Ship Shape
From The Pastor’s Desk—
I recently acquired a sailboat. The boat is in fine shape, but the previous owner hadn’t sailed it in more than 5 years, so my first task was scrubbing off years of grime, moss, and lichen. So, on the Friday of Memorial Day weekend, that’s precisely what I did (alongside Paul and his wife Tracy, who were cleaning and polishing the hull of their new boat). If you’ve ever owned a boat (sail, row, or power), or known someone who has, you are intimately familiar with all the work that they require to keep them “ship shape.” There is always something to clean, tighten, replace, or polish. Maintaining a boat is an exercise in continual preparation, which pays back the time spent on all those mundane tasks in the enjoyable hours out on the water.
We have just come through the season of Eastertide, which culminated last weekend with Pentecost. As you have heard me say during many of my sermons during this season, the 50 days (not counting Sundays) between Easter and Pentecost were a time of preparations for the apostles. They learned from the risen Jesus, bid farewell to him during the Ascension, and received the gift of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost. All that they had learned and experienced prepared them to step out in the power of the Spirit and truly begin to share God’s Good News.
Spring is a time of preparation, whether it is clearing out garden beds and making space for new plantings, cleaning our homes in anticipation of Summer visitors, or making plans for our own travel. At the church (as you will read elsewhere in the newsletter) we have been preparing a full slate of activities. There are so many ways to get involved in our community this month, whether that means learning the basics of Tai Chi, discussing the life and legacy of Thoreau, celebrating our 2nd Juneteenth kids fair, or helping out at the Tool and Yard Sale at the end of the month.
Whenever preparations seem daunting -always one more thing to scrub, or plant, or plan- I hope that you will remember that our preparations pay dividends. The work we undertake to grow, to maintain, to prepare; all of it is in the service of a greater goal. Whatever tasks you undertake this month, may you understand those efforts as being in the service of a greater goal. Like the apostles, may the preparations you make be the foundation for greater things to come. Happy Summer!
—Pastor Jon
