What Santa Does After Christmas?

So, is this how Santa(s) spends some down time?

Remember for 1/2 the world, this starts the summer season.

Merry Christmas.

Blessed Be,

Joel

Christmas Eve Service of Lesson, Readings and Carols

A re-posting from last year, it got such good reviews, here it is again.

Enjoy the Christ who comes to us as a Child.

Blessed Be

Rev. Joel

********

A Choir Service of Lessons, Carols & Readings:

A Vesper Service

Choir - Awake, Awake, A Joyous Noel

Opening Words / Welcome

"God laughed and brought forth Jesus. Jesus laughed and brought forth the Holy Spirit. All three laughed and brought forth us."  ~ Meister Eckhart

Tonight we celebrate the birth of the Christ Child - how God becomes vulnerable to us as an infant, a babe, needing our tender care and nurture and comfort. Tonight as we read Luke's account, we have interspersed readings and carols and choral anthems - sharing some of the ways that this event has inspired others. Tonight as we read and sing these words of inspiration, may our hearts be inspired to look for the Christ in one another and the world at large. May we leave with a new sense of what is important in the world, a new sense at how God is at work, calling us forth to join in with our own hands.

Lighting the 4th Advent Candle  ~ Tonight, Everyone is Displaced ~ Rev. Tom Schade

Tonight, everyone is displaced and homeless.
Tonight, everyone searches for Bethlehem.
On this night, when the darkness comes so close,
We listen, in the stillness, for the songs of angels.
Like shepherds, we aren't too sure of what is happening.
We don't know why we are so expectant.
We don't know why we long so deeply for miracles.
Tonight we pray that we might know the one we are seeking.
Tonight may we kneel like kings,
before that which is greater than any kingdom on earth.
Tonight, may we see the holy family that we are a part of.
And may we hear the music that reminds us of our truest home.

Carol - Joy to the World 

Reading ~ Luke: 1:26-35, 38

In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin's name was Mary. And he came to her and said, "Greetings, favored one! the Lord is with you." But she was much perplexed by his words and pondered what sort of greeting this might be. The angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And now, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his ancestor David. He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end." Mary said to the angel, "How can this be, since I am a virgin?" The angel said to her, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be holy; he will be called the Son of God. ..." Then Mary said, "Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word." Then the angel departed from her.

     ~ This Is No Time for a Child to be Born ~ Madeleine L'Engle

This is no time for a child to be born,
With the Earth betrayed by war and hate
And a comet slashing the sky to warn
That time runs out and the sun burns late. 

That was no time for a child to be born
In a land in the crushing grip of Rome
Honor and truth were trampled by scorn --
Yet here did the Saviour make his home. 

When is the time of love to be born?
The inn is full on planet earth,
And by a comet the sky is torn ---
Yet Love still takes the risk of birth.

Choir - The Angels

Carol - O Come, O Come Emmanuel

 Reading ~ Luke 2:1-7

In those days a decree went out from Emperor Augustus that all the world should be registered. This was the first registration and was taken while Quirinius was governor of Syria. All went to their own towns to be registered. Joseph also went from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to the city of David called Bethlehem, because he was descended from the house and family of David. He went to be registered with Mary, to whom he was engaged and who was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for her to deliver her child. And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in bands of cloth, and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.

     ~ The Maid-Servant At The Inn ~ Dorothy Parker

"It's queer," she said; "I see the light
As plain as I beheld it then,
All silver-like and calm and bright -
We've not had stars like that again! 

"And she was such a gentle thing
To birth a baby in the cold.
The barn was dark and frightening -
This new one's better than the old. 

"I mind my eyes were full of tears,
For I was young, quick distressed,
But she was less than me in years
That held a son against her breast. 

"I never saw a sweeter child -
The little one, the darling one! -
I mind, I told her, when he smiled
You'd know he was his mother's son. 

"It's queer that I should see them so -
The time they came to Bethlehem
Was more than thirty years ago;
I've prayed that all is well with them."

     ~ A Christmas Reflection ~ Thomas Merton

Into this world, this demented inn, in which there is absolutely no room for him at all, Christ has come uninvited. But because he cannot be at home in it, because he is out of place in it, and yet he must be in it, his place is with those others for whom there is no room. His place is with those who do not belong, who are rejected by power because they are regarded as weak, those who are discredited, who are denied the status of persons, tortured, exterminated. With those for whom there is no room, Christ is present in this world.

Choir - Behold That Star

Carol - On This Day Everywhere

Reading ~ Luke 2: 8-12

In that region there were shepherds living in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. Then an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid, for see - I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people: to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign for you: you will find a child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger."

     ~ Mother of God ~ William Butler Yeats

The threefold terror of love; a fallen flare
Through the hollow of an ear;
Wings beating about the room;
The terror of all terror that I bore
The Heavens in my womb.  

Had I not found content among the shows
Every common woman knows,
Chimney corner, garden walk,
Or rocky cistern where we tread the clothes
And gather all the talk? 

What is this flesh I purchased with my pains,
This fallen star my milk sustains,
This love that makes my heart's blood stop
Or strikes a Sudden chill into my bones
And bids my hair stand up?

Duet - Ave Maria

Reading ~ Luke 2:13-14

And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying,
"Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace among those whom God favors!"

     ~ Snow in Bethlehem ~ Maya Angelou

Thunder rumbles in the mountain passes
And lightning rattles the eaves of our houses.
Flood waters await us in our avenues. 

Snow falls upon snow, falls upon snow to avalanche
Over unprotected villages.
The sky slips low and grey and threatening.

We question ourselves.
What have we done to so affront nature?
We worry God.
Are you there? Are you there really?
Does the covenant you made with us still hold?

Into this climate of fear and apprehension, Christmas enters,
Streaming lights of joy, ringing bells of hope
And singing carols of forgiveness high up in the bright air.
The world is encouraged to come away from rancor,
Come the way of friendship.
It is the Glad Season.
Thunder ebbs to silence and lightning sleeps quietly in the corner.
Flood waters recede into memory.
Snow becomes a yielding cushion to aid us
As we make our way to higher ground.

Hope is born again in the faces of children
It rides on the shoulders of our aged as they walk into their sunsets.
hope spreads around the earth. Brightening all things,
Even hate which crouches breeding in dark corridors. 

In our joy, we think we hear a whisper.
At first it is too soft. They only half heard.
We listen carefully as it gathers strength.
We hear a sweetness.
The word is Peace.
It is louder now. It is louder.
Louder than the explosion of bombs.

We tremble at the sound. We are thrilled by its presence.
It is what we have hungered for.
Not just the absence of war. But, true Peace.
A harmony of spirit, a comfort of courtesies.
Security for our beloveds and their beloveds.

We clap hands and welcome the Peace of Christmas.
We beckon this good season to wait a while with us.
We, Baptist and Buddhist, Methodist and Muslim, say come.
Peace.

Come and fill us and our world with your majesty.
We, the Jew and the Jainist, the Catholic and the Confucian,
implore you to stay awhile with us
so we may learn by your shimmering light
how to look beyond complexion and see community.

It is Christmas time, a halting time of hate time.
On this platform of peace, we can create a language
to translate ourselves to ourselves and to each other.
At this Holy Instant, we celebrate the Birth of Jesus Christ

Into the great religions of the world.
We jubilate the precious advent of trust.
We shout with glorious tongues the coming of hope.
All the earth's tribes loosen their voices to celebrate the promise of
Peace.

We, Angels and Mortals, Believers and Nonbelievers,
Look heavenward and speak the word aloud.
Peace.

We look at each other, then into ourselves,
And we say without shyness or apology or hesitation:

Peace, My brother.
Peace, My sister.
Peace, My soul.

