The Tide of Hope

"Although we cannot see it...
the time of greatest hope is always'
low tide...
the very moment before the tide changes and begins to come back in."
                              (author unknown)


Please excuse the point of personal privilege.  I was baptized on this day.  It has always reminded me about water, my love for the ocean, and the eternal lesson that we are washed in the hope of God.  No matter how low the tide goes--and surely it does in life--never to fear in baptism which is the tide in the ebb and flow, the rising waters in God's Kingdom.  Does it help to know that we who live in this life are given a clock that is set by a Kingdom?  We are baptized with waters from one world to live with that love and grace--the rising tide of hope from God's Kingdom.

We thank you, Almighty God, for the gift of water.
Over it the Holy Spirit moved in the beginning of creation.
Through it you led the children of Israel out of their bondage
in Egypt into the land of promise. In it your Son Jesus
received the baptism of John and was anointed by the Holy
Spirit as the Messiah, the Christ, to lead us, through his death
and resurrection, from the bondage of sin into everlasting life.

We thank you, Father, for the water of Baptism. In it we are

buried with Christ in his death. By it we share in his

                                      resurrection. Through it we are reborn by the Holy Spirit.                                                                Book of Common Prayer

Indiana Jones Shuts down the Gov't?

Indiana Jones on the Bridge of Doom

Harrison Ford just outdoes himself with each movie with each scene--the daredevil finds his way out, doesn't he?  And it is always a way that we never expect.  He takes this machete and cuts the bridge down over the immense chasm below to free himself from those who surround him on both sides.  That's a new one alright--the only way out is down!  Of course, he and Shorty his pint size friend hold on and escape.

The threat to shut the government down reminds me of this tactic.  Just threaten to cut the whole dang thing and get out of the way.  Nothing matters but your personal principle.  Alot of folks will be tossed into the drink--painfully--over efforts to defund something already passed, but deemed as such a pariah by opponents.  Get out the machete and cut it down is the method!  I guess that is the only option we leave ourselves when we "cut ourselves off from others."  Play on words intended...each cut also cuts us.  Maybe John McCain got it correct when he told those in the opposition that if you want to get rid of a law, you win elections.  So go for it!  

  Once again we learn that when we insist on our way, we lose our way and those of others.   The machete can also be used to cut paths to others---to build a bridge so that we can walk over to the other side.  Thornton Wilder reminds us:  "There is a bridge between the land of the dead and living and the way across is love." 

Drink deeply from America's Cup!

Celebration Reigns with America's Comeback 

Everyone wants to be called "the comeback kid."  It means more than just winning--it takes the super special all-out effort.  Winning becomes a true triumph.  No exaggeration!  The victory of Oracle in the America's cup will be very difficult indeed to match--let alone surpass.  Down 8 to 1--they came back race by race to a 9-8 comeback of super human proportions.  That can do, will do, did do spirit is what we drink from America's cup.

Nothing I say is meant to take away from that victory.  But it deserves that single line to emphasize this incredible victory which also shows us something about our faith. St Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians:

But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory 

through our Lord Jesus Christ. 

 This is a different kind of victory--of forgiveness over sin, life over death--which is given to us as a free gift.  No comeback needed.  Nothing earned.  Just given!  

Great White Suirprise Appearance!

We all know the movie Jaws and the terror it brought to us. Well, now imagine learning that this same type of shark was just spotted where it rarely goes---right where you fished as a kid and took your own kids fishing! 

A very large Great White Shark was spotted off Damariscove Island, several miles out to sea from Boothbay Harbor.  The island has and abandoned life guard station and sits right on the edge of deep sea water.  It does not surprise me in the least that it wandered in there off the southern tip near the motions buoy to feed off of a whale carcass.  That a lobsterman acutually saw it and got it on camera so it could be identified was remarkable--very unlikley to make the sighting, get the shot and have it turn out well enough to have it a confirmed sighting.  Go ahead and see for yourself--just google--"boothbay great white" and watch the video.  That brought it to life for me as one who went through those waters routinely in a power boat--smaller than this shark. 

