Summer Journey-Day Two

It was an active Wednesday. We experienced much more than I expected. 

We  first visited Tybee Island for an early morning breakfast. Tybee Island is "Savannah's Beach".  Following breakfast we took a walk on the beach. It was low tide and the beach had yet to be populated for the day. It was indeed a peaceful time.

It was at breakfast Judy made the observation that we were actually at the eastern most point of U.S. Highway 80. This is a familiar thoroughfare because it passes through my hometown of Meridian. MS.  It didn't take long to find it. It was actually a few hundred yards down the road from where we were parked. The sign behind the monument says "my other end is in San Dieago". It was neat to find an unexpected landmark.

A visit to Tybee Isalnd would not be complete without seeing the Tybee Light House. The Tybee Island Light Station was a brief drive back up the beach. A present foot problem squelched my motivation to climb to the top of the light house. I had actually climbed it before so I wasn't "bummed" about it. Ghost Tie did get to see it. There seems to be something ever inspiring about a light house.

On the return trip from Tybee Island to Savannah we stopped at Fort Polaski. Fort Polaski has a "Titanicisk" history in the fact it was deemed an impenetrable strong hold for Confederate forces injuring the early days of the Civil War. It proved quite the contrary. It was afoot that fell in only a matter of days.

We then spent a good portion of the day touring Savannah. Savannah is certainly historic and beautiful. It is truly a city steeped in heritage with a byline of intrigue and mystery. Savannah can claim the largest historical district in the U.S. It is obviously not short of beautifully restored homes and buildings.

The later part of the afternoon we made the 45 minute drive to Beaufort, SC. Quaint. The only word I can use is quaint. Beaufort is a quaint bay front town with quaint shops and restaurants. It also is home to the quaint Beaufort Inn in which we registered into our quaint room. It is truly a picturesque inn with a fabulous bistro. Yes...we bistroed.

Beaufort is comfortable. After a phenomenal meal at our guest house we strolled down to the towns waterfront. A nice breeze was blowing off the water and from distant rain storms. It turned out to be one of those moments of one would languish in forever. However, we each know all good things come to an end.

Day Two Highlights

-20 minute drive to Tybee Island, 45 minute drive to Beaufort. 

-Many wonderful sights seen and interests experienced.

Summer Journey

I've been anticipating this trip for quite a while. Judy and I began to discuss it almost immediately when #screaminouida was planned. So for the better part of a year we've considered what all we might want to do.

With firm plans for the first Darsey Family Reunion in place, Judy and I discussed a visit with her dad and his wife. That broadened our journey greatly. While the number of travel miles greatly increased, we gained the opportunity to visit coastal Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina.

Judy and I began to fill in the gaps with our own journey. However, we purposefully left our plans ambiguous. We have some definite things we want to see and experience. We also have left ourselves wide open to explore. We have always enjoyed an amount of spontaneity in our travel.

So it began today...our Summer Journey. Our trip includes anticipated family time. It also includes a few days for the two of us to travel alone. Our trip includes firm scheduling. It also includes days of impetuous adventuring.

I hope to be able to "report from the road". I'm not going to make myself any promises. I am looking forward to history and beauty. I'm looking forward to meaningful time and energy invested in things I find interesting.  Most of all, I'm looking forward to meaningful time with people I love.

Day One-Travel Day

-Winona to Jackson for Judy's post-surgery doctors visit

-Jackson to Savannah, GA. We left Jackson at 9:38 am. We traveled 10 hours and 22 minutes and covered 628 miles. With only two rest stops totaling less than twenty minutes, we were blessed with an abundant amount of windshield time.

Catalog the Catalog

In the course of the season I inventory my personal catalog of Christmas memories. My "snippets of the ages", memories that cover childhood to young adulthood to parenthood to life now in the middle-ages, is stamped with the promise that "some day i'll migrate that catalog to a medium 'less prone'" to deterioration".

(It is unfortunate that only one "road" is designated to be paved with good intentions. If other roads could be paved with good intentions, our paths would assuredly be flawless.)

Like many, my catalog of Christmas memories includes a catalog. The Sears and Roebuck Christmas Catalog was a magic cornucopia of goodies. It was a treasure trove of Christmas bounty. My dad worked at the "brick and mortar" Sears Store mere blocks from our house. The toy department of that store did not hold as much magic as the annual Sears and Roebuck Christmas Catalog.

While "us kids" were never mindful of the exact date "The Catalog" would arrive, the child lucky enough to discover it in the mailbox became a sort of prize winner. First, the "Prize Winner" was awarded a "head start" in Christmas discovery.