Choir - Carol for Advent

Carol - The First Noel

Choir - Lo How A Rose

Reading ~ Luke 2:15-20

When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, "Let us go now to Bethlehem and see this thing that has taken place, which the Lord has made known to us." So they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the child lying in the manger. When they saw this, they made known what had been told them about this child; and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds told them. But Mary treasured all these words and pondered them in her heart. The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.

     ~ The Moment of Magic ~ Victoria E. Safford

Now is the moment of magic,
when the whole, round earth turns again toward the sun,

and here's a blessing:
the days will be longer and brighter now,
even before the winter settles in to chill us.

Now is the moment of magic,
when people beaten down and broken,
with nothing left but misery and candles and their own clear voices,
kindle tiny lights and whisper secret music,

and here's a blessing:
the dark universe is suddenly illuminated by the lights of the menorah,
suddenly ablaze with the lights of the kinara,
and the whole world is glad and loud with winter singing.

Now is the moment of magic,
when an eastern star beckons the ignorant toward an unknown goal,

and here's a blessing:
they find nothing in the end but an ordinary baby,
born at midnight, born in poverty, and the baby's cry, like bells ringing,
makes people wonder as they wander through their lives,
what human love might really look like,
sound like,
feel like.

Now is the moment of magic,

and here's a blessing:
we already possess all the gifts we need;
we've already received our presents:
ears to hear music,
eyes to behold lights,
hands to build true peace on earth
and to hold each other tight in love.

Choir/Congregation - Hames um Bole / Silent Night

Closing Reading ~ The Work of Christmas ~ Howard Thurman

When the songs of angels is stilled,
When the star in the sky is gone,
When the kings and princes are home,
When the shepherds are back with their flock,
The work of Christmas begins:
     to find the lost,
     to heal the broken,
     to feed the hungry,
     to release the prisoner,
     to rebuild the nations,
     to bring peace among the brothers and sisters,
     to make music in the heart.

Benediction ~ Night Has Fallen ~ Rev. Tom Schade

Night has fallen.
Stars beckon in an indigo and velvet sky
Somewhere a baby is being born.
Tonight, the world lazes in a love of goodness
while glories stream from heaven afar
God is meeting us, tonight, where we are.
So be not afraid, and be of good cheer,
We wish you, each and all, Very Merry Christmas -
The hopes and fears of all the years have been met,
so Rest beside the winding road
and Hear the Angels Sing.

Choir - Alleluia Chaconne

Musical Monday: Leave Her, Johnny

Happy Christmas Eve.

Here's the last of these for Advent, a song of coming home and leaving ship.

Hope you have enjoyed these songs of the sea.

Blessings,

Joel

Leave her, Johnny

Oh the times was hard and the wages low
Leave her, Johnny, leave her
And the grub was bad and the gales did blow
And it's time for us to leave her

Leave her, Johnny, leave her
Oh, leave her, Johnny, leave her
For the voyage is done and the winds do blow
And it's time for us to leave her

I thought I heard the Old Man say
You can go ashore and take your pay

Oh her stern was foul and the voyage was long
The winds was bad and the gales was strong

And we'll leave her tight and we'll leave her trim
And heave the hungry packet in

Oh, leave her, Johnny, leave her with a grin
For there's many a worser we've sailed in

And now it's time to say goodbye
For the old pierhead's a-drawing nigh
(lyrics posted at Shanties and Sea Songs)

Theological Friday: Reflections for the 4th Sunday in Advent

Revised Common Lectionary readings for the 4th Sunday in Advent:

Micah 5:2-5a; Luke 1:46b-55 or Psalm 80:1-7; Hebrews 10:5-10; Luke 1:39-45, (46-55)

Here's a little apocalyptic weather humor for you (ala Facebook, of course):

On a more serious note, notice how Mary's Magnificat is "apocalyptic" in its own way?

"God's mercy is for those who fear God from generation to generation.
God has shown strength with God's arm, God has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts.
God has brought down the powerful from their thrones, and lifted up the lowly;
God has filled the hungry with good things, and sent the rich away empty.
God has helped God's servant Israel, in remembrance of God's mercy,
according to the promise God made to our ancestors, to Abraham and to his descendants forever." (Luke 1:50-55)

Mary proclaims a world turned on her head. Our expectations for what success means, for who has the power, for the way things really work on a cosmic level are turned up side down. And is that not apocalyptic in it's own right?

No wonder Mary (the Theotokos) is always presented to one side of the iconostasis (screen separating the nave from the sanctuary) in Orthodox churches. Mary Theotokos is often to just the left of the door to the sanctuary. She is a powerful prophetic figure herself: full of strength, courage, and the Spirit of God.

We could go on about how God just as often comes "under" our expectations as come "above" them. We might be expecting a new political leader to deliver us from turmoil, and God delivers us (with Mary's help) a child - who needs nurturing, compassion, and guidance.

One more point I want to mention regard Jesus' birth - although we're getting ahead of ourselves as far as the story goes. The other day, someone mentioned that Jesus' birth stories reminded him of stories about various Roman Emperors births. I strongly believe that Jesus' birth stories are to remind us of Roman Emperor birth stories. They are True in the sense that all stories share Truth, in that sense they work beyond a sense of fact. Rather, these birth stories start to ask us, "Who is the True Emperor, the True Ruler of the Cosmos?" The answer, I think we know.

Blessed Be,

Joel

Sustainable Wednesday: Examples

This week I present some examples of people who have chosen to live a simpler lifestyle for their own betterment, and the betterment of the world around them. Some of these examples might seem a bit extreme. I will readily admit that there are one or two here that I'm not willing to practice at this point in my life, if ever. However, as I have reflected upon these examples, I have learned something about myself, the culture I live within, and in some strange way been inspired by all of them. All of these examples also show a certain creative bent to look at the problems facing themselves as individuals and coming up with their own solutions to meet their own needs. These are also just people, like you and me. They are but some of many who are trying to create a lifestyle in which their beliefs match their actions. All of these examples having me examining my own life, and my own lifestyle choices.
That is my hope for you as well. Where are your cutting edges? Where and how are you putting your faith and beliefs into practice?

Blessed Be,

Joel

Examples:

These are in no particular order, although I have moved from a land based lifestyle to an ocean/sea based lifestyle (interspersed with one that is both).

Dr. Jackie Benton* is a doctor who is also a long time civil rights and peace activist. Due to her belief in healing, compassion, and peace, she does what she can to avoid paying war taxes. This has led her to living on a few acres in North Carolina. Here she practices permaculture on about 5 percent of her land. She lives in a 12 x 12 foot house with no electricity, running water, etc. According to North Carolina laws, anything larger than a 12 x 12 is taxed (the majority of which go towards war efforts). In the meantime, she works as a doctor at a nearby hospital, insisting that they only pay her $11,000 rather than the six figure income her experience would dictate. In this way she also avoids paying the "war taxes". Her goal is to live with the carbon footprint of a Bangladeshi.

• See William Powers. Twelve-by-Twelve: a One-Room Cabin Off the Grid & Beyond the American Dream. New World Library. 2010. This is mainly the story about the author's own journey. *Dr. J Benton asked Powers to change her name to help protect her privacy, which he did.

Erik Andrus is a Vermont farmer who is concerned about the sustainability of the food/agricultural system, in particular the resiliency of such systems. How to connect his farm with the lower Hudson River Valley? How did our ancestors do so? Will it still work for us? The Vermont Sail Freight Project is the result.  Andrus writes:

The Vermont Sail Freight Project originated out of our farm’s commitment to resilient food systems.  Producing food sustainably is not enough.  The other half is sustainable transport of goods to market and equitable exchange.  A good portion of the damage conventional agriculture does to society and the environment is through our overblown, corporation-dominated distribution systems.  The idea of a small, producer-owned craft sailing goods to market, perhaps even a distant market, is an alternative to this system, and one which has served our region well in the past.

