It was real.
And when I read
“God get so plenny love an pity fo da peopo inside da world,”
I felt something crack open that the King James, with all its marble reverence, never touched.
A friend gave me Da Jesus Book when I lived in Maui – the entire New Testament translated into Hawaiian Pidgin – and I didn’t know whether to laugh or feel vaguely blasphemous for laughing. “In da beginning wen get notting, God wen make da sky an da earth” is how it starts, and suddenly the Word of God sounds like your Uncle Keala talking story on the lanai.
The thing is, it’s not a joke. It’s a real translation by actual scholars and theologians who wanted the Bible accessible to people who speak Pidgin as their heart language. But when Jesus tells his disciples “No worry, I goin make you guys da kine guys dat go fish fo people” – well, you’re going to smile. And maybe that’s the point? That the divine can meet you where you are, even if where you are is saying “da kine” and “yeah?”
I kept it on my rattan coffee table. The one facing the lanai where the trade winds came through at 4pm every single day. Mainland visitors would pick it up – confused, intrigued, a little nervous they were holding something sacrilegious.
“Is this real?”
You don’t need to have lived in Hawaii to want this on your coffee table. You just need to understand that sometimes the most sacred things sound like your friend talking story and stopping for shave ice after. Find it here. As an Amazon affiliate, we will receive a small commission ($1 – $2) if you decide to gon get won God book from da link.
Do I feel weird about finding spiritual comfort in a book where the Sermon on the Mount includes the phrase “bumbye God goin kokua you guys”? A little. But maybe that’s what happens when God actually speaks your language.
