Reflections of a Rev: February 2017

February 2017

Sitting in the computer room up in the new Cruisers Lounge on a beautiful Sunday morning having watched the spectacular sunrise over the hills to the east of Opua Marina.

Unfortunately this long spell of fine weather is coming to an end, courtesy of a weird pattern of fronts which have accumulated in the Tasman, holding up a high and generating extreme heat on the East coast of Australia.

The past couple of weeks have been a combination of maintenance and sailing - as per normal when I come to Opua! I managed to choose the very warmest days to paint the deck - at times it was over 30 deg and with little cooling breeze the paint seemed to be drying before it hit left the brush, with the deck too hot to walk on without my trusty old boat shoes.

I've been reading Richard Rohr's "A Spring within us" excellent new book of Daily Meditations." In it he begins by referring to a tradition in Latin called Sic et Non - which can be translated as "Yes or No" or "Yes, But" and "Yes, And". Rohr encourages us to be "Yes, And" thinkers and theologians - to recognise that we don't know all the answers and encouraging spiritual curiosity.... to be Big Seers that see with the eyes of God.

I thought of "Yes, And" and the whole process of maintenance and preparation. The means to an end. All the painting and fixing are part of the necessary process to enable the contemplation of Beauty encountered in the still mornings and glorious sunsets out amongst the islands and along the coast.

Kalai seems to be in a perpetual state of gradual entropy, a winding down and deterioration that requires vigour and dedication to counter - much like I seem to require! In a couple of weeks I will enter my seventh decade wrestling with similar issues of diminished capacity and ability. I can no longer seriously contemplate running to the top of the steep hill which leads down to the harbour - and my torn meniscus reminds me to be careful in walking around the deck and the dock. Still, ("and Yet) I have much for which I deeply grateful - for family and friends who will gather over the next couple of weeks to help celebrate with me. For this opportunity to be in such a beautiful spot and to enjoy the sometimes breathtaking beauty which surrounds me. Deeply grateful.

A few photos... more to come (time for breakfast!)