They are currently still in process, but have linked up with the Willowell Foundation.

• Visit their blog to stay tuned with this project: http://vermontsailfreightproject.wordpress.com/

Teresa Carey quit her job in 2008, moved aboard her 27 foot boat with her cat. For two years she traveled up and down the eastern coast of the United States pursuing what simple living meant for her. She wrote about these experiences in her blog. Since that time, Teresa has gotten married, sold her boat, and put together a film "One Simple Question" (about two people's quest to find an iceberg).

• You can find out more about Teresa's journey at her Blog: Sailing, Simplicity and the Pursuit of Happiness and their movie at One Simple Question.

Daniel Suelo is the man who eventually quit money in 2000 by depositing his life-savings (all $30 of it) in a phone both walking away. His journey has been one of radical trust. Damien Nash, a good friend of Daniel's, writes a review for Amazon. I'll let you read Mark Sundeen's account to find out more about this remarkable man and how his life changed over time.

• Sundeen, Mark. The Man Who Quit Money. Riverhead Trade, 2012.

Anke Wagner and Dave Zeiger have lived aboard at least three flat bottomed boats in the Pacific Northwest (USA/Canada) and Alaska (where they now reside). The advantage flat bottomed boats is that they can dry out on tide flats. Here is how they answered a FAQ about financing their lifestyle:

Cheap seems to be a theme, with you — how do you finance your lifestyle?

     At present, the general theme is to invest the money we don’t earn in free time. Thousands of dollars not earned equals hundreds of hours free to do whatever we please.

On the demand side, we try to keep our overheads low. Enginelessness, wood fuel, bulk food buys and wild foods, minimal rent (occasionally at the dock in towns), dryout (vs. haulout), inherent exercise and "social distancing" (we’re seldom ill) all help. But, dost think because thou art virtuous, there shall be no cakes and ale (or wine, chocolate, DVD rental, pizza, etc.)? We travel once every three or four years to Europe (visiting Anke’s family and friends), which swallows a year’s budget with ease. Altogether, we’ve been averaging about $6,000 per year over twenty years (includes intermittent boat building). We keep thinking that’ll drop when the "last boat" is built and equipped.

Supply side, we are fortunate to have the AK Permanent Fund Dividend, which puts a variable, but always hefty wad into our pocket ($1000 to $1700 per person per year, depending on market conditions). The rest we make up with occasional odd-jobs (and/or a major one every ten years or so).

I’m working on designing boats for sale (www.triloboats.com) and writing a novel, along with several other hopeful generators of micro-streams of income. Our goals are to afford catastrophic health insurance and move toward establishing a cash/cache/capital financial basis.

Dave and Anke are concerned about sustainability, and try live a sustainable lifestyle. "In the long run, we hope to achieve about 90% subsistant lifestyle. We're trying to solve the starchy carb challenge (not much local bulk). The remaining 10% is composed of exotics, such as chocolate, coffee, eggs and cheeses, wine and spices."

• You can find a website about their previous two boats here: Zoon and Loon. The above quoted link brings you to their own website with their latest boat, or their blog.

Musical Monday: Strike the Bell

We continue with our Advent fun of posting some sea shanties. Enjoy this connection to those who have gone to sea before us. And in this case - be glad your not pumping, pumping, pumping and waiting for your watch to end so you can go below! In the meantime, lift a prayer for those at sea with the glass falling.

Blessed Be

Joel

Lyrics:

Strike the Bell - a pumping shanty

Aft on the poopdeck
  Walking about
There is the second mate
  So sturdy and so stout
What he is thinking of
  He only knows himself
Oh, we wish that he would hurry up
  And strike, strike the bell

Strike the bell, second mate
Let us go below
Look away to windward
You can see it's going to blow
Look at the glass
You can see that it is fell
We wish the you would hurry up
And strike, strike the bell

Down on the maindeck
  Working at the pumps
There is the larboard watch
  Ready for their bunks
Over to windward
  They see a great swell
They're wishing that the second mate
  Would strike, strike the bell

Aft at the wheel
  Poor Anderson stands
Grasping the spokes
  In his cold, mittened hands
Looking at the compass
  The coarse is clear as hell
He's wishing that the second mate
  Would strike, strike the bell

For'ad in the fo'c'sle head
  Keeping sharp lookout
There is Johnny standing
  Ready for to shout
"Lights' burning bright, sir
  And everything is well"
He's wishing that the second mate
  Would strike, strike the bell

Aft the quarterdeck
  The gallant captain stands
Looking to windward
  With his glasses in his hand
What he is thinking of
  We know very well
He's thinking more of shortening sail
  Than strike, strike the bell

Theological Friday: Reflections for the 3rd Sunday in Advent

The lectionary reading for the 3rd Sunday in Advent: Zephaniah 3:14-20; Isaiah 12:2-6 (Psalm); Philippians 4:4-7; Luke 3:7-18.

What shall we do?
Bear Fruit!
How?
Rejoice!
Sing!
Shout!
Give away.
Be content.
Share.

This weeks readings seem to be filled with actions, or with people wanting to know what action they should take.

I have long held that it is easier to "believe" than it is to "follow" or to "act," especially on that belief.

During this Holiday time we, as a culture, are reminded of those in need. We act in such ways to help them - to provide succor: giving trees; food baskets; and supporting our food, clothing, and homeless shelters. And we often do so with out any recognition - as a true gift. In that way we act like St. Nicholas. But what about the rest of the year?

How do these Sustainable Wednesdays encourage us to act?
Do they invite us into the Kingdom / Kin-dom of God? In what ways?

Again, the fiery John the Baptist reminds us that we are connected. And that while we wait for the one who will baptize us with fire, there are things to be done.

This is one of the reasons I placed the reflection about the global potluck as this week's Sustainable Wednesday reflection. What is enough? How much do we need? These are questions that you cannot answer for me, just as I cannot answer for you. Rather, each of us can point to examples of others who have reached a point of "enoughness." We can each remember times in our own lives in which we, even if briefly, reached "enoughness," too.

Next week's Sustainable Wednesday, I plan on highlighting some people who have been examples of living out a sustainable life-style. You can decide if they are reminders of the nearness of God's Kin-dom.

Blessed Be

Joel

Sustainable Wednesday: Potluck

We are in the midst of Advent, and in the midst of the secular Christmas holiday time* with holiday parties for the staff at work, for the neighborhood, for the volunteer associations we belong to, for the ... As some one once said, it may not be so important what we eat between Thanksgiving and Christmas, as it is what we eat between Christmas and Thanksgiving. Indeed, we are in the midst of celebrations and parties. Maybe this is why I find Jim Merkel's question phrased in the midst of an imaginary potluck so moving.

     Imagine you are at a potluck buffet and see that you are the first in line. How do you know how much to take? Imagine that this potluck spread includes not just food and water, but also the materials needed for shelter, clothing, healthcare and education. It all looks and smells so good and you are hungry. What will you heap on your plate? How much is enough to leave for your neighbors behind you in the line? Now extend this cornucopia to today's global economy, where the necessities for life come from around the world. Six billion people,** shoulder to shoulder, for a line that circles around the globe to Cairo, onto Hawaii over ocean bridges, then back, and around the globe again, 180 times more. With plates in hand, they too wait in line, hearty appetites in place. And along with them are giraffes and klipspringers, manatees and spiders, untold millions of species, millions of billions of unique beings, all with the same lusty appetites. And behind them, the soon-to-be-born children, cubs, and larvae.
     A harmonious feast just might be possible. But it requires a bit of restraint, or shall we say, a tamed appetite, as our plate becomes a shopping cart, becomes a pickup truck - filling our house, attic, basement, garage, and maybe even a rented storage unit with nature transformed into things. As we sit down for a good hearty meal with new friends and creatures from around the world, what is the level of equity that we would feel great about? At what level of inequity would be say, "Wait a minute, that's not fair"?***

What level of equity feels right? What level of inequity has us crying "Foul!"?