Every child in our cohort possessed the skill to rapidly and proficiently digest the massive amount of information about: a) what items "The Catalog" contained and b) the pertinent facts about the items. It was then that the "Prize Winner" became the possessor of highly valuable and relevant intelligence.

This intelligence became part of the prize. After all, it would likely be a while until "your turn" at "The Catalog". The possessor of such intelligence would immediately ascend to the top of everyone's popularity list. This put the "Prize Winner" in the honored position of dispensing the treasured intelligence.

A CIA analyst could not be more effective assimilating valuable intel and then disseminating that intel to the the most effective agent than did the "Prize Winner" of "The Catalog" on his or her first perusal of the season. The "Prize Winner" was awarded with the satisfaction of being the "dispense-or". The "dispensee" usually was grateful for any morsel not matter how incomplete or tainted.

Most of us who had our turn at being the "Prize Winner" today would likely be labeled a tyrannical despot. If one of our cohort might be brave enough to exhibit resistance to being "dispense-ed", then the "dispense-or" would in all likelihood load the disrespecting-of-popularity-non-conformist with the entire load of intel that personally pertained to them, thus completely impotent their attempt at delay of satisfaction.

A page from the toy section of the 1962 Sears Christmas Catalog

Thoughts of Christmas past flooded my mind when my sister forwarded the following link to

The Bees Knees Daily

You'll see the catalog page above is from this site. It's been a wonderful few days to reclaim memories surrounding Christmas. May the joy and peace of the Christ of Christmas be with you.

Blessings!

Mount Monadnock

This is a place I have never been. However, I received a blessing from having visited there in a recent reading. I felt compelled to share it in this forum. I am in the midst of reading “Practice Resurrection: A Conversation On Growing Up in Christ”. Eugene Peterson is a gifted and prolific writer. In this book he encourages the “saint” to maturity by drawing truths from the book of Ephesians. Peterson concludes one chapter by sharing a poem by his friend, Robert Siegel

“Looking For Mt. Monadnoc" by Robert Siegel

We see the sign, “Monadnock State Park”

as it flashes by, after a mile or two

decide to go back, “We can’t pass by Mondnock

without seeing it,” I say, turning around.

We head down the side road – “Monadnock Realty,”

“Monadnock Pottery,” “Monadnock Designs,”

but no Mt. Monadnock. Then the signs fall away –

nothing but trees and the darkening afternoon.

We don’t speak, pass a clearing, and you say,

“I think I saw it, or part of it – a bald rock?”

Miles and miles more. Finally, I pull over

and we consult a map. “Monadnock’s right there.”

“Or just back a bit there.” “But we should see it –

we’re practically on top of it.” And driving back

we look – trees, a flash of clearing, purple rock -

but we are, it seems, too close to see it

It is here. We are on it. It is under us

Then Peterson writes, “this resurrection-life, this growing-up-in-Christ life, this Christian life that some people talk about and many others read about is a Mt. Monadnock kind of life”. He goes on, “we read the words, we see the signs. We hear the talk, we read the poems, sing the hymns, pray the prayers”. “We never see the mountain”. Why do we never see Jesus? “Why” like Peterson asks “does He not advertise Himself?” Peterson concludes with “the short answer”. “God reveals himself in personal relationship, and personal relationship only. God is not a phenomena to be considered. God is not a force to be used. God is not a proposition to be argued. There is nothing in or of God impersonal, nothing abstract, nothing imposed. And God treats us with an equivalent personal dignity. He isn’t out to impress us. He is here to eat bread with us and receive us into his love, just as we are, just where we are.” Why do we not see God? He is here.

Affirming Trust

It is easy to find the solid truths of faith and life when looking back. After all, "hind-sight is twenty-twenty".

This is a thought that has personal application. It is usual that I come to discover God's grace and provision in the above manner. It is easy to trust His grace when I can comprehend it and the warmth of His assurance when storm has ebbed. His  presence can be affirmed by tracing where His hand has been.

The poem "Footprints" reminds me that the grace and provision of God are realized when the believer views life in retrospect. He or she can find the evidence and testimony of God's sustenance.

The work of God viewed in retrospect is affirming, but does this equate to trust? Yes, affirmation is an essential part of God's redeeming work. Affirmation strengthens the potential of trust by mooring us to the faithfulness of God. However, affirmation and trust are not the same attribute.

In light of this, how capable am I to arrive at complete trust? Does my heart truly "trust God" in wilderness days? Do I only endure until the time I can "look back" with clarity and am able to "trace the hand of God". When the storm rages, do I trust?

