“How many times have we flown to the Mediterranean to SailingActs?” Janet and I pondered somewhere over the Atlantic in the wee hours of May 8. At least 50 times, we thought, maybe a little smugly.
The smugness of experience dissipated in Athens, where we needed to stay overnight in order to catch the flight to Samos the next morning. Casual check of online reservation. June 8. Wait a minute, this is May! So for the next 30 minutes, I frantically weighed the options, then bought another ticket for May 8. (SailingActs was scheduled for launch in the afternoon of that day.) There’s nothing like experience to help us get it wrong.
Passages are marked with highs and lows, not numbers. Back on SailingActs this Sunday morning, with Vivaldi playing, we are happy to be home, marking and celebrating passages.
Passage marker 1 – Just before we left Harrisonburg, the project of 20 years on the Med, and 3 years of writing arrived! Just in time to take a few copies along for friends and colleagues in Turkey. “On the Face of the Deep: The Sea in Scripture” is officially to be released on May 27, but Baker is offering a pre-release discount here: https://bakeracademic.com/products/9781540971395_on-the-face-of-the-deep The website gives content information and reading sample. If you miss the deadline its available on Amazon and other outlets: https://www.amazon.com/s?k=Linford+Stutzman+On+the+face+of+the+deep&i=todays-deals&crid=QRPOJ7Y8V307&sprefix=linford+stutzman+on+the+face+of+the+deep%2Ctodays-deals%2C359&ref=nb_sb_noss
Passage marker 2 – Aram DiGennaro is a neighbor, friend, and the very first seminary student who sailed with Janet and me back in 2004 aboard SailingActs. This experience launched SailingActs Journeys, which came to an official end last fall with 60 EMU Alumni and Friends tour, with Cantore singing biblical sea-shanties. A good trip to end on. 22 years after taking Aram aboard, followed by 30 or so voyages with almost three hundred participants – undergraduate and graduate students, and many other explorers of all ages – Janet and I were wondering if those wonderful, immersive learning experiences would end with our retirement.
Passage marker 3 – THIS IS NOT THE END IT IS THE BEGINNING OF A NEW PASSAGE! Aram DiGennaro, that first student, has taken the helm! “Passages and Periplus” has launched. Check out his beautiful new website for details: https://passageandperiplus.com/
So we still look for new passage markers: the end of tyrants inflicting suffering, the injustice of wealth used for destruction instead of care for the needy, the end of the insanity of destroying our planet to satisfy billionaires, for the coming of the Kingdom of God.