Merkel encourages us to live globally. "'Global Living' was defined as an equitable and harmonious lifestyle among not only the entire human population, but also among the estimated 7-25 million other species, and the countless unborn generations. When one practices global living, each of our daily actions improves the health of the whole - locally and globally. The ecological, social, political, and spiritual systems at all levels are then able to regenerate and flourish."***

Here's to the big questions in life.

Blessed Be

Joel


___________
* For the Christian Church calendar, the Christmas season starts with Christmas, runs the 12 days of Christmas (like the carol) and ends on Epiphany.
** As of 31 October 2011: the world population reached 7 billion. The Worldmeters gives a real time count of the worlds human population and facts about estimated population.
*** Jim Merkel. Radical Simplicity: small footprints on a finite Earth. New Society Publishers. 2003. 1st quote: p. 2-3. 2nd quote: p. 2.

Musical Monday: Whup Jamboree

We continue with our Advent fun of posting some sea shanties. Enjoy this connection to those who have gone to sea before us.

Blessed Be

Joel

Lyrics:

Whup Jamboree - trad cotton screwing shanty

Whup Jamboree, whup jamboree
Oh a long-tailed sailor man comin' up behind
Whup Jamboree, whup jamboree
Come an' get your oats me son

The pilot he looked out ahead
The hands on the cane and the heavin' of the lead
And the old man roared to wake the dead
Come and get your oats me son

Oh, now we see the lizzard light
Soon, me boys, we'll heave in sight
We'll soon be abreast of the Isle of Wight
Come and get your oats me son

Now when we get to the black wall dock
Those pretty young girls come out in flocks
With short-legged drawers and long-tailed frocks
Come and get your oats me son

Well, then we'll walk down limelight way
And all the girls will spend our pay
We'll not see more 'til another day
Come and get your oats me son

Theological Friday: Reflections for the 2nd Sunday in Advent

Revised Common Lectionary Readings for the Second Sunday in Advent:

Baruch 5:1-9 or Malachi 3:1-4; Luke 1:68-79 (in place of the Psalm); Philippians 1:3-11; Luke 3:1-6

Reflections:

Who do we listen to?
     Pop stars? Movie starts? Economists? Political pundits? Those who have come from the desert? Those to eat strange things, and dress bizarrely? And do we as a culture tend to listen to men more than women?

What does it take to be an expert?
     Eduction? Money? Experience?
          Experience at what?

The Desert, the Mountain Top, and the Sea are all places where theophanies take place. In the biblical world view, if one wanted a direct experience of God, of the Divine, of the Source of all, one went to the wilderness. Maybe it is why we need wildernesses today. Wildernesses remind us that we are not in control and that God can never be domesticated.

Here are three sea examples:

H.W. (Bill) Tilman

H.W. (Bill) Tilman climbed mountains (Himalayas) and then went to sea to climb mountains. (Does he count twice then: the sea and the mountain experiences?) Most of these climbs were done in the high latitudes (either south or north) with a small crew on a series of British pilot cutters, the most famous one being MISCHIEF.

Moitessier during the Long Way

Bernard Moitessier was the first to sail from Papeete, Tahiti to Alicante, Spain non-stop by way of Cape Horn with his wife, Francoise. Later, he became the only (as far as I know) person to sail 1 1/2 times around the world via the great capes, alone, and with out stopping: Leaving Plymouth, England and eventually arriving in Papeete, Tahiti.

Capi Blanchet

M. Wylie "Capi" Blanchet is another example who traveled into the British Columbia, Canada wilderness as a single mother with her 5 children aboard their 25 foot motorboat CAPRICE starting in the 1920's. Their adventures are wonderfully told in The Curve of Time. To my thinking, Capi's accomplishments are just as wonderful as these other two's.












Did anyone every listen to what these folks coming from the wilderness might have to say? Perhaps momentarily. Moitesier caught the public's imagination, only to be soon forgotten, but mainly for his refusal to finish the race. All three wrote and as authors kept an audience, but manly in their specialty area (sailing, cruising, mountaineering).

There is a wildness about John.
Is that what causes people to listen to him? Something about the inner fire that burns so fiercely catches the public's attention?
Or is it that he, himself, is listening?

Who do we listen, too?

Where is the Spirit calling us?

Blessed Be

Joel

Feast of St Nicholas - 2012

National Museum of Medieval History, Korca Albania

Happy Feast of St Nicholas to you.Did you find anything in your shoes this morning? If you left them outside where we are, you'd have found water. Nothing like more rain.

On this Feast Day of the patron saint of sailors and voyagers, children and marriageable maidens, paupers, and others,  you might think about ways you can secretly help out others, following in his example. The St. Nicholas Center has lots of history and resources. If nothing else, the sailing community has always been a friendly compassionate bunch who helps one another out. I've been on the receiving end, and I continue to try and pay it forward, too. Hmmm, what to do this year?

So here's to Saint Nicholas!

May Saint Nick be at your tiller!

Blessed Be,

Joel

Sustainable Wednesday: Water Issues

The Saturday after Thanksgiving I had the blessing of baptizing Sarah. As has long been my tradition, I return the holy water to the earth as a blessing. When possible, I like to involve any older siblings, cousins or even just other children witnessing the event. Part of my hope is that by participating in the blessing of the earth with the holy water, they will remember the baptism and their involvement with in it. Part of my hope, is that these children through this ritual act will grow into people who continue to bless, as they are blessed by, the wonderful globe we all live upon.
As we were near a river, I asked the four year-old brother and six year-old cousin if they would like to help me. When asked if they knew about the water cycle, both of them nodded their heads, explaining that water came from clouds, into rivers and into our drinking water. Great. I took the opportunity to explain that "this river went out to the sea, where the water cycled and eventually evaporated forming clouds that rolled into the land. When the clouds hit the mountains, the clouds rained, forming streams that flowed into rivers and down to the sea again. So when we pour this holy water into the river, we will bless the entire process, and in tern participate in blessing the world." Both were excited to participate and very carefully poured the holy water into the river.
They watched the river current and noticed a floating pumpkin. "Hey there's a pumpkin!" The pumpkin had all their attention now: wondering what would happen to it? How long would it continue to float?
But for a moment I had their complete attention!

At Rio+20 United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (June 20-22, 2012) UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon mentioned that there are not 1.5 billion more people in the world today than in 1992, and we will need 50% more food and 45% more energy in 2030.

Food is closely connected to water. 92% of humanities water footprint is agriculture.* How does this break down? The chart at the right gives the amount of water needed per food source. Water needed is "defined as the total volume of fresh water used to produce each item:" in terms of animal production this means the volume of water used for feeding, drinking and maintenance.

I don't know about you, but I suddenly wonder what this all means about my food choices. As Nancy Shute writes: "Many farmers already struggle to get enough water for their crops. Foods like beef, which people crave as they become more affluent, take far more water to produce than fish or plants. Water-efficient techniques like drip irrigation, conservation tillage, and mulching help make the most of a dwindling resource. New, less thirsty varieties of crops will help too. But ultimately we will have to learn to sip where we once gulped."*

If nothing else, it reminds me to be thankful, gracious and gentle with water.