You can see the red roofed coast guard station directly above in the left had point of the island.  Just off the opposite side, the "longer finger" is where the shark was sighted.  I trolled for mackerel in and out of this small harbor. 

Isn't this the real story---of the wild side of the ocean that reveals its awesome power of nature in so many forms, be it the waves, the currents, or the creatures--all of them beyond our control and reminding us of our place in the scheme of God's creation. 

Shooting in Kenya

Victims flee from Westgate Mall

No Man Is An Island 

No man is an island,
Entire of itself,
Every man is a piece of the continent,
A part of the main.
If a clod be washed away by the sea,
Europe is the less.
As well as if a promontory were.
As well as if a manor of thy friend's
Or of thine own were:
Any man's death diminishes me,
Because I am involved in mankind,
And therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls;
It tolls for thee.
                                by: John Donne

Just one week ago, the Navy Yard news rocked us with the sudden slaughter of twelve people.  Now, what are we to say as the death toll rises to +60 in Kenya---and far from the psychotic episode of a deranged killer--now, we have militant Muslims murdering anyone who isn't Muslin in this mall.  Yet, I do not hear the leading Muslim leaders speak out and condemn it.  Exactly what does it take?  Can anything be farther away from whatever we mean by divinity and the sacredness of life?  Oh John Donne...prophet for every age, the bell tolls for us with every death...and we the human family are diminished.  Certainly from the Christian standpoint, we are diminished by every death, except for the death of Christ which opens to the Garden of resurrection. We break in this life with each death into the wholeness of new life in the risen Christ.  There's no formula for that--it is the way that good triumphs over evil, not by destroying it, but making it a part of the Body of Christ and raising it up.

Lord have mercy, 

Christ have mercy, 

Lord have mercy upon them all. 

The One that Got Away--Or Did It?

The papers will read that rookie Michael Wacha lost a no-hitter facing the last batter--who barely beat out an infield hit.  Those of us who watch baseball movies watched an ere resemblance to the last play in For the Love of the Game with Kevin Costner--the pitcher just misses the ball but the infielder throws out the runner.  Not so this time--alas--only in Hollywood!

Now the question becomes one for Wacha.  Will he live with missing the no hitter?  Or will he live as the brilliant young rookie who threw hitless ball right down to the last player?  What we make of our stories matters for everything.  The kid could chase a no hitter for the rest of his career and blow game after game reaching beyond himself.  Or, he can live knowing he has the skill to throw hitless ball at 26 hitters--not the chump who lost it with the last batter.

Living the faith means living the story Jesus has for us--not what we do on our own.  We can live a lifetime chasing our own demands and goals,,,forever falling short....or, we can live the life of grace. As one author put it--live with the love by which Jesus knows you.  Isn't that the real game in town? 

Susan Cerandon Meets Julia Roberts

“You know every story, every wound, every memory. Their whole life's happiness is wrapped up in you... every single second. Don't you get it? Look down the road to her wedding. I'm in a room alone with her, fixing her veil, fluffing her dress, telling her no woman has ever looked so beautiful. And my fear is she'll be thinking, "I wish my mom was here."    Julia Roberts to Susan Sarandon 

This movie always brings tears to my eyes and not because of its heart-wrenching plot.  Every once in a while, Hollywood gets it right...and this time, they did so big time.  We bear each other's stories--the plot of our lives is played out with others.  We honor these stories and keep them sacred as we go forward with our lives.

Julia Roberts or Hollywood did not quite get this story correct.  Sure she will miss her mother.  People are irreplaceable.  But she will find her mother's story in Julia and in herself as she goes forward into life.

There is a truth about our faith. Jesus Christ is the place where our stories meet God's story.  I am not talking the generic human story.  I mean you and me and the specifics of our story.  Our stories, so unique, irreplaceable in Jesus' hands are forever embraced by God.  And mark these words how our lives go on into eternity through him.  We are not step children. All of us are direct descendents in Jesus Christ.