with me
Talk about the things that you most want to be
Well, it hasn’t passed you yet
It’s the quiet art of standing still

~ “Quiet Art”
by M. Connor and Wendy Matthews
(from Wendy Matthews’ 1992 album Lily)

Beloved One, Your peace is mine.
What need have I to fear that anything can rob me of what
You would have me keep? I cannot lose Your gifts to me.
And so the peace You gave me is with me still,
in quietness and in my own eternal Love for You.

– A Course in Miracles
Excerpted from Lesson 273 (adapted)

Thursday, October 29, 2026

All Hallows Blessing

By Jan Richardson

We are coming up on a trio of days that I have loved for a long time: Halloween, the Feast of All Saints, and the Feast of All Souls. I am grateful for the thin place that these days hold, and for the ways they remind us how close the worlds always are, even when they feel horribly far apart.

At this time of year, I am thinking especially of those who have lost beloved ones since this time last year, and whose grief is new and raw. And I am thinking also of those who have carried their grief for a long time.

These days invite us into memory and hope – and sorrow and joy and, most of all, love. Wherever you are, whatever you are holding, may you be met with solace and mysterious grace. This blessing is for you. Every single day.

ALL HALLOWS BLESSING

Who live
in the spaces between
our breathing
in the corner
of our vision
in the hollows
of our bones
in the chambers
of our heart:
nowhere can they
be touched
yet still
how they move us
how they move
in us
made from the
tissue of memory
like the veil
between the worlds
that stirs at
the merest breath
this night
and then is
at rest.

~ Jan Richardson
From How the Stars
Get in Your Bones

See also the previous Wild Reed posts:
• Samhain: Reaffirming the Oneness of All Spirits
• Something to Think About – October 31, 2022
• Samhain: A Time of Magick and Mystery
• At Hallowtide, Pagan Thoughts on Restoring Our World and Our Souls
• Resilience and Hope
• Hallowtide Reflections
• An All Hallows Eve Reflection
• Halloween Thoughts
• A Hallowtide Reflection
• The Pagan Roots of All Saints Day
• Remembering the Beloved Dead
• “Call Upon Those You Love”
• Our Sacred Journey Continues: An All Saints and Souls Day Reflection
• An All Souls Day Reflection
• Advent: A “ChristoPagan” Perspective
• Magician Among the Spirits
• Holy Encounters Where Two Worlds Meet
• Balancing the Fire
• November Musings
• November Song
• Time to Go Inwards
• Anew

Opening image: Michael J. Bayly
Artwork: “A Gathering of Spirits” by Jan Richardson.

Wednesday, October 28, 2026

Walid Hakim: Green Party Candidate for South Carolina Governor

I recently posted about the Minnesota Green Party candidates who are running in the midterm elections. There are actually 159 Greens are on the ballot across the country, offering voters choices outside of the corporatist/oligarchic and imperialist two-party system.

All Green candidates run on progressive (and popular) issues such as single-payer healthcare, social housing, a Green New Deal, $25/hr minimum wage, and ranked choice voting and proportional representation. They run against environmental exploitation, endless war, and genocide. I find all of this very heartening. Perhaps you do too.

I spotlighted one of these Green candidates yesterday: Pāʻele Kiakona, who is running for Maui House Representative, District 14.

Today I highlight another Green candidate by sharing the following interview with Walid Hakim, Green Party candidate for SGovernor of South Carolina.

Related Off-site Links:
A Green Governor? – We the Palmetto (October 3, 2026).
Green Party Nominee Walid Hakim Talks South Carolina Governor’s Race – ABC-15 (November 3, 2026).
Michigan Third Party Candidates Speak Out – Sabrina Salvati (Sabby Sabs, November 1, 2026).

See also the previous Wild Reed posts:
• Pāʻele Kiakona: Maui’s Green Party Candidate
• “On to the General!”: The Green Party Candidates in Minnesota
• Campaigning With the Green Party of Minnesota
• With the Green Party at Twin Cities Pride
• MPR’s Major (But Unsurprising) Failure
• Andy Thomas Schuler: Quote of the Day – October 10, 2026
• Butch Ware on Why Third Parties Are Crucial
• Third Parties and the Historical Record
• Elise Labott on How Third Parties Can Revitalize Democracy
• Mickie Kato: Quote of the Day – October 21, 2026
• Damned If You Do, Damned If You Don’t
• “The Fascist Fist Is Tightening Because It Knows That It Is Losing Its Grasp on Us”
• Photo of the Day – March 3, 2026
• How the Green Party Gained Power in the U.K.
• “Green Wave 2026 is Global”
• Meet Some of the “People-Powered” Green Party Candidates for 2026
• “It Is Our Responsibility to Make a Third Party Viable”
• Something to Think About – December 8, 2024
• Jill Stein on the Importance of the Green Party
• “We Give Reasons for People to Come Out and Vote”
• Butch Ware on “Red & Blue vs Green Politics”
• Building Solidarity on the Left
• “The Moment Is Ripe”: Butch Ware on Building a “True Oppositional Alternative” to the Duopoly
• Butch Ware: “You Can Actually Vote Your Conscience”
• The “Green Smoothie” Option
• Politics 101
• When Democrats Undermine Democracy
• Something to Think About – August 15, 2024
• “Americans Deserve Choices”: Jill Stein on Breaking Points – 4/30/24
• Nick Cruse: “‘Vote Blue No Matter Who’ Is the Privileged Position”
• Howie Hawkins: “The Democrats Are Not the Answer to the Trump/Fascism Problem” (2020)
• “The Next Step Is a Green Step”: Cornel West Endorses Jill Stein (2016)
• Bernie Sanders and Jill Stein: Is a “Historic Collaboration” in the Making? (2016)
• Demolishing the False Narrative About Jill Stein and the 2016 Election
• Hope Over Fear: Voting Green

Tuesday, October 27, 2026

Pāʻele Kiakona: Maui’s Green Party Candidate

I’m heartened by the number of Green Party-endorsed candidates running for all kinds of offices throughout the United States in this year’s midterm elections.