Blessed Be

Joel
___
*Shute, Nancy. "Next: Future of Food: Precious Water" National Geographic Magazine. September 2012. page 26.

Musical Monday: Goodbye, Fare Thee Well

For Advent, I thought I would add something on the fun side ... some sea shanties. Enjoy the music and the fun lyrics, as we remember those who have gone to sea before us.

Blessings,

Joel

A note on the lyrics:
First note that The Exmouth Shantymen sing this slightly differently than the two lyric choices below. As pulling the anchor up might take quite a bit of time and is dependent upon how much scope would be out, there are countless verses to this shanty. It's no wonder that the Exmouth Shantymen sing a different variation. Please see additional notes below the lyrics.

Louis Killen sings Goodbye Fare Thee Well

Oh, we're homeward bound to Liverpool town,
    Goodbye fare the well, goodbye fare the well,
Well them Liverpool judies they are welcome down,
    Hurrah, me boys, we're homeward bound!

Them gals there on Lime Street we soon hope to meet,
And soon we'll be a-rolling both sides of the street.

We'll meet those fly girls and we'll ring the old bell,
With them judies we'll meet there we'll raise bloody hell.

Then I'll tell me old women when I gets back home,
The gals there on Lime Street won't leave me alone.

We're homeward bound, to the gals of the town,
So stamp up, me bullies, and heave it around.

Oh, we're homeward bound, we'll have yiz to know,
And over the water to Liverpool we'll go.

Waterson:Carthy sing Goodbye Fare You Well

Our anchor we'll weigh and our sails we will set,
    Goodbye fare you well, goodbye fare you well,
Our friends we are leaving, we leave with regret,
    Hurrah, me boys, we're homeward bound!

We're homeward bound, oh joyful sound,
Come ready the capstan and turn quick around.

We're homeward bound, we have you know,
And over the water to England must go.

We're homeward bound to Liverpool town,
The boys and the girls to the pier flock down.

Oh, then one to the other you hear them all say,
Here comes I and Jacky with eighteen month's pay.

So heave with a will and heave long and strong,
And sing a good chorus for it's a good song.

So, it's now we come home from the far foreign lands,
Where the bottom's all fishes and fine yellow sand.

And the fishes all sing as they swim to and fro,
She's a Liverpool packet, oh Lord, let her go.

So tell my old mother that I get back home,
The girls upon Lime Street won't leave me alone.

The above verses are found on the link above. That webpage also has the following comments regarding this shanty.

Louis Killen and chorus sang this fine capstan shanty accompanied by Dave Swarbrick on fiddle in 1964 on the Topic anthology Farewell Nancy: Sea Songs and Shanties. This album was reissued with bonus tracks in 1993 as the CD Blow the Man Down: A Collection of Sea Songs and Shanties. A.L. Lloyd commented on the album's liner notes:

Traditionally, this one was sung at the capstan when the anchor was raised for the homeward run, a big moment for men who might have been away for a year or more. W.M. Doerflinger says that when the shantyman led the gang in this song, “cheering from other vessels in port rang across the water to wish the homeward-bounders luck.” There are countless verses to this song. Those sung here are mostly from Stan Hugill's Shanties from the Seven Seas.

Waterson:Carthy sang the less raunchy verses of Goodbye Fare You Well with Eliza in lead on their fifth album, Fishes & Fine Yellow Sand. This track was also included on the anthology Evolving Tradition 4. The original album's notes commented:

The album is topped and tailed by Goodbye Fare You Well and Twenty-One Years on Dartmoor. Liza put the former together from the mountain of verses to be found in Stan Hugill's master collection Shanties from the Seven Seas and had to leave out some beautiful verses otherwise we would have been at it all night. It's the one song on this CD which has no baddies in it and instead has singing fishes. Who needs Walt bloody Disney I say. (OK, Finding Nemo was fun).

Theological Friday: Reflections for the 1st Sunday in Advent

Lectionary Readings for 1st Sunday in Advent: Jeremiah 33:14-16; Psalm 25:1-10; 1 Thessalonians 3:9-13; Luke 21:25-36.

The following is not so much a sermon as just thoughts on the first Sunday in Advent and Advent in general. This is more how I start to think about sermons, the kinds of things that run through my mind during my sermon preparations, than an actual sermon.

Advent is the time of preparing, "Preparing the way of the Lord," but not just in terms of Christ's birth - which is the surprise. We just happen to know the surprise, like knowing what's in the present under the Christmas tree. Advent is as much about the coming Kingdom of God, as it is Christ's coming (birth and 2nd coming).
We live between the times: the Now and the Not Yet. I'm influenced here by J. Paul Sampley's work on understanding Paul's theology. Christ ushered in the Kingdom of God with his birth, but the old "worldly kingdom" has yet to pass away. We then live (as Augustine would say) between the two kingdoms.
I think these readings remind us of that, especially the one from Luke foretelling the ending of the Kingdom of this world.

By the way, I'm intentionally using "Kingdom" rather than "Kin-dom." I wish there were a more gender neutral term for the political connotations of Kingdom, but I'm not so sure there is in the English language. But I do believe politics is at play.

We are invited to work for Christ's/God's Kingdom. The Kingdom is near, it is at hand. How do we participate with in it, to help bring it about here and now? At the same time, which kingdom do we serve, participate in?

I strongly believe that Jesus provides a way - although it is a very hard way to follow. There are days I'm not so sure I'm up for it.

This being the Sunday following Thanksgiving and Black Friday and Cyber Monday - do we take time to be thankful for the examples of ways to follow the gospel? Who among us are intentionally living with less that other might live with more (and thus gifting the world)? How does sustainably harvesting fish, for instance, fit into the Kingdom?

"Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as in heaven ..."

May it be so.

Blessed Be,

Joel

Sustainable Wedesday: Overfishing

The December 2012 issue of Cruising World* is a "green" edition: meaning it is full of "green" things and information about the cruising / sailing life. Included is an interview / article by Paul Greenberg of Four Fish fame. The article "Overfishing: What Sailors Should Know" (20-22) includes the following questions by Crusing World (I'm purposely only giving you the questions to perk your curiousity):

"CW: Let's start with the word overfishing. A lot of us don't really know what it is. What is overfishing?"

"CW: How do you stop overfishing?"

"CW: Then does it really matter which fish we eat?"

"CW: Does that mean that you're against farmed fish?"

"CW: Speaking of local ports, if I own a sailboat, what can I do in my home port to help fish populations?"

"CW: So we should eat a lot more farmed oysters and mussels?"

     By the way, I learned something new with Greenberg's answer. I didn't realize that "mussells actually have massive amounts of heart-healthy omega-3 fatty acids - nearly as much as salmon." I wonder how many mussells one has to eat, however, to compair with a serving of salmon.

"CW: Is there anything we can do differently to help the ocean?"

"CW: But is it still OK for me to throw out a line while under sail and catch fish for dinner?"

"CW: With overfishing, global warming, ocean acidification, energy and mineral mining of the ocean floor - is the ocean doomed?"

And what are Paul Greenberg's Dos and Don'ts about eating and fishing? From the side bar (21):

Dos

- Buy seafood from small-scale fishermen who use gear that does not harm the bottom and that doesn't kill untargeted species.

- Find a community-supported fishery near you. Start your CSF search with the Northwest Altantic Marine Alliance (namanet.org/csf) and Local Catch (www.localcatch.org).

- If you eat farmed fish, choose Arctic char and barramundi.

- Cooperate with shellfish farmers in coastal waters near you.

