Sailing as a Stress Reducer

We went sailing this weekend. Didn't really go anywhere, just out into the Straight of Georgia and then back, where we anchored in Drayton Harbor. But both of us could just feel the stress and tensions of a shore based life disappear.
Keeping the Sabbath (whenever in the week you can do so) has as much to do with keeping ourselves healthy as it does giving glory to the Divine.
Sailing, for me, is one way to do this. Does this have a side benefit? Do sailors live longer?

Apocalypse and Paradise

I have been hesitant to discuss this topic, but as we now have predictions of the end of the world occurring in October (sense it didn't happen over the weekend) I have decided to add my two bits to the discussion.

Before I start, I would like to say that this has serious ramifications for our society in general. Family members of friends of ours sold everything and gave the money to charity because they were no longer going to need it. It's a great gesture. I'm not sure what this means about their feelings of those running the charities. The concern is what do they do now? They've got nothing left. Do they dare trust another authority figure again? Will they trust the church?

Secondly, predictions about the world coming to an end and Christ's coming back are very old, as old as Christianity. So, in some regards, this phenomenon is nothing new.

Here's my perspective, view on things. Any of you are welcome to disagree, but this is how I see things at the present moment.
I have always read Apocalyptic literature (like the Revelation of John) as a way of giving hope to an oppressed group of people. In essence, Apocalyptic literature says, "It is going to be ok. God is ultimately in charge. It may not look like that now, but in the end, God's kingdom will prevail."

When we remove Paradise from this earth, we lose a sense of who we are as beloved children of God. In the Sermon on the Mount, in Matthew's gospel, Jesus says, "Consider the lilies of the fields..." We consider them because we are connected to them. If the Divine cares for them, how much more are we cared for? Yet we are connected to them. What effects the lilies of the fields effects us in ways we have always suspected, but are only just now scientifically discovering how close the connection is.

When we insist that Paradise is someplace else (Heaven, accessible only in the afterlife, or after the end of the world), we remove ourselves from the world around us. Inadvertently, this separation allows exploitation of the lilies of the fields to which we are so connected. Which means our own exploitation, of course.

Keeping Paradise connected to the earth, knowing it is just around the corner, and is something we can participate in the here and now, connects us to another part - actually a stronger part - of the Christian tradition. I invite you to look, ponder and read Saving Paradise by Brock and Parker (I've mentioned this book in a previous post) for a fuller discussion of this tradition. Keeping Paradise, the Kingdom of God, the Great Economy a part of the earthly experience, whether we choose to acknowledge it or not, provides a critique of our smaller economies, kingdoms and environs. As such, the critique gives us something to work towards. Paradise shapes our actions. I believe it also reminds us of who we are, beloved children of God.

I think you can see my own bias. It shapes my perspective in how I live and how I see the world. What underlying beliefs and biases shape how you see and interact in the world?

BERTIE's trip to the PNW and Allen Farrell

I came across the following three YouTube videos about BERTIE's trip up the West Coast of the United States from San Francisco to the Pacific Northwest (in particular the East Coast of Vancouver Island). There is great footage of the trip and reflections on how Allan and Sherrie Farrell impacted the folks with whom they came into contact. Allen and Sherrie have both passed on now, but remain legends among cruisers in this area. I thought everyone might enjoy these videos. They provide a good insight into experiencing what living on boats is all about (for those who have never experienced something like this). But they also provide a place to reflect about our own lives.
How are we impacting those around us?
How to we wish to be experienced and remembered?

Fair Winds,

Joel

Living On The Margins

I've been thinking about Riparian Zones, those margins between one type of ecosystem and another; the zone where the two interact. Often one thinks of this zone as being alongside a river or creek. But what about the shoreline, the intertidal zone? It is where I and many others live.
We live at the margin, in between one ecosystem and another. It is a special place: I dare say sacred.
What happens when one ecosystem becomes unbalanced? How do we all suffer?
I, we, live on the margins.

Padilla Bay Interpretive Center

On Friday I joined a bunch of kids in  taking a field-trip to Padilla Bay. The folks at the Interpretive Center do a great job in helping the kids (and adults) explore and discover the importance of the estuary. By the way, estuaries could be considered to make up most of the Salish Sea (Puget Sound, Straits of Georgia, San Juans/Gulf Islands).
The Interpretive Center is open to the public.
I'll let the pictures do the rest of the talking.