Sunday Worship At Mortlach Church, Dufftown, Scotland

We worshipped Sunday at one of the oldest churches in Britain,  right around the corner from our B and B, dating back to the sixth century. There was a famous battle fought there in 1010, as the Danes tried to conquer the Scots.  As the story goes, the Scottish King for victory and told God if they won he would expand the church by three spear lengths. They won the battle and he did as he had promised. Three lancet windows commemorate the Scottish victory and the three spear lengths.

In the center of the cemetery is a stone memorializing the battle.

Inside the vestry are stones from the sixth century marking the Pictish ancestry of the area.
Worship was interesting--no notes in the hymnbooks, we stood for all the hymns but not until the verrry last second, then popped up all together.

They have communion twice a year and this was one of them. Distribution was in the pews, in silence, and a bit like a "tea service."  The pews were lined with white clothes in honor of this important day.

I took a few notes from the sermon, so if I break into a Scottish brogue you'll know I'm quoting him.

He gave me some good advice after worship : "There is no bad whisky; some is just better."  Aye, I'll raise a wee dram to that!

The people warmed up slowly to us...but Karen soon had them charmed and they became very talkative. The interim pastor told us quite a bit of the church's history.

We even had coffee and tea! It was a lovely morning.

Spiritually Void?

In the US  often hear people talk about spirituality and saying some version of "I'm spiritual but not religious."  Here in the UK and Europe, I have not heard that kind of commitment to a spiritual dimension in life.  Instead, there appears often to be a spiritual void in the lives of younger people, so much so that they are unaware even that it's missing.  It makes me wonder if we will follow their path, becoming not only post-Christian, but post-spiritual.

What does that mean for the spread of the gospel? Will the Church go dormant in some way, or could it be that a cultural "clean slate" will provide space for a fresh telling of the story of Jesus?  Can there be an awakening of faith, or will Christianity become an historical relic?

Yet, even as we ask such questions, we confess that God is alive and at work in the world, bringing abundant and eternal life through Christ.  Surely, God's power will be made known in our weakness and the Holy Spirit will continue to move among and through God's faithful people.  It may be tempting to mourn the decay of the Church here or back home, but God is faithful and the Spirit is at work.  Here in the village of Dufftown, faithful people gather for worship each week and serve God by serving one another in their community.

22 June Left To Fend For Ourselves

Last full day of riding we were moving as a group through the town of San Moritz Switzerland. The way we stayed together as we moved through towns was that when we went through a roundabout the rider going through would stay near the roundabout until the next rider came, then that rider would take his place and stay until the next rider saw him, and so on. It worked through a number of towns all across the trip but today one of the riders decided not to wait and subsequently four of us had no idea what rest of the group had done. We stopped to consult a map, and we rode back and forth through the town trying to find them. Finally we rode the route to the hotel, and when we arrived we found that the other guys had been there for 30 minutes. The only way they could have been so far ahead is that they did not wait at all, they simply high-tailed it down the mountain.  We were not happy campers, and explained our unhappiness to them clearly and succinctly.

Castellane, France

Today is our rest day in Castellane, in southeastern France.  So far the trip has been quite amazing, with endless moutain views and more curves in each day's ride than I've ever done before.  My riding seems to get better each day, I think.  The group has quite a breadth of riding experience and skill, including a former pro racer and a rider-journalist who tests bikes for a living and writes about them for a variety of magazines.  Our host, Ewe, is an excellent rider as well, and has ridden everywhere you can imagine, including a six-year ride around the world!  I would say that I am in the middle--the fastest of the slower group and the only one riding two-up. The top four riders leave me in the dust quite quickly.
About half the group took a day ride today to the Grand Canyon du Verdon, while the rest of us stayed to enjoy Castellane, do a little laundry and catch up on blog posts.

As I write this, Karen and I have some laundry going a couple of doors down and we're enjoying a lunchtime glass of vin blanc at a little sidewalk cafe.  It was quiet when Karen took the picture of me at this little table, but now every table is full and conversations abound (all in French, of course).  Every couple of minutes another cycle goes by, weaving between the pedestrians who spill off the narrow sidewalks onto the winding road through this section of the town.  It is exactly what one imagine a small French town to look like.

Castellane, France Photos

Nice, Menton and Monte Carlo

It's hard to find words to describe how beautiful it is on the Cote d'Azur --the French Riviera.
We had a wonderful ride along the coast!
Three of us cooled off at lunch time with a quick dip in the Med. What a treat!

A Niçoise salad with grilled tuna made a delicious lunch!

It was a long riding day before we ended up in a small Italian village for the night.

More from Brissago

The view from the room. And a few from the day ride.

Switzerland?

I want to do these posts in some kind of order. However, today we are in Brissago, Switzerland, and here's a sight I never expected to see outside my Swiss hotel!