- Eat more farmed oysters and mussels.

- If you're sailing in state-regulated waters, check first with state fish-and-game authorities so you know the regulations. When in federal waters, be suer toe check the federal regulations.

- When you fish, make use of barbless and circle hooks.

Don'ts

- Don't dump raw sewage overboard. It contributes to an overabundance of nutrients, and this eoxgenated the marine enviornment.

- If you're fishing from your boat, don't use treble hooks.

- If you have a choice between a motor and a sail, sail.

Blessed Be,

Joel

___
* I thought this article and issue would be on-line, as the magazine is in the library. But apparently, it's not quite up yet. We'll have to wait for the links.

Musical Monday: Heave Away Me Johnny

For Advent, I thought I would add something on the fun side ... some sea shanties. Enjoy the music and the fun lyrics, as we remember those who have gone to sea before us.

Blessings,

Joel

Louis Killen leading

Heave Away Me Johnny
There's some that's bound for New York town
  and some that's bound for France
    Heave away me Johnny, heave away
And some that's bound for the Bengal Bay
  To teach them whales to dance
    Heave away me Johnny boy, we're all bound to go

The pilot he is awaiting for
  The turning of the tide
    Heave away me Johnny, heave away
And then me boys we'll be gone again
  With the good and westerly wind
    Heave away me Johnny boy, we're all bound to go

Farewell to you, you Kingston girls
  Farewell St Andrews dock
    Heave away me Johnny, heave away
If ever we'll return again
  We'll make your cradles rock
    Heave away me Johnny boy, we're all bound to go

Come all you hard working sailor lads
  Who round the cape of storm
    Heave away me Johnny, heave away
Be sure your boots and oilskins on
  Or you'll wish you never was born
    Heave away me Johnny boy, we're all bound to go

There's some that's bound for New York town
  and some that's bound for France
    Heave away me Johnny, heave away
And some that's bound for the Bengal Bay
  To teach them whales to dance
    Heave away me Johnny boy, we're all bound to go
(Lyrics found here)

Art and Religion

As I was listening to the radio this week, I was made aware of this story about Charlie Chaplin and Sergei Rachmaninoff and their discussion about art and religion.

I remember [Vladimir] Horowitz, the pianist... Just before the war [World War II] I dined at his house with his wife, the daughter of Toscanini. Rachmaninoff and Barbirolli were there... It was an intimate dinner, just five of us.
It seems that each time art is discussed I have a different explanation of it. Why not? That evening I said that art was an additional emotion applied to skillful technique. Someone brought the topic round to religion and I confessed I was not a believer. Rachmaninoff quickly interposed: "But how can you have art without religion?"
I was stumped for a moment. "I don't think we are talking about the same thing," I said. "My concept of religion is a belief in a dogma--that art is a feeling more than a belief."
"So is religion," he answered. After that I shut up.
     ~  Charlie Chaplin, My Autobiography, (pages 395-397)

  It got me thinking about the creative process. In this week of celebrating Thanksgiving in the United States (22 November this year) we speak a lot of gratitude, of feelings of thanksgiving. With such "a feeling more than a belief" how are you creating art with your life?

Blessed Be

Joel

A Prayer for People Who Journey as Vessels

It has been raining here for what seems like 40 days and 40 nights. And when the tide is up, it does seem as if we are floating upon the world. So, when I stumbled across this prayer in the United Methodist Book of Worship I found it all the more seemingly appropriate.

May the waters falling from heaven help to fill your wellsprings of hope and healing, of creation and prophecy, of caring and prayer.

Blessed Be,

Joel

We are a people who journey as vessels containing wellsprings of hope;
sharing, replacing, and adding new waters
     of proclamation, power, prophecy, and prayer
          to the containers of our life and faith.
We pause and reflect on the movement of the tide in theis journey,
     as it washes upon our shores,
     cleansing and calling us back to ministry and faith.

The people are invited to stand where they are and share their prayers after each invitation is given.

O Creator God, let the waters of your womb heal.

Let us pray for our global community ...
Let us pray for the bent-overness of our lives and world ...
Let us pray for those living in the midst of violence ...
Let us pray for those living in poverty ...
Let us pray for the effort of peace ...
Let us pray to trust the validity of our experience ...
Let us pray for the call within
     by the One who creates in us wellsprings of hope ...

O Creator God, may the waters that covered us at our birth 
     once again remind us of our creation in you.
Remind us that we are vessels of the waters of hope
     and that your outpourings have power to heal
          and make whole our bruised world.
Let the living waters of creation, womb, baptism, and Spirit
     encircle us that we may remember we are yours and be thankful.

** (Elizabeth Lopez Spence, USA 20th Cent. Alt., United Methodist Book of Worship, 527)

Cosmic Address & Gratitude

Do you know your/our "cosmic" address?
Fairly amazing, to think of ourselves in our proper perspective. Too often, how many of us tend to think of ourselves at the center of the universe. Yet, we can still pray with the Psalms, with awe and gratitude.

Blessed Be

Joel

               Psalm 8:3-5

When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers,
     the moon and the stars which you have established;
what are human beings that you are mindful of them,
     and mortals that you care for them?
Yet you have made them little less than God,
     and crowned them with glory and honor.

All Saints Day, 2012

Happy All Saints Day. Hope you are finding time to think about those who have impacted your life of faith. Upon reflection, do you realize that some of these "saints" may not even be from your own religious tradition? Isn't it interesting how the Spirit works.

Blessed Be

Joel

SAINT SHINRAN

When I walk my dog at night, the route on the way home takes me past a Buddhist temple with a terrace on which stands a huge statue of Saint Shinran Shunin, a Buddhist saint of the twelfth century. This particular statue was in Hiroshima when the bomb fell, and was sent to the Buddhists in New York as a symbol of forgiveness and hope. Each night as my dog and I walk by the great statue, the huge bulk of metal wearing a patina I have never seen on another statue, I say, "Good night, Saint Shinran. Forgive us, and help us." and for me, at this moment, Saint Shinran is one of God's angels. Am I worshiping a pagan saint? A life-less hunk of metal? No! It is an attitude of heart, a part of turning to Christ.
     I rejoice to read in William Johnston's The Inner Eye of Love that Saint Shinran rebelled against legalism and proclaimed "the pre-eminence of faith and grace," and that "he has been frequently compared to Luther."

Madeleine L'Engle. Glimpses of Grace: Daily Thoughts and Reflections. Ed Carole F. Chase. HarperSanFrancisco, 1996. 290.

An All Saints Day Service: All Saints/All Souls, 2011

Hurricane Sandy

Our prayers go out to you who are preparing for any tropical storm, remembering especially those on the Eastern Seaboard of the United States and Canada as Hurricane Sandy merges with other seasonal storms fronts.

Is the Grass Really Greener Back There, From Which We Came?

While visiting parishioners in central Idaho one day, I drove around a corner and there were five cows munching grass through a fence. All five of them had their heads stuck through the fence and were enjoying the grass on the other side. It must have been greener. But one cow was actually outside the pasture. Her head still stuck between the rails, chomping grass from the pasture.

How many of us make decisions and change of live patterns only to later reflect back ... if only ...?

This fall / autumn, the leaves have been fantastic! So here is a fall / autumn poem from Robert Frost for you. The paths we take make all the difference, although at the time, they may look quite the same.

