President Eric B. Shumway of BYU-Hawaii, in a devotional on Thursday, October 28, shared a series of "snapshots and vignettes" of faculty and students who contributed to the legacy of the university.
"Today, I would like...to recall what can be identified as golden threads woven into the tapestry of our prophetic legacy," he said. "It is often the tiny snap shots of people, their personalities and faith and courage with which we resonate most deeply with gratitude and awe."
President Shumway began recounting the profiles and stories of several faculty members and students whose lives exemplify "the prophetic utterances as we see them unfolding in living realities" and demonstrate that "the hand of the Lord has been manifest among us in great mercy."
He told of Dr. Jerry Loveland, one of the founding faculty members of the Church College of Hawaii, who recently passed away.
"He was instrumental in founding the Polynesian Cultural Center," President Shumway said. "He did found the Institute for Polynesian Studies and launched the highly respected quarterly journal, Pacific Studies, which we still publish."
Loveland was also a man of spiritual strength and sensitivity, as demonstrated by experiences in the temple and an appearance of his late wife in his hour of need.
President Shumway continued with the life of Dr. David Chen, who fled communist China to Hong Kong, met LDS missionaries and joined the church. He later served a mission in Hong Kong, came to BYU-Hawaii as a student, earned his Ph.D. from the University of Utah and returned to BYU-Hawaii to teach.
"At his funeral, [Chen] was likened unto the apostle Nathaniel in whom Jesus said 'was no guile,'" said President Shumway. "He was 'greatness unaware of itself.' As the great Pharaoh of Egypt said unto his servants about Joseph, 'Can we find such an one as this is, a man in whom the spirit of God is?' Such was David Chen."
President Shumway also told of 'Ahoika Ha'unga, whose husband, Semisi, died as a result of a neck injury incurred in a pick up rugby game. As a widow and single parent of four children, she struggled to make ends meet.
One day she had no money for food after paying tithing and the monthly bills. When one of the children suggested that they use the tithing money for food, she declared, "It's His money. He may not need it, but we need to pay it back. It is our need, not God's, to pay tithing."
As a result of her faith and obedience, her husband's brother, who was not a member of the church, came to the hungry family with food after seeing his deceased brother in a dream.
Other individuals that President Shumway highlighted were Shen Leung Tsai, Brenda Law, Eric Anderson, Nephi Georgi, Lance Chase, Ronald Jackson, Michael Palmer, Jane Garside, Joseph Nichols, Bruce Bowen and Keith Jefferies.
President Shumway also praised the athletic programs for their "spiritual dimensions."
In 1992, eight worthy elders of the church on the basketball team blessed one of their team members, Barry Hardy, an African American and not a member of the Church, who was seriously injured in a game.
"There was almost instant improvement to the injury. Two weeks later Barry was back in his top form," President Shumway said. "Nothing is more indelible in my memory than the circle of worthy priesthood holders in love and harmony blessing a fallen companion of another race and another religion."
President Shumway went on to praise the university's "wonderful performing groups that are also sustained by a powerful spiritual force."
In a joint concert of BYU-Hawaii's Concert Choir, the Laie Choral Union and members of the Honolulu Symphony, President Shumway shared this experience as related to him by his wife, Carolyn:
"Carolyn mentioned to me several times that as they sang she heard strong beautiful voices, not the choir's, blending in, strengthening and magnifying," he said. "She saw no angels but she heard them. Certainly the impact was heavenly, for the choir was resonant, in tune, responsive to the orchestra."
President Shumway described all of these examples as miracles "in which there has been some intervention, some involvement, some outpouring of the spirit of God manifested in sincere love, kindness, mercy, love and joy."
He concluded his address with a challenge to the faculty, staff and students of the university to consider their own miracle.
"I would invite each of you to write your own 'Jubilee' journal," he said. "Fill it with remembrances of gratitude for the blessings and for the miracles of those special moments and those special people who have given solace and or strength to you."
Read or listen to President Shumway's full address.