Kahu counts his blessings

By Lee Cataluna
Advertiser Columnist

Kahu Saffery said it at least three times. In fact, it was his parting shot to me as he walked off: "Eh, no write too much good stuff about me, now." I said I wouldn't, but it's a hard promise to keep.

Samuel Makaneole Saffery is the kind of man who exudes a calmness, whether he's telling stories of being a kolohe kid or shaking his head at some of the troubles people bring to his door. He has a way of talking that makes you think he has all the answers. But he'd be mad if he knew you thought that about him. "I'm not God," he scolds. "I'm just a servant."

He became a servant late in life. His father was the kahu at Queen Lili'uokalani Protestant Church in Hale'iwa from 1940-71. It wasn't until 1982, after raising a family, retiring from the City and County, "living in the world" and losing his father to cancer, that Saffery fulfilled his father's wish by taking over the leadership of the historic church.

When Saffery first became a minister, he had 1,000 business cards made. He still has 975 left. "It's all word of mouth, how people find me."

They find him for blessings, weddings, prayer and good counsel. He's become something of a Kahu To The Stars, doing blessings for David Hasselhoff, Arnold Palmer, Lee Trevino and Chichi Rodrigues.

His days are filled with meetings, blessings, reading and preparing his Sunday sermons, though he confesses his sometimes ditches his prepared speech and goes with whatever is in his heart at the moment. "My sister and my wife, they give me signals from the pew to cut it short when I go too long," he jokes. He catches the bus from his home in Kalihi to get to Hale'iwa five times a week.

Saffery is a junior, and his line continues to a great-grandson named Samuel Makaneole Saffery V. The name "Makaneole," Kahu Saffery said, means "eyes always searching for the best things." "Come what may, always look on the good side," he reminds. He has been able to live up to his name.

Every morning after waking, Saffery and his wife, Vivian, reflect on the blessings of their lives. Every night before sleeping, they ask each other's forgiveness for any slight that may have happened during the day. They have been married 65 years.

The church just celebrated Saffery's 90th birthday, and of course, there was too much fanfare for his liking. He wants people to know the wisdom he imparts is not from him, only through him. He urges his church members to remember the source, in his life and in theirs. "People don't know how to be thankful. Everything we have, we think we did it all on our own."

And though he wants no credit to go to himself, Saffery stands as an example of a life well lived, a call answered, the gift of service. "It's not me," he says. "It's him."

Lee Cataluna's column runs Tuesdays, Fridays and Sundays. Reach her at 535-8172 or lcataluna@honoluluadvertiser.com