“Come bow beneath the flowing wave. Christ stands here by your side

and raises you as from the grave God raised the crucified.”

– Thomas Troeger

Beloved of God,

When the crab boat Scandies Rose went down in frigid Alaskan waters last week, rescuers managed to save two of the seven crew members, plucking them from a life raft in the middle of the night in high seas and a -10 wind chill.  As hard as it is for me to imagine crewing on a crab boat it’s even harder for me to imagine being on a Coast Guard rescue crew that would be called to action under conditions such as these.  (The year I tried out for the high school water polo team quickly led me to the conclusion that water was not my medium for athletic success!)  The truth is the Coast Guard’s rescue diver training program is the toughest and most demanding of any branch of the military.  The attrition rate for the training program hovers around 50%.  The base physical fitness requirements are daunting—performance minimums include:  50 push-ups, 60 sit-ups, 5 pull-ups, 5 chin-ups, a 500 yard crawl swim in 12 minutes, a 25 year underwater swim (repeated four times), a buddy tow of 200 yards. Recommended fitness metrics are even higher.  Add to these the need to think clearly and perform challenging tasks while submerged, holding your breath, and getting tossed around my 10-20 ft. waves; then mix in the harsh and frigid conditions that are the norm for boats plying Alaskan waters in the winter, and my awe and admiration for those who feel called to this work grows ever higher.  A high level of discipline is required of those who take on these physically and psychologically demanding roles.

In her book on the Rule of Benedict, Joan Chittister writes about another kind of discipline; the discipline of the spiritual life:

“The spiritual life is not something that is gotten for the wishing or assumed by affectation. The spiritual life takes discipline.  It is something to be learned, to be internalized.  It’s not a set of daily exercises; it’s a way of life, an attitude of mind, an orientation of soul.  And it is gotten by being schooled until no rules are necessary.”[1]

She retells a story from the ancients:

“What action shall I perform to attain God?” the disciple asked the elder.

“If you wish to attain God,” the elder replied, “there are two things you must know.  The first is that all efforts to attain God are of no avail.  The second is that you must act as if you did not know the first.”

Chittister concludes: “The secret of the spiritual life is to live it until it becomes real.”

If you’re experience is like mine, the challenges that were present in 2019 are still present in 2020.  As in years past, events both within and beyond our control will demand a response from us.  How will we respond?  For my part, I believe the best strategy for attending to these challenges is to follow the path of Jesus within the context of community.  This Way has its origins in the waters of baptism—waters that both drown and save us; waters that claim and name us; waters that follow us, wherever we go, our whole life long.  When two of our young people, Austin and Kimberly, come forward to be baptized on January 12, let’s “bow beneath the flowing wave” with them and join the refrain of all the baptized through the centuries:

Water, River, Spirit, Grace, sweep over me, sweep over me!

Recarve the depths your fingers traced in sculpting me.[2]

With you, on the Way, Pastor Erik

[1] Joan Chittister, The Rule of Benedict: A Spirituality for the 21st Century. (New York: Crossroads, 2010) p. 21

[2] Thomas Troeger.