A road that ends in Paradise has no need of two-way bridges. Perhaps this answers the question of why the local government of Kauai has never invested in widening the spans that cross the rivers flowing below the waterfalls tumbling from its sheer, verdant mountain walls... if it is a question asked at all among the people who flip-flop around Hanalei Bay.
In any case, a comfortable etiquette has developed at the approaches to the bridges. Maybe one vehicle on one side will glide to a stop on one end of the bridge, to let one vehicle pass from the other end. Or maybe one vehicle will yield to a line of eight cars. Or maybe seven cars will yield to one. Nobody seems to care how it goes. There's no bridge rage here. Waiting feels good. The bridge is crossed in irregular reggae beats and hesitations. If there is a rhyme or a reason to it, it might be just this: make way for others, if you want to enjoy heaven on earth.
The mountains of Kauai, sculpted by the ceaseless rain at their summits, rise so dramatically above the surrounding warm waters of the Pacific that it is hard to feel anything but holy awe while gazing at them. The sight of them makes it easier to wait at one end of a one-lane bridge. But the message of Jesus, still ringing true two thousand years later, is that you don't have to fly across the ocean to find Paradise. Heaven is on earth not just in Hawaii, but in Iowa and Omaha and Ohio, too. It's in the crumbling brick tenements of Baltimore and in the grittiest neighborhoods of Los Angeles.
Jesus said "whoever would be great among you must be your servant." (Matthew 20:26) And he said "The kingdom of God is not coming with signs to be observed; nor will they say, `Lo, here it is!' or `There!' for behold, the kingdom of God is in the midst of you." (Luke 17: 20,21)
You don't need to cross a bridge to get there, much less book a flight on an airline. You can stay right where you are and create heaven on earth just by being patient and kind, savoring the joy of existing, and delighting in showing compassion to others who need it.
Because heaven is wherever people make way for others. It's wherever people wait and listen to folks who are in crisis. It's wherever a person stops and lets somebody else receive some needed caring attention. Heaven is where people enjoy stepping aside to let others take center stage for a while, to let others have access to privileges they might not often enjoy.
So to Jesus' parables, I add my own: The kingdom of heaven is like the one-way bridges of Hanalei Bay, where people stop and let others pass over with a smile, a wave, and a "mahalo"!
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(PS: A very special "mahalo" to Cynnie and Jerry, Diane and Jerry, Charlie and Vivian, Edna, and Jeff and Mandy for "making way" for Roberta and me to come and stay in Hawaii!)
