Our Influential Past

Back in the early 2000’s, I was a manager at a big music store. We sold these things called Compact Discs (CDs). You put them in a machine and they played music. It was amazing. One day this very nice “older” lady was buying a Frank Sinatra CD. She told me all about how at age 16, she and her girlfriends would go see Frankie at the Pantages in Hollywood. She told me, “every time Frank would move, we would scream. Oh, we were silly girls”. She then went on to tell me, “that’s what you do when you get old, you sit around and reminisce about when you were young.”

At the time I thought it was kind of quaint. These days I think, well you know…Whether it is good or bad, I seem to be at the place where I reflect back on things that have happened to me and the people that I have met along the way. So much for living in the present moment! 

I often think about Rev. Alan Sakamoto. He was at OCBC for a relatively short time, but he had a huge impact on me. One of the things that was cool about Rev. Alan was how he never planned anything for Wednesday night meditation and would pretty much wing it. One night on his way out he grabbed an avocado from his kitchen to show us. He cut it open and told us all about his love for the big seed inside. At the time, I thought “Why is he showing us an avocado? Why is he so excited about this?” Much later, I realized he was giving us some profound things to think about.

Sometimes he did take on a serious topic. There had been a mass shooting, and he talked about how when something like that happens, we get all excited and decide we are going to change the world. He told us that as great as that goal might be, it is probably not possible anytime soon. He said maybe we should just try to change our little corner of the world by simply being nice to people and watching it grow. Imagine if everyone did that. And if your goal is world peace, and you achieved it, then what would you do? I have borrowed that message several times in the last few years!

Rev. Alan had a rather rapier wit—a sarcastic man of wisdom and compassion. One night he was talking about how he really did not like being called a minister. He felt the word minister made it seem like you have some sort of secret knowledge that no one else has. He said that it was not true and pointed to different people in the room and said, “This person knows things I don’t know, and this person knows things I don’t know”. 

I inquired, “What about me”? He just looked at me and said, “No, not you”. Sometimes I would say something and he would look at me and say, “No, you’re wrong.” But what he was really doing was telling me to work harder. He was telling me I was capable of more than just showing up for Wednesday night social time. Yes, he would tease me and tell me I was wrong, but some nights everyone would leave, and we would just sit and have nice conversations.

Rev. Alan was not at OCBC very long, but when I told Rev. Harada I wanted to become a minister’s assistant, it was a direct result of the “personal Dharma” I received from Rev. Alan.  When OCBC had its 50th anniversary celebration, he was one of many visiting ministers. And like a kid, when the service was over and everyone went outside, I went outside in search of my teacher so I could tell him what I was now doing at OCBC.

We talk about being in the present moment, moving forward and not living in the past. But sometimes I think it’s good to reflect on the past and consider our interconnection with others. Let’s reflect with gratitude on those who have helped us on the path to where we are today.

Lastly, a big thanks to Rev. Jon for always listening to and answering my dumb questions!

In Gassho,
Matthew Stolz
Minister’s Assistant