Faith and Trust
When I was a kid, despite our not having much money and living in the middle of the state, my parents bought a 30-foot sailboat. We only had that boat a few years, and those adventures are among my favorite memories.
One of my very best memories was the night we sailed from Stuart, Florida to West End on Grand Bahama. Grand Bahama is about 80 miles from Stuart, if you could go straight there. That line is called the “rhumb line” – R-H-U-M-B – which is the direct line on a map between your point of origin and your destination.
But a straight line is not how the ocean works, especially not for a sailboat. You have to deal with an array of variables: wind, currents, tides, and other boats. And between Stuart and West End, the Gulf Stream flows like a river that is 30-50 miles wide. You can’t go straight there.
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Legacies of Faith - Remembering Chip Thullbery
In the spring of 1983 in the northeast, I had not seen the sun since the previous perhaps November. I was in my second year of seminary and my spirit, in my Florida born and raised self, was sagging. One of my apartment mates pulled out some acrylic paints she dabbled with from time to time.
“Let's paint something!” she said. Though I had no eye to see things and re-create them in an artistic way, I joined in for fun. In a bit of nostalgia, I painted the back deck of my mom and dad's home, which later became Chip's home, (on Campbell Ave) from the perspective of one sitting in the back room and looking out over the deck and back yard.
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Death and Life (Ash Wednesday sermon)
I recently read some practical advice given to a young man who has been struggling with the idea of death. The advice approached the issue from several angles.
First, it summarized Socrates, who suggested that if one could look back at one’s life and see that you had been responsible and responsive to the people, responsibilities and challenges, that would bring a good measure of contentment. If one lived a long life and was physically spent, then those together would be helpful. Therefore, be attentive to those priorities today. Fair enough.
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