Olga's and Orcas

The village of Eastsound greeted me with sunshine as I rode in for brunch before my whale watching expedition.  I chose the legendary "Olga's" (how can a Scandinavian named Peterson resist a place named Olga's?) and I wasn't disappointed.  After I had ordered some basic breakfast fare, the server began to tell me the story of Olga's.  It was originally started in the tiny berg of Olga on the southeastern corner of the island and serves an appealing variety of breakfast, lunch and dinner items.  Everything at Olga's is house-made by the omni-present owners, who pour their passion into every bite.  Tragically, it was set afire and they had to relocate to the "big" town of Eastsound.  The alleged arsonist was never arrested but was effectively banned from the island by the close-knit community.  After hearing about two of the house specialities, blackberry pie and "scalibut" cakes (scallops and halibut together in a super-secret recipe) my dinner plans were sealed.  I took them to go for an easy supper on the deck of my cottage!

The day had blossomed into a beautiful afternoon as I arrived at Outer Island Expeditions to search for the ocean's apex predator, the Orca or Killer Whale.  There was a gentle chop and not much wind as we sailed away from the dock onboard their new boat, Blackfish 3.  I rode on the upper deck with our captain Paul and two great people from San Francisco, Jake and Bethany.  It didn't take long before we were viewing orcas from pod J-16, including a mother "Alki" and calf and the giant male, Mike, whose magnificent dorsal fin rises over 6 feet above his body.  Naturalist Katie ably provided all the guests with great information as well.  Later that day we were able to see a 50-foot humpback whale named Big Mama as she breeched and slapped and waved her dorsal fins at the nearby boats.  Paul even found us some seals and one late-comer sea lion before we headed home.  Paul and Katie were both tremendously knowledgeable and really enjoyed giving us a great afternoon on the water.  I'd sail with them again in a heartbeat! 

Change A Note, Change The Chord--Victor Wooten

It's a pretty obvious statement at first glance.  Chords are made of up of certain notes, and every combination of notes forms a different chord. F-A-C-F form an F chord.  Change the A to  A-flat (Ab) and you have an A minor chord.  Change the F at the top of the chord to an Eb and now it's become an an F minor seventh (Fm7), and so on.  Each chord has a different sound, but also a different kind of "feel" or "mood."  If you play an F on the piano and play the E right next to it the notes will clash and sound irritating, but if you go back to that F chord and replace the top F with the E next to it, you'll have the lush sound of a major seventh chord (FM7) and it you play them one at a time you'll hear the recognizable opening notes of "Colour My World," by Chicago.

Each change of note changes the name of the chord, but far more importantly it changes the mood of the chord and how and where the chord might be used.  Minor chords sound dark and somber, while complex jazz chord may sound enticing or confusing, depending on the context and listener.  Learning how to listen to a wide variety of chords and find the beauty in them is a challenge for many of us, and everyone has his or her own preferences.  Still,  learning how to hear chords we find unfamiliar can be a wonderful growth edge for any of us.

Okay, enough music theory and music appreciation.  Here's the reason for writing this.  Bass genius, Victor Wooten swirls together music and life in his novel, The Music Lesson, causing me to think about how "Change One Note, Change The Chord" applies to life.  Change one person, one circumstance, one detail in my situation or yours and the "chord" of your life changes too.  Maybe the easiest way to think about it is to imagine a situation where as you add one cranky person, the "life-chord" becomes minor.  Remove the dark note and life is cheerier again.  An old song becomes new again.  This makes sense to me on many levels.  Can I be a note that adds richness to chords around me?  As I play the music of life can I listen to all the notes that are being played and hear the beauty?  Can I change the notes and hear something new, something vibrant?  If I hear a note that clashes with mine, can I find a new octave for mine, so that I hear something melodic?

Can I change one note and change the chord?

One more thought...Jesus, the most beautiful note of all, has changed the chord of humanity, bringing into our lives the heavenly harmony of the Great Composer.

A Different Kind of Tear

One doc visit and two kinesiologist visits later, the shoulder is strong enough to ride. Yay!  He's pretty convinced there's no tear.

Had an interesting conversation with a young man yesterday who grew up as a Lutheran, but his congregation got into a fight regarding their pastor.  His question: how could people who went to communion together for years become so angry with one another and so torn up?  He hasn't been to church since then.  His church was torn apart and he feels torn away.  I wonder what it will take to bring healing?  I wonder how many of these stories I will hear this summer?
God of healing, repair his heart! (And my shoulder too.) Amen.

Day 1

I'm on sabbatical!  Can't really tell yet. Friday is my day off. I'm off to see the chiropractor/kinesiologist for my shoulder. Inauspicious beginning.

Murphy Has Arrived

8 Days until I begin my west coast solo trip! However, Saturday night as I was playing broomball with our youth I fell on the ice and I've either bruised or torn my left rotator cuff.  My sports doc and I have a plan in place, but it could be a difficult trip, and, worst case, I could be looking at surgery later in the summer.  Sigh.

His Next Question

Sweet's next sentence: The basic question of the Christian life is this: is Christ a living force to be experienced or a historical figure to be reckoned with?
To this I answer a resounding "YES!"

Today's Question

The basic question of life is this: is God a reality to be experienced or a belief to be remembered? --Leonard Sweet.
I want to experience the Living Christ over and over, and share my experiences with others, that they might experience Jesus for themselves.

Gettting Real

The transport guys just picked up the Road King. It will go to Denver, then be loaded onto a semi for the trip to Seattle.  I'll pick it up and the Harley Davidson dealer near SEATAC when I arrive there on 21 May. It's getting real now!

Sabbatical Dawning...

Two weeks till sabbatical begins...
As people at SOTH and at Synod Assembly are asking about my upcoming sabbatical I am getting awfully excited!  I am really interested in the conversations I hope to have with people in the US and six other countries about what's happening in the spiritual lives of a wide variety of post-modern people.  I am looking forward to engaging with the folks I will meet on my motorcycle rides, both in the states and in Europe.  I hope to learn from them how and where they have room for spiritual things in their lives.

Of course, I'm interested in the amazing riding too!

I look forward to some quiet reflection time, some of it in the saddle of my Road King, to reflect on my own ministry (31 years) and the ministry of the congregation I serve, and to discern a bit of how God is at work in this post-Christian culture in which we live.

If you're a praying person, please pray for me as I embark "On The Ride of My Life."  Thanks!