launch time

Today my boat finally gets to go into the water. She’s ship-shape and raring to go. (What other shape would a boat be?) I will be loading her into the back of my car along with all the kit that goes along with her and heading off to Chelmsford Radio Yacht Club to relaunch her and also see what they’re like as a club. [STOP PRESS: I have now posted pictures of her in the water today.]

I am delighted that her builder and previous owner, Robert, will be with me as he can show me the ropes (literally) and will also get to sail her again. Lots of thoughts crowd into my mind right now about this, but the one with which I will leave you is this:

I have decided to name the boat ‘Charis’, which is Greek for ‘grace’. The boat’s lines are so graceful, and when she sails she looks so graceful. It seems a very apt name for other, personal, reasons too. Grace is inherent to the boat and her story.

The same is true of God’s grace. He doesn’t choose to be gracious, it’s part of who he is already – God is grace. We see that most obviously in Jesus: consider how gracious he was with his followers, giving them fresh chances again and again, even when they messed up so badly; look at how he dealt with people who had been broken and bruised by life (and, tragically, by religious people); listen to words like, “neither do I condemn you, go and leave your life of sin”; see him on the cross praying for the forgiveness of his tormentors and executioners, and despite the abuse from one of those crucified beside him, he has space to welcome the other thief into his kingdom… and don’t get me started on breakfast on the beach (John 21).

As free samples of Jesus, is his grace obvious when people look at us? Can they see it as we sail through life? Is it inherent within us so that we naturally respond with grace to those around us? There’s always room for more… perhaps it’s time for a prayer.

Be blessed, be a blessing.

There was a nice lady, a minister’s widow, who was a little old fashioned. She was planning a week’s vacation in California at Skylake Yosemite campground (Bass Lake, to the uninitiated), but she wanted to make sure of the accommodations first. Uppermost in her mind were bathroom facilities, but she couldn’t bring herself to write “toilet” in a letter. After considerable deliberation, she settled on “bathroom commode,” but when she wrote that down, it still sounded too forward, so, after the first page of her letter, she referred to the bathroom commode as “BC.”

“Does the cabin where I will be staying have its own ‘BC’? If not, where is the ‘BC’ located?” is what she actually wrote.

The campground owner took the first page of the letter and the lady’s cheque and gave it to his secretary. He put the remainder of the letter on the desk of the senior member of his staff without noticing that the staffer would have no way of knowing what “BC” meant. Then the owner went off to town to run some errands.

The staff member came in after lunch, found the letter, and was baffled by the euphemism, so he showed the letter around to several team members, but they couldn’t decipher it either. The staff member’s wife, who knew that the lady was the widow of a famous Baptist preacher, was sure that it must be a question about the local Baptist Church.

“Of course,” the first staffer exclaimed, “‘BC’ stands for ‘Baptist Church.’ ” And he sat down and wrote:

Dear Madam,

I regret very much the delay in answering your letter, but I now take the pleasure in informing you that the BC is located nine miles north of the campground and is capable of seating 250 people at one time. I admit it is quite a distance away if you are in the habit of going regularly, but no doubt you will be pleased to know that a great number of people take their lunches along and make a day of it. They usually arrive early and stay late.

The last time my wife and I went was six years ago, and it was so crowded we had to stand up the whole time we were there. It may interest you to know that right now there is a supper planned to raise money to buy more seats. They are going to hold it in the basement of the ‘BC.’

I would like to say that it pains me very much not to be able to go more regularly, but it is surely no lack of desire on my part. As we grow older, it seems to be more of an effort, particularly in cold weather. If you decide to come down to our campground, perhaps I could go with you the first time, sit with you, and introduce you to all the folks. Remember, this is a friendly community.”