Blessed Be

Joel

1. The Road Not Taken  

TWO roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;	5
Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,	10
And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.	15
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.	20

Robert Frost (1874–1963). 
Frost, Robert. Mountain Interval. New York: Henry Holt and Company, 1920; Bartleby.com, 1999. www.bartleby.com/119/. [Date of Printout]. The Road Not Taken

The Universe is God's - Madeleine L'Engle

The Universe is God's

A while ago when I was at Berea College in Kentucky I was asked the usual earnest questions about creationism vs. evolution.
   I laughed and said that I really couldn't get very excited about it. The only question worth asking is whether or not the universe is God's. If the answer is YES! then why get so excited about how? The important thing is that we are God's, created in love. And what about those seven days? In whose time are they? Eastern Standard Time? My daughter in San Francisco lives in a time zone three hours earlier than mine. In Australia, what time is it? Did God create in human time? Solar time? Galactic time? What about God's time? What matter if the first day took a few billennia in our time, and the second day a few billennia more?
   I told the student at Berea that some form of evolution seems consistent with our present knowledge, and that I didn't think that God put the fossil skeletons of fish in the mountains of Nepal to test our faith, as some creationists teach. But if I should find out tomorrow that God's method of creation was something quite different from either creationism or evolution, that would in no way shake my faith, because that is not where my faith is centered.

****
Madeleine L'Engle. Glimpses of Grace: Daily Thoughts and Reflections. HarperSanFrancisco: 1996. 282-3.

Fishing Prayer - Ghana

Upon seeing the commercial boats plying the waters, and the recreational fisher folk playing the shores, here is a prayer for your fishermen.

Blessed Be

Joel

Lord I sing your praise
the whole day through, until the night.
Dad’s nets are filled; I have helped him.
We have drawn them in, stamping the rhythm with
our feet,
the muscles tense.
We have sung your praise.

On the beach there were our mammies,
who brought the blessings out of the nets,
out of the nets and into their basins.
They rushed to the market, returned and bought again.
Lord, what a blessing is the sea, with fish in plenty.
Lord, that is the story of your grace:
nets tear, and we succumb because we can not hold
them.

Lord, with your praise we drop off to sleep.
Carry us through the night.
Make us fresh for the morning.
Hallelujah for the day!
And blessing for the night!
Amen
Ghana traditional prayer

**********
I found this prayer a while back, and in looking for a reference, I now can't find one. Apparently it comes from a book of African Prayers by Desmond Tutu, but looks like it also maybe found in the Oxford Book of Prayer. I'm not sure of it's original source.

Timeless Energy

This past week we celebrated the life of my wife's 94 year old grandmother. As I got to thinking about her life, about all the things she has seen through her years, and all the changes that have happened on a technological level: be they the automobile or medicine; advances in science or communication. In many ways, when she was born she had more in common with the 18th century than the end of the 20th and start of the 21st. Wow.

And yet, some of this technology is still available, as it was 94 years ago. The energy propelled people around the world is still here. Yes, I'm talking about the wind and currents and sailing.

If you click on the map above, it will give you a near current (updated hourly) image of the wind blowing across the United States, curtsy of the  National Digital Forecast Database.

Or what about those currents that effect the climates of the earth and have helped (and hindered) exploration all these years? These images below come from NASA's Visualization Explorer for the iPad Story - "Perpetual Ocean". Quite fascinating imagery!

The Gulf Stream

Clicking on the link above will allow you to see the full twenty minute video, but here's a 3 minute teaser below.

Blessed Be,

Joel


............................
Thanks to The Horse's Mouth for blow and Those Big Wheels Keep Spinning. Videos of Ocean Currents: "Perpetual Ocean."

Is Bigger Better? Housing/Boat Size Trends

House size graph, courtesy Cascadia Green Building Council

In reading a friends YES magazine, I ran across the following article (Doug Pibel, "Think Small: A New Housing Model"July 24, 2012) asking if big houses are really the way to go. Looking at the house size graph we can see that by 2008 the square foot per person (961.5) is just shy of the home size in 1950 (983). The article asks if we really want to return to the 2008 sizes of homes, or if our nation and environment might better benefit from a return to 1950 sizes?

The same trend in happening in boats. I remember being fascinated at Lyn and Larry Pardey's graph at the back of Cruising in Seraffyn in which they point out that the average cruising boat for long term cruisers was 28 feet long. Post World War II there used to be lots of really good cruising designs in the 22 - 28 foot ranges, especially in the British Isles. Those days seem to have disappeared. If our marina is any indication, there are more 44 foot slips than there are any others. Only one dock's worth (both sides - or in this case, one side of two different docks) are 34 foot slips.

It is the end of the sailing season here. People are about getting their boats put away for the winter - although some will still get out from time to time. So now most of these boats sit, waiting ... Yet, I still think of the maintenance costs (not just in money, but in time, too) that larger boats/houses take. And I wonder ...

Are we really any better off?

A Life Afloat Builds Compassion

On our boat, we have found that by living simply and striving to simplify our lives, we become changed people. In seminaries, professors of worship mention that liturgy shapes people. How worship is done impacts those worshiping. So, too, do the ways we live our lives.

One of the ways that living afloat as changed us, is that it has brought us more in harmony with the natural world around us. At the same time, we are encouraged to continue striving to be more in harmony with the world around us. Not only the natural world, filled with creatures great and microscopic, but also the world of people and institutions. We find ourselves trying to be more justice oriented in our life style.

When I read the following quote on our summer cruise, I was struck by how we (and you?) are striving for a fuller holistic lifestyle, a life style of compassion.

Blessed Be,

Joel

From the Introduction:

     In acquiescing in compassion's exile, are are surrendering the fullness of nature and of human nature, for we, like all creatures in the cosmos, are compassionate creatures. All persons are compassionate at least potentially. What we all share today is that we are victims of compassion's exile. The difference between persons and groups of persons is not that some are victims and some are not: we are all victims and all dying from lack of compassion; we are all surrendering our humanity together. The difference is in how persons react to this fact of compassion's exile and our victimization. Some persons react by joining the forces that continue the exile of compassion and joining them with a single mindedness and tenacity that guarantees still more violence, still more of compassion's exile; other react by despair and cynicism - drink, eat and be happy for tomorrow we exterminate ourselves; still others react with what Ned O'Gorman calls the "abstract calm" of intellectuals and other too-busy people who want it both ways and advocate political change while living high on the hog. Others are reacting by fleeing to fundamentalist religions and spiritualisms. Spiritualist and fundamentalist spiritualities that forsake the tradition of imago dei and humanity's deification in favor of the preaching of sin and redemption will have virtually nothing to say about compassion, for compassion is a divine attribute (see chapter one) and a creative energy force and will not be learned by a cheap religious masochism.
     This book is an introduction to an analysis of compassion. It is meant to support those many persons who are moving to a fuller and fuller holistic life style - and there are many. It is also meant as an invitation to those still involved in the ladder-climbing dynamic of so much of our society to consider another way, a better way, called compassion. A more fun-filled and more justice-oriented way. A way of getting in tune with the universe at a time when, intellectually and at the level of scientific discovery, we are confirming the fact that mystics have preached for centuries - namely, that the universe is a very finely tuned organism indeed. And yet, at the level of life-styles and social structures, we are hardly in tune with the universe at all.
Matthew Fox. A Spirituality Named Compassion and the Healing of the Global Village, Humpty Dumpty and Us. Winston Press, 1979. ii-iii.

Grounding Ourselves in the Sea

To be sure I lose the fruits of the earth,
But then I am gathering the flowers of the Sea.
                              ~ Admiral Boscawen, 1756 

We have some dear friends of ours who "center" or "ground" themselves by playing in the dirt. Helping to watch things grow gives them great delight. It reminds them of their place in the universe and that they are ultimately in charge of very little, and dependent upon a lot. They have a sense of God's grace there.

Being upon the water, especially while cruising, has the same effect upon me. I find I'm centered. I'm reminded about what is really important in life; who I am and whose I am.

