Cruising Reflections

Perhaps you hadn't noticed, but I haven't been updating this thing too frequently. I apologize, but this will likely be my last apology. Blogging is enjoyable, but it is far from a top priority in my life right now, so I'll put something up when I have both the inclination and time. Oh, and I won't make the mistake of trying to catch you up on all that has happened since my last update either--that's a daunting task that only makes me less likely to even try. Now that that unfortunate business is out of the way . . . .



We returned from our cruise a week or two ago, and I've been planing on blogging about how pathetic it is that we Americans think of cruising as an ideal vacation. I started explaining my thoughts to Jen a few days ago when she said, "I just really enjoyed it. It was nice to relax and be taken care of for a while."

What a better perspective. I'm sure if I had just decided to dwell on the blessing of being on a vacation then I would have had a more cheerful one. As it is, on tropical vacations I usually let my thoughts drift to self or societal criticism.

Becoming "fully alive" is a personal and team goal, and I think a drastic and divine transformation and renovation of my mind is in order. I like how Paul put it:

Summing it all up, friends, I'd say you'll do best by filling your minds and meditating on things true, noble, reputable, authentic, compelling, gracious—the best, not the worst; the beautiful, not the ugly; things to praise, not things to curse. (Philippians 4:8 MSG)

So, friends, if you don't mind, then please help me with this transformation. When you see me help direct my thoughts toward the good and perhaps we can together find God in it.



A few cruise pictures for you:

God's on the Move in the Bronx

This past weekend Steve and I made a quick trip down to New York City to visit some friends and fellow revolutionaries.

I'm busy with a lab writeup on Photodynamic Therapy (if you're curious), so head on over to harvestboston.net to see what Steve had to say about our trip.

T time for God

Getting from on place to another is an adventure up here. I spend about 2 hours on the subway (called the T) here in Boston everyday. That's a good chunk of time--over 8% of my day--and I've been wanting to use it toward our mission up here somehow. Such a great cross-section of the population is within reach (literally) everyday on the T. I've heard of people testing the culture of a city by asking random people on the subway questions, but I'm not quite to the point where I'd be comfortable doing that. (You'd be amazed how absolutely silent a train car with perhaps 150 people packed into it is during the commute hours. Any conversation above a whisper will be heard by dozens of other people, and I generally don't like my private conversations overheard.) Perhaps someday I'll work up the nerve, but for now I've decided on another option.

I know you'll think I must be slow for taking 7 months to figure this out, but I've decided to read my Bible on the T. It's such a great idea! I've been lagging way behind in my Bible reading, so this gives me some set-aside time to do it each day with the added benefit of being a subtle (but visible and obvious) follower of Christ in the city. Being easily associated with Jesus on the T has the added benefit of making me more aware of my surroundings (it'd be horrible to sit obliviously reading while an elderly or pregnant person stands right in front of me!). In fact, having my Bible out and open has even provided the starting point for a few (short) converstations. For instance, a nicely dressed black gentleman today said on his way off the train "Hey man, that's cool [gesturing at my Bible]. What church do you go to?" Now that's a question I usually take a little bit of time to answer and explain, but since I only had about 5 seconds I replied, "Actually, I moved up here with a few friends to start one." He seemed to approve, but the few people remaining on the train didn't make eye contact with me for the rest of the trip (not that that should be surprising--no one ever makes eye contact with anyone else on the train, that's probably why advertising on the T is such a great idea).

I've even starting noticing other people who do the same thing. Today there was a lady who had a Bible open when I got on, and last Friday there was a man reading out of Romans (in the tiniest Bible I've ever seen). I've not yet approached another like-minded soul, but perhaps someday soon I will.

Let the conversations begin.

Second Anniversary

Last week Jen and I celebrated our second anniversary (7 Aug). On 5 Aug. we went down to Cape Cod and drove along scenic highway 6A up to the tip (Provincetown). There we boarded the Dolphin VII whale watching ship. It was an amazing time. Three different humpbacks breached within sight of the ship. Evidently this is a very rare activity since it takes a lot of energy to propel a 50 ton animal completely out of the water. The humpbacks migrate up here to eat during the summer and then spend the winter down in the Caribbean to mate, but the downside to spending the summer in such a nice tropical place is that there's no food for them to eat, hence the normal lack of breaching. [Note, I unfortunately didn't capture a single picture of a breach so the top side photo isn't mine.] It was a great 3+ hour trip to sea and a great Saturday anniversary activity.

This past Sunday we spent the afternoon at Revere Beach. A gorgeous day. We both got quite a bit of sun but nothing too bad. We both just sat on the beach, listened to the waves, got our feet wet, read, and talked. I think that qualifies as a productive afternoon, don't you?

Overall it was a very nice anniversary week.