Comforting thought from Hawaii Five O

No one will be surprised to hear that I watch Hawaii Five 0. Nor will anyone who knows me be shocked to learn that after episodes I will frequently look up actors, just to learn a little more about them.

Today I watched “A Study in Rage.” A little over halfway through a character made a brief appearance. Of course, she supplied the last clue that led McGarrett to find the bad guy. I’d seen her before both in Hawaii Five 0 episodes as well as Magnum episodes. When the credits came on I saw her name, Josie Over. And I looked her up. Not much is known about Josie Over. Here is pretty much all I found:

Josie Over (1942–1992)
“Josie Over was a frequent guest on TV shows set in Hawaii. She was married to a Donald Over, himself a guest in a few “Hawaii Five-O” episodes. Neither did a lot of acting roles, though, so I don't know what their day jobs were.”

“She died Tuesday, March 24, 1992 at her home on the North Shore of Oahu. She was 49 years old and died of multiple myeloma. Her name was Josephine Nunez Over. Nunez was her maiden name. She had 3 sons and 8 daughters. Ethnically she was Filipino, Chinese, Portuguese and Spanish. She was cremated and her ashes scattered at sea.”

Another site reported that was also a pretty good Hawaiian hula dancer.

What struck me was, here was this person who had a life, friends, a husband, (lots of) children, and a brief moment of fame – she appeared in a few Hawaii Five 0 episodes. Because of her appearances on Hawaii Five 0 and Magnum etc we can find a little information about her on the internet. But just a little. Yet we nothing about her: Did she have a sense of humor? Did she laugh a lot? Was she sad? We don't know and now that she is gone, we will never know.

And that’s the point. The vast majority of us live our whole life in near anonymity and relative obscurity. Most of us only make the news when we are born and when we die. We have a life, we have friends, we have a job, we pay taxes, some of us marry, some of us have children, we buy a house, we buy a car, we take vacations - all kinds of life stuff. But no one knows who we are. A hundred years from now someone may come across our name in the county rolls, but it won’t mean anything because they won’t know who we were.

Does this mean I was depressed? Or that I am now as a result of thinking about this? No. It is true that in regard to the mass of humanity, I am easily lost and overlooked. We live in a fame crazy culture and I am an total unknown. But there is One who knows my name, who sees me all the time. Who says of me, “But the very hairs of your head are all numbered.”

He knows my name

He knows my every thought

He sees each tear that falls

And He hears me when I call *

Way back in 1981, a brother named Dallas Holm wrote a song, I Saw The Lord:

The place was white as snow

and pure as finest gold.

It had the look of new,

yet had the look of old.

I felt like I was home,

but felt so far away,

In fear I thought to leave,

but felt the urge to stay.

And then a silence fell

like none I'd ever known.

I stood among the millions,

I stood there all alone.

His face was like the sun,

His eyes were like the sea,

His voice was like the thunder

rolling through eternity.

And I saw the Lord

He was high and lifted up

and rightfully adored

And I saw the Lord

and He saw me

Yes, I live among millions of people and I am insignificant. Not only that, I try to fly under the radar. But there is One I cannot hide from – the Creator. He sees me. He knows me. He knows my heart. In the midst of all the people who have ever lived, and who are alive today, He see me and hears the cry of my heart! And in that Day, when I stand with a multitude too large to count, and see the Lord, I will not be lost in the crowd, for He will see me.

Isn’t it funny how a comforting thought can cross your mind even when you are looking up someone from a Hawaii Five 0 episode?

Psalm 139

* He Knows My Name by Tommy Walker