Our Intrepid Guide

Our amazing guide for the tour is Ewe Kraus. Ewe began is writing career while on a six-year around the world motorcycle tour. Now he writes for RoadRunner in the US and a number of German travel magazines. He is married to Danika, and together they have two children, a boy and a girl.
He's a great guide a lots of fun!

Pics From Orcas Island

The newest boat at Outer Island Expeditions, Blackfish III, and Mike, a Salish Sea resident male Killer Whale.

If It's Tuesday Night It Must be California

I had high hopes for Patrick Point State Park in northern California, and I wan't disappointed.  The view was amazing and the raccoons were clearly Harley fans.

Sunday, May 24: Dreary in McCleary

Sunday was cold and wet.  Big surprise, right?  After all I'm riding the largest temperate rain forest in the world.  Finally, I decided I needed a break in McCleary, WA, home of the Bear Festival.
Stopped at the Rain Country Restaurant for pie and coffee.  The name says so much.
I asked my waitress about the Bear Festival, the community's annual mid-summer gathering.  "Well," she said, "it's not as big as it used to be.  There's a competition for the best Bear stew and a nice community gathering. (I'm sure local bears are grateful that it's diminished in size).

Monday Night on South Beach (not that South Beach!)

It took less than 15 min to set up camp Monday night at South Beach State Park, near Newport OR, and the jet boil brewed the coffee flawlessly tues morning. Of course I got a nice dousing of rain just as I was making my breakfast.  There was plenty of room in my campsite, not so much inside my tent.

Wednesday Travel - May 27

After leaving Patrick Point State Park, I was gifted by incredible vistas, sweeping curves, tight twisties, sun, wind rain, more rain and fog.  The Avenue of the Giants transported me to another place as I was surrounded by majestic redwoods.  The road extends around Hwy 101 for 32 miles and it feels like you become a character in the kind of fairy tale that has an enchanted forest, inhabited by giants.  Luckily, I had my trusty steed, with 96 cu in of American V-Twin power, and I galloped through the forest without encountering any troublesome creatures.

Life has no shortage of forks in the road.  Most of them are metaphorical, but this trip had a substantial choice to make just outside of Leggett, CA.  Would I stay with Highway 101 through the mountains and redwood forests, or pick up the Pacific Coast Highway--the "PCH?"  I had originally planned to travel the PCH to San Francisco, but on this day the mountains were calling my name.  I chose the 101; the Redwoods were amazing, it allowed me to ride through one of my favorite places, Sonoma County, and I wasn't sure how the cloud cover would be on the coast.  For the first time since riding out of Seattle, I was warm on the bike, in fact I even took off my jacket and rode in long sleeves and vest.  What a welcome feeling!

Tuesday at Lunch: Maple Street Grille, Florence, OR

In Florence Oregon, I stopped for lunch at Maple Street Grill, in their historic Old Town.  It's a cute, local place with about six tables, small bar and a couple of high tops.  Ordered Kurt's Killer Pot Roast Dip sandwich.  The pot roast absolutely melted in my mouth.  It was a wonderful break from the road.
They have some fun martinis on the board, including lychee for Karen.  Diet Coke for me.
50s again, mostly cloudy. Rained sprinkled on the bike while I ate.

http://maplestreetgrille.com

Some Sabbatical Basics

A couple of friends have asked about what's supposed to happen on my sabbatical, so I thought I'd post an excerpt from the SOTH newsletter article I wrote before my sabbatical began.  Here you go!

I hope that being on sabbatical can be a time of rest, study, and re-energizing for me, so that I can return to Shepherd of the Hills ready to step into a renewed, vibrant ministry.  Ministry is a wonderful career; I am fortunate to share with you the joys and the sorrows of our community of faith.  I am grateful for the opportunity to share God's word with you each Sunday, and I enjoy the challenge of creating a sermon each week that helps you to reflect on and grow in your faith life.  I hope that sabbatical will "refill the tank" a bit, to be able to work with new energy and creativity.

The highlights of the sabbatical are two motorcycle trips, one along the west coast from the San Juans to San Francisco, and the other through the Alps in Germany, Switzerland, France, Italy and Austria.  I will be blogging throughout the sabbatical at ontherideofmylife.blogspot.com, and I hope you'll read it and stay connected with me.

I'll be reading and studying as well, asking questions about the best practices for reaching post-modern, non-churched folks with the gospel.  I will meet with two well-known practitioners, Dr. Len Sweet and Deaconess Sara Miles, to experience their particular ministries.  I will also have time for prayer and reflection.

My hope for SOTH is that we can continue to enrich our ministry together--to experience the love of God in Christ, to participate in a grace-filled community together, and to learn to speak the language of love and grace to people who have yet to hear the message of Abundant and Eternal Life.