While this thought is personal, I apply it corporately. I believe "a challenge to trust" is something that rings true in the life of most every believer. My journey with fellow believers sustains this proposition. Many, me among the first, know affirmation but have not yet found a distinction between it and trust.

Why draw a distinction? Why not allow trust to stand in general harmony with affirmation?

There is a reason I consider a distinction between affirmation and trust. It seems likely I have completely misunderstood what it means to trust. It has been my thought that I needed to trust God to provide peace. Recently I have been challenged to consider a different perspective. I'll attempt to develop this thought further.

I'll use the miracle of Jesus calming the storm as an example. In this miracle fear of the disciples was assuaged when Jesus calmed the storm. He removed  the obstacle that drove their fear. Jesus calmed their fear by calming the storm.  This is reasonable interpretation.

It seems reasonable that if Jesus calmed their storm He would calm mine. My reasoning says I should trust Jesus to calm the storm that might rage around me. If Jesus calmed the fear of the disciples by calming the storm then I need to trust in God to calm my storm.

Then comes the poignant statement Jesus makes. He asks, "where is your faith?" Like the disciples I stand amazed at the miraculous work of Christ to calm the storm but what have I done with His question, "where is your faith?"

I have long realized that faith is not measured by whether or not the storm is calmed. Trust is not measured by the presence of suffering. Faith and trust do not dictate the metaphorical weather.

I can trust God to be "the provider of peace". God is provider but if I trust only for provision, peace will be absent. God calms the storm, but if only trust Him to control the weather then I'll know calm, but not peace.

I must trust God to "be peace" not just provide it. The finiteness of this world compels it to chaos. Perhaps if I trust God to "be peace" instead of "trusting in God to bring peace" then "that peace that supersedes all of my understanding" will be cultivated.

Just a though.

Christmas Past

To speak to memories on this Christmas Eve is somewhat overwhelming. I'll let the "1,000 Words" each picture is worth speak.

Happy Advent

Over the past several years I have been in a habit of wishing those I pass a “Merry Christmas”. Your immediate response might be “so...what’s the big deal”. “Merry Christmas” is a staple during this season. But......

It is not uncommon for me on January 9 or March 23 or some other arbitrary day to say “Merry Christmas” to individuals I encounter. This is atypical. My out-of-season “Merry Christmas” often evokes the response of...”aren’t you a little late for that”. My usual response is “no...I wanted to be the first to wish you a Merry Christmas for this year”.

Anyone who has gone through this script (at least has gone through it for the first time) almost always responds with a smile. With the smile comes an affirmation that this is indeed their first “Merry Christmas” for the year. My intent with this exercise is to offer levity and encouragement. I certainly have no intent to treat the holiday flagrantly.

This exercise was recently turned “on its head”. Earlier this fall a new friend emailed me an innocuous question. He was in need of some pertinent information. I recall I did not have the information but referred him to someone who might have it. I added to the email something to the effect “that if no one has wished you a Merry Christmas this year, allow me to be the first....Merry Christmas”.

Until earlier this fall I had only known this friend through business. It was business that provided the opportunity for us to become more acquainted. Through business I found a friend who dwells in a genuine and profound Christian faith.

My friend responded to my forwarded recommendation with “thank you”. He responded to my “Merry Christmas” with a wish for the blessing of a Happy Advent. His response was gracious and intended.

My initial response to his return email was a quaint nod, inward smile and quick dismissal. I recall a brief thought that “we expressed a mutual wish”. Merry Christmas and Happy Advent are the same, aren’t they?  With that I archived the email and marked our business complete. I moved on to other tasks. I gave no further thought to the comment.

It was  few days later in the course of my morning routine I heard the echo of “Happy Advent” and my immediate thought was “Merry Christmas is insufficient; it’s  incomplete”. Merry Christmas and Happy Advent ARE NOT NECESSARILY same.

Southern Baptists generally are not acquainted with the Christian Liturgical Calendar. Its cycle is not familiar and its symbolism and meaning are generally avoided.It was not too many years ago that I developed even a minimal understanding of Advent and the Christian Calendar in general.

I can blame my lack of liturgical heritage for my ignorance and subsequent lack of regard for the great celebration that is the season of Advent. I desire to no longer confine my remembrance and celebration to the birth of Christ only. I pray my remembrance encompasses His coming.

Like the prophets, may I anticipate the redeeming work of Messiah.
Like the angels, may I proclaim His coming.
Like the Shepherds, may I kneel before HIm.
Like the Wise Men, may I worship Him.
Like Mary, may I surrender in obedience to the will of the Father.

Emmanuel---God with us!

Happy Advent.