Food for Thought: Community & Connections

Boating often brings us together. There is something about the water, and being on and in it that unites us. We become more open. We make friends with people with whom we might not ordinarily rub shoulders. Bonds are formed that span time and distance. These bonds help us in times of need. If it sound like I'm describing the church, perhaps I am. Maybe that is what all good community is.

This link tells the story of one group of boaters who are sharing and building this kind of support for others. I thought you'd like to know, and perhaps be inspired.

Blessed be,
Joel

Food for Thought: Environmental Conundrum Summed Up

This about sums up our options of an environmental nature. We might add that it makes sense to build what we do not only in terms of short range economy of resources, but also in terms of economy of the long hall. In essence, to be pondering how "quality" fits into the plans. How do we move beyond a "throw it away" culture? I think the answer lies, in part, with issues of quality. Speaking of boats, is the build of quality enough to still be sound (our soundly repaired) in twenty years?
Something to ponder.
Blessed be,
Joel

Getting Outside

This has been an absolutely beautiful week. It has been joyous to just be outside. My wife and I even went for a sunset stroll down the spit last night. And then when I read the lectionary passage from Acts - well ...

The God who made the world and everything in it, God who is Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in shrines made by human hands, nor is God served by human hands, as though God needed anything, since God God-self gives to all mortals life and breath and all things. From one ancestor God made all nations to inhabit the whole earth, and God allotted the times of their existence and the boundaries of the places where they would live, so that they would search for God and perhaps grope for God and find God -- though indeed God is not far from each one of us. For 'In God we live and move and have our being'; as even some of your own poets have said, 'For we too are God's offspring.' (Acts 17:24ff)

Wait a minute. What am I doing inside? I'll see you out on the water!


Blessed Be


Joel

Food for Thought: Power Tools & the Enviornment

Around here, we've been hearing news on the radio and via the internet of the unstoppable West  Antarctic Ice Sheet melt. The ice sheet has reached the tipping point and is going to melt (its been unstable sense the 1970's), eventually increasing sea levels about 4 to 12 feet (other sources have mentioned as high as 4 meters). Time to buy or build a boat? Maybe it's not time to panic buy yet, in the worst case scenario these scientists are talking about a couple hundred years, the best case about 900.

However, the way we live has an impact on those around us (included in "those" is our environmental surroundings - land, water, creatures, etc.). But it also has an impact upon us.

The way I live impacts me.

As an example: have you noticed those who work with power tools on a daily bases later in life needing hearing aids? But there are also all sorts of other connections being made between health issues and sitting all day, too.

Harry Bryan has a blog post on Off Center Harbor titled "My Thoughts on Power Tools" that is worth taking a read. Even if you don't own a boat building shop, it is interesting to see his thought process at work. In case the link doesn't work because you need to be a member (which I think is worth it), here is a brief synopsis.

The dream shop "was constructed in 1976 and, although the original plan was to wire the building for electricity, the ancient bandsaw and the 12” Parks planer ended up being powered, through belts and pulleys, by a 1961 Vauxhall Victor four-cylinder car engine.  For the builder of small craft, a bandsaw and thickness planer can do most of the work of taking rough lumber to where hand tools can compete with their powered alternatives.  Our opposition to the building of a nuclear power plant nearby postponed our connection to the grid, and in the meantime, we came to enjoy the challenge of trying to sustain a business without electricity.  We have gradually added 110-volt power, through an inverter, from batteries charged by sun and wind. But the system is small and we must continually husband its output.
"Two beliefs have always influenced our decisions.The first is the impossibility of unrestricted growth in a finite space. Not only does this apply to our small shop, but if the earth has not already reached its carrying capacity, the exponential growth of population and the energy used by that population must inevitably bring on a crisis. While I wish it were not so, I believe that we have already exceeded the earth’s carrying capacity, and most of our politicians, along with their economic advisors, are dead wrong to insist that more growth will bring us to better times.
"The second guiding conviction, to quote E.F.Shumacher (author of Small is Beautiful) is that, “To talk about the future is useful only if it leads to action now.”  Ralph Waldo Emerson urged the same message: “Good thoughts are no better than good dreams, unless they be executed.”

The Vauxhall Victor has sense been replaced by a Kubota, which is filled 5 gallons (about $20) a time. So a question is always asked, "Does it make sense to use the ship's band saw to cut this keel timber?" Yes, that is a good use. "... this plank?" No ... for that a peddle powered band-saw works better.