Following are two pieces about Maui’s Green Party candidate, Pāʻele Kiakona, who not only has significant community support but the endorsement of all five of Hawaiʻi's largest labor unions – Hawaiʻi Government Employees Association (HGEA), ILWU Local 142, Hawaiʻi State Teachers Association (HSTA), United Public Workers (UPW), and UNITE HERE! Local 5.

These five organizations together represent nearly 96,000 workers across the state, marking an unprecedented level of labor support for a Green Party candidate in Hawaiʻi history.

________________

Aloha mai kākou!

My name is Pāʻele Kiakona and I am running as a Green Party candidate for Maui House Representative, District 14 (Lahaina, Maalaea, and Waiheʻe-Waiehu).

Many of you may recognize me from being on the front lines of the recovery and rebuild of our hometown. Together, we stood up a grassroots movement, activated the community and pushed for policy change to create a more balanced, safe home. However, my advocacy work started long before, where my family has showed what it means to be responsible stewards of this place.

My ‘ohana comes from Mala Village. Grandma always shares stories from pre-commercialization, when Honoapi’ilani highway used to be bush that she’d trek through to farm taro up mauka. Our family raised sow and fished the abundance of ‘opelu right in the front yard. Back then, they understood the relationship from mountain to sea and knew that we had a crucial role to play in giving back to what nourishes us. We look back at what was to shape what can be.

Iʻm running as House Representative to continue this path that my ʻohana has paved for me. I am passionate about protecting and preserving what is left of our home, honoring the rich history of this wahi, and finding solutions so that our people continue to remain here.

My campaign is focused on three things: opportunity for our communities, living in balance with ʻāina, and accountability in leadership. That means rebuilding Lahaina safely, making sure local families can afford to live here, and protecting the land and water that sustain Maui.

– Pāʻele Kiakona

For Pāʻele Kiakona, protecting water resources and the ʻāina is key.

“Environmental studies has been my major, my background,” he told Hawaiʻi Public Radio. “I grew up in the taro patch, and I’m born and raised in Lahaina. I feel like that is something that sets me apart. And I show up. I’m accountable, and I always put community first.”

He has worked as a community organizer, advocated to shift housing priorities to local ʻohana, and served on the Maui Board of Water Supply. “If you look at a lot of our issues, whether it be cost of living, whether it be resiliency, regreening Lahaina, all of these things are almost always related right back to the health of our environment.”

Kiakona believes his campaign’s momentum has been building.

“I’ve seen a lot of people in my generation get so much more involved, and a lot of them getting even more involved because they know that I’m running for office. I’ve seen people come out and sign-wave when they've never done so before. I have people, hundreds of people that I know personally that are voting for the first time because they believe in what’s happening here.”

Kiakona hopes the education and awareness he’s raised along the campaign trail will have wider-reaching impacts, regardless of next month’s results.

“Getting in is also the goal," he said. “But part of the goal was to educate community and show them I’ve been fighting every step of the way for this community. I’ve shown up to every single community meeting. We’ve had a lot of success just doing the work and not letting your typical politics get in the way of doing that work. If the community sees this person that they’ve seen for three years fight and had success take a different route and jump into a separate party of the two-party system, then at least, it is my hope.”

Kiakona doesn’t feel that the status quo has been working effectively.

“I just saw how it was very much so relationships that put people in hard situations where they may not, say, support a bill because of the relationship with the person who wrote the bill, and I just didn’t feel like that was the right way to go about it,” Kiakona said, explaining his decision to run under the Green Party, while also describing it as “a much harder route.”

District 14 includes Maʻalaea, Olowalu, Lahaina and Kaʻanapali.

– Catherine Cluett Pactolo
“Pāʻele Kiakona Is in an Unusual
3-Party Race for West Maui’s House Seat”
Hawaiʻi Public Radio
October 21, 2026

The following 15-minute video is from September 28, 2026, when Pāʻele Kiakona officially launched his general election campaign for Hawaiʻi State House District 14 at Hanakaʻōʻō, Canoe Beach in Lahaina. In 2023, a series of wildfires destroyed approximately 80% of Lahaina, resulting in the deaths of 102 people.

The Wild Reed

Wednesday, November 04, 2026

“Look for My Light in All Your Circumstances”

Tuesday, November 03, 2026

Something to Think About . . .

Monday, November 02, 2026

Quote of the Day

Sunday, November 01, 2026

Photo of the Day

Saturday, October 31, 2026

“It’s Very Clear That Something Is Brewing”

October Vignettes

Hallowtide Musings

Friday, October 30, 2026

The Quiet Art of Cultivating Stillness and Peace

Thursday, October 29, 2026

All Hallows Blessing

Wednesday, October 28, 2026

Walid Hakim: Green Party Candidate for South Carolina Governor

Tuesday, October 27, 2026

Pāʻele Kiakona: Maui’s Green Party Candidate

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