Once or twice a year, I get bored with words. Oh, and the Internet. And newspapers. Anyway, this weblog will be left untouched for the next few days. We'll be back, though.
Above is a great photo that I discovered recently. It reminds me of the early days of surfing when it was just about the interior, spiritual aspects of the activity, before multi-million dollar competitions and sponsorships, before militant localism created "surf gangs" that use vandalism, threats, and violence to keep strangers off of "their" beaches. Before it was a "lifestyle" or people received Ph.D.'s for dissertations about "surf culture". Nice reminder that once upon a time, it was just a small collection of folks who enjoyed the water. Obscurely, it also reminds me of how I once regarded the greater church and my service to it. A couple of decades ago, it was the perpetual threshold of spiritual discovery through service and dedication, when I was asked to serve as the hierophant to individuals, families, and congregations. Now, people ask me when I'm going to get on a ladder and change the lightbulbs in the choir loft. Still, there is some Pauline sense of holy service in that, to be sure.
It's funny to me, as I get older, and having had as parishioners a governor, a senator, a congressman, a network anchorman, a presidential advisor, a variety of artists and writers, bishops and their spouses, and been mentored by a Nobel Peace Prize laureate [actually, he was awarded the prize while in the midst of teaching our seminar], that these folks above are the ones who impress me. Nobel Prize? Big deal. Can he ride the North Shore without pearling?