Part of what Bryan reflects upon is the perceived vs. actual gains. What is the set-up time needed? What is the cost of the tools? How much faster is a power tool than a hand tool in a job by job situation? (Here he gives an example of shingling his shop roof with a hammer or an air-compressor-nail-gun; the difference (if all goes smoothly) is about an hour. And then there is the noise and dust to consider. [Other folks have mentioned how nice it is to talk to someone while working, instead of everyone wearing ear protection.]

To judge whether or not to use (or purchase) a power tool, I have found it useful to use a factor of two. If a power tool can do the work twice as fast, with subtractions as noted in the above examples [set-up and take down time plus maintenance, etc.], then I will contemplate its use. A thickness planer, a bandsaw for heavy work, or a table saw to cut long rabbets in hardwood, fall into this category.  On the other hand, almost all crosscutting of wood can be done quickly and accurately by hand. 

Definitely worth pondering.

Blessed Be
Joel

Migration

[Sorry this didn't get out yesterday, the days events turned out to be busier than I expected.]

This week's Gospel Lesson (John 14:1-14, see Lectionary Texts for the 5th Sunday in the Easter Season) is often used at funerals. Maybe you remember the lesson as "Mansion(s)" rather than "dwelling places"? At funerals, I rarely bring this up, unless the dearly departed was an avid backpacker or loved the outdoors, but the "dwelling places" is a better translation. The idea is one of temporary shelter. Maybe even "tents" would be a better description?

I don't know if you've noticed, but the Hebrew people were not big on the sea (which often represented chaos to them). In addition, this is why when Jesus choose fishermen for his first disciples, there would have been some outrage and/or shock. Notice that only two of the four had a boat? As such, there are not lots of sea going examples. Tents and the life of a nomadic land people they understood deeply in their communal psyche. It would take a Phoenician (or their landed descendants the Philistines) to understand the sea.

What I'm getting at here, is that maybe "boats" (especially those with shelter) would be a better metaphor for what Jesus is trying to get across? After all, it is usually this time of year when there is a migration to the water (or upon the water - usually in a northerly direction as the temperatures warm up).

At any rate, it is what I'm pondering about this week.

Blessed Be

Joel

Food for Thought: Craft and Community

What does it mean to participate in community? What kind of community is the Kingdom/Kindom? This week's reading from Acts gives one example.

Is it possible that boats, boat building, etc. encourage us into good types of community, too? Those of us interacting with boats know that community goes hand in hand. We help each other, share advise, yarns, friendship, etc. But what about the economic aspects?

Yacht designer Antonio Dias shares some insights, through the following essays, into how he sees "craft" and boat building as ways to help form healthy communities:
Schooner Boat, Part I
Schooner Boat, Part II
Schooner Boat, Update
Schooner Boat, next iteration

When I first read these I was reminded of the writings of Wendel Berry and Bill Cooperthwaite.

Food for thought, indeed.

Blessed Be,
Joel

Thinking About Baptism

This reflection doesn't necessarily fit the Lectionary this week. However, I've been thinking about baptism, and my own theological understanding of baptism as of this week, knowing our understanding of non-understandable things change with time. In part, this reflective process had been spurred on by our son's mentoring/coming of age/confirmation process in which each student is asked to create their own creedal statement. As this is something we should all be reflecting upon from time to time, I've been reflecting upon it, too. (In my experience, as our faith matures so do our theological understandings.)
Thinking about community has also impacted my reflections. I'll share more on this on Wednesday.
In addition, I found myself pondering if I should be Pledging my Allegiance to the flag of the United States of America while representing the clergy "office" at the local yacht club's Opening Day Ceremony on Saturday.
Baptism brings us into a community, of course, a great community called the church, the body of Christ. I should note, in passing, that the church as the Body of Christ and the church the Institution (ala various denominations, etc.) often work hand in hand, and at other times, unfortunately, at odds with each other.
As such, my current thinking is along the lines of "citizenship." We become (or are reminded, really that we are) citizens of the Body of Christ, the Kingdom/Kindom of God. Hence, we are dual citizens: 1. The Kingdom/Kindom and 2. the nation to which we belong. Or are we?
I've wondered then if baptism is also in some ways an inoculation against the threats to the Kingdom/Kindom, threats that sometimes come from the various forms Empire takes (unjust economic systems, etc.).
To carry the metaphor further, some of us receive citizenship at birth, choosing how to live this out later in life. Others of us choose how to live this out when we are later in life, and decide to become citizens.
Anyway, just some rainy Monday reflections as I've been challenged to re-think/ponder where I am at this theological moment in time.
Where do you happen to be?
Blessed be,
Joel