For Saturday, August 23, 2014 This ‘travel log’ may have been or is boring to you. If so, sorry, and if not, good. Actually it takes a little time each day, and on vacation, it’s easy to say, “Well, those good folks need a few days ‘off’ too.” I find that life works better if you have a devoted time for others, and for the practice of personal disciplines. It feels important to me to stay in touch with our ‘ordinary’ world, which includes our daily routines, even when away. Some of my psychologist friends think differently in this area! Maybe a better way to put it, is that it’s good being in touch with people you have come to appreciate, feel with and for, and in some cases, come to love. A theme during these quick passing seven days that keeps recurring is that, the world is God’s-- and the people in it. Being at home or away is opportunity to see what small difference our attitudes, beliefs and behaviors make in the real world. Whether it’s talking to a watch seller, a lady taxi driver, or the stewardess of our cabin, such things have importance far beyond our understanding, like the crew member who spoke of ‘kind and gentle Americans.’ The goings on in the world these days almost weigh you down to the point of surrender. Nothing will do any good, we may think, and these kinds of sad and often violent things will continue. At the moment, I’m thinking of the reporter so cruelly killed, or any man, woman, or child, taken out in a moment of military operation. And there is so much more. We want our president to act, to fix it; our congress to clean up the mess and do what needs doing. We expect our representatives to represent us—and not some lobbying group or power broker—and when they don’t, we might even re-elect them anyway, and complain without voting. All this and more points a finger at who needs to be doing what: you and I. How we do what we do, and in what spirit, and for whose good other than our own is the bottom line. We actually have only hours left on this cruise. We’ll be in port in Miami by eight on this morning. There is still a lot to do, and much to see before we’re home again, Lord willing. But there will also be a number of chances for us to show ‘what we’re made of,’ and offer a view of Americans and believers that just might be positive, good, and make for a better world. Most might laugh at such naiveté. I can’t, and won’t because it’s what we have that we can work here and now. Whether at sea or on land. At every meal we still tip cups or glasses, and say, “On top of the world,” in loving memory of grand daddy Earl and others dear to us gone over to God’s side. And we hold hands to say a little blessing. Not for public view, but as a family faith tradition. While doing such a brief prayer at lunch yesterday, one of the crew members assigned to the Flamingo restaurant, looked at us as if to say, “Quaint. Rare. Interesting.” I’d like to hope to someone somewhere that it might mean more than that. Always love always Keith
Posted on: Sat, 23 Aug 2014 12:08:35 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015