Boating and planting on not necessarily uncompilable. There are many similarities between being a farmer and a sailor. But by and large we who spend the summers sailing often don't find the time to tend a garden, too. We "lose the fruits of the earth" but gain "the flowers of the Sea."

As the northern hemisphere autumn season starts upon us, may you find time to center yourself in delightful activities. May they become sources of meditation for you.

Blessed Be,

Joel

A Book for 9/11: David Carlson's "Peace Be With You"

Do you remember what you were doing on September 11, 2001? When did you hear the news that shook the world? What do you remember from the days following? How did your faith shape your view of the events? And if asked for any wisdom, do you think you might have some insights to share?
With an uneasy feeling that the United States may have reacted instead of responded and consequently headed down the wrong path of retaliation, these are the types of questions that David Carlson asked the monastic community and relates to us in Peace Be With You: Monastic Wisdom for a Terror-Filled World.
Last November I was searching for a book in the public library, to see if they had a copy. They didn't have the book I was looking for, but they did have Carlson's Peace Be With You. You might, then, be wondering why I'm reviewing it now, 9 months after I've finished it. Because it speaks profoundly to the events of 9/11. Peace Be With You is Carlson's search for a "word of life" from the monastic communities in the United States. He relates his experiences with over thirty interviews of monks and nuns (plus a potter) and how their wisdom and their insight into the human experience challenges and shapes his life. In the meantime, he finds that these words of life might also provide a way in which Islam and Christianity can dialogue, and continue our relationship with one another on a compassionate level.

When 9/11 hit I was serving three churches in central Idaho. While other pastors were speaking about the end times and divine punishment, I struggled to express how God calls us to be means of grace, using justice tempered with compassion with the goal of reconciliation. Consequently, I found this book to be an intriguing read that validated some of my own insights, longing and struggles while encouraging my faith.
As September rolls around once more, I would encourage you to read this book, and open yourself for transformation.

Blessed Be
Rev. Joel

Below are few quotes to prompt your reading.

One of the monks responds to the question of freedom:

"[People] think you lose your freedom when you come into a monastery. Now you're under obedience, you can't do what you want anymore, can't go out when you want, can't spend money like you want, all these other things we lose, you know ... But [this life] gives us a great freedom, the freedom to live our life in God."
I thought of the last stanza of T.S. Eliot's The Wasteland, where Eliot compares human life to a sailboat under masterful control. The boat achieves its end, reaches its destination, when the rudder and lines to the sails are controlled. Chaos and confusion, not freedom, are achieved in letting go the lines and leaving the boat to the mercy of the wind. Monastic life is all about taking hold of the ropes - these ropes of discipline that lead to freedom (30).

When interviewing Mother Julianne, she relates how the events of 9/11 brought back terrible memories of fellow sisters who experienced firsthand the terrors of Guatemala, Rwanda, and Bosnia. Carlson reflects:

I was unexpectedly moved by Mother Julianne's connecting 9/11 with the suffering in Guatemala and Rwanda (and later in the interview, Bosnia). She was articulating something that had saddened me about our nation's reaction to 9/11. Our grief could have become a bridge of understanding and empathy to others in the world who have known (and continue to experience) horrendous suffering. But that had not happened. I had yet to hear anyone ask, "Was 9/11 something like what the Japanese experienced in Hiroshima and Nagasaki?"
Instead, 9/11 only seemed to isolate us further from the world. To most Americans, the tragedy of 9/11 was experienced as a bubble to suffering so unique that only we could possibly feel the severity of the pain. Our grief seemed to become our private possession (42-3).

And, yet, here is a nun with the world/faith view to say "'I think that's why 9/11 took on a whole international [meaning] - it's not just an American problem. It's a problem of our present [global] society'" (43).

Carlson spends a chapter reflecting upon Thomas Merton, especially Merton's epiphany in Louisville at the corner of Fourth and Walnut where he suddenly sees all these people walking around him as each one must appear to the eyes of God, and he loves them.

Several years later, in New Seeds of Contemplation (1961), Merton would express this insight as seeing the mystical Christ in the people around him. "For in becoming man, God became not only Jesus Christ, but also potentially every man and woman that ever existed. In Christ, God became not only 'this' man, but also, in a broader and more mystical sense, yet no less truly, 'every man'" (99 - from Merton's Seeds 294-5)

In Merton's view, the Incarnation, the belief that God became human in Christ, was not an abstract theological doctrine, not simply a creedal statement, but an actual transformation of the entire human race. As a drop of holy water is said to have power to sanctify an entire ocean, as a spore of leaven affects the entire loaf, God becoming human has changed us all. The decisive moment of human history had come in Christ, the God-man, and, for Merton, this was the answer to the Cold War of his own lifetime. I swallowed hard ... I had come to believe that Merton's insight was becoming for me an answer to 9/11 (134-5).

Here was the truth about contemplation, that contemplation is a protest, a refusal to concede the victory to hatred, vengeance, materialism, tribalism, or individualism. Contemplation can be the collective experience of a minority (a "whispered peace"), but that minority insists that a depth of living exists, even within those who are ignorant of that depth, where healing, wholeness, and unity can never be destroyed. Contemplation is radical in that it anticipates not the destruction of our adversaries but our reconciliation with them (164).

His interview with Richard Bresnahan (see previous posting about his pottery here) is incredible. Bresnahan has deep insights into what it means an artist is to be doing, and how the life of an artist shapes everything. One's vocation is not just lived out at work, but in all of one's life. And humans are here to balance out the ecosystem.

The cornerstone of this new understanding of the mystical Christ as present within humanity. The Incarnation is much more radical an event than is reflected in our brief Christmas festivities. The Incarnation means that Jesus has entered this world and lurks, albeit often in a hidden way, within the entire human race. I began to realize that I did not need to bring Jesus to bear on our crisis. What I needed to do was find Jesus moving in the midst of it (228).

And the Incarnation leads to love.

And our failure to trust in this unfathomable love had been our lost chance after 9/11. "We had an opportunity to not only heal ourselves ... to receive healing, but also to help the world," [Brother Christopher] said. "That didn't necessarily preclude trying to bring to justice the perpetrators of the act, but we, in my judgment, have squandered that. And that's almost as big a tragedy as the act of 9/11 itself." ... "It was a kairos moment [a time of great significance] ... and is this an opportunity where can be seen? And make no mistake about it; we're not looking for a deus ex machina swinging down. At least I'm not. I'm not expecting all of a sudden Jesus coming down or the Rapture taking place ... No, rather, we become the means of grace. We become God's hands, God's feet. We become the instruments of the gospel. Or not!" he emphasized (243).

In our response to the tragedy of 9/11, we had replaced the God of the paschal mystery with the God of vengeance. The God whom Jesus embodied had made a far different choice. God had chosen forgiveness. God did not condemn the world for crucifying His Son, but raised Jesus for the sake of the world - for the sake of us who continue to crucify Christ in our actions toward others. ... We had failed to understand 9/11 in light of the death and resurrection of Christ. We had left Christ on the cross.
For Christians to view 9/11 and the world of terrorism through the paschal mystery of Christ's death and resurrection will be difficult and complex. Such a stance does not mean condoning or ignoring what al-Qaeda did on September 11, any more than God, in Christian belief, ignored or condoned the sinfulness of humanity in crucifying His Son. No, forgiveness must mean, as the South African activist Malusi Mpumlwana suggests, helping our adversaries recover their humanity (246-7).

****
Carlson, David. Peace Be With You: Monastic Wisdom for a Terror-Filled World. Thomas Nelson, 2011. 276 pages