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Wolf Point in the Keweenaw Peninsula;
taken years ago on a Sabbatical as I paddled about half
of the southern shore of Lake Superior.
Much calmer seas that day.
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In wisdom you have made them all;
the earth is full of your creatures.
Yonder is the sea, great and wide,
creeping things innumerable are there,
living things both small and great.
There go the ships,
and Leviathan that you formed to sport in it.
Psalm 104:24-26 NRSV
Well there goes that Leviathan... In over twenty-two years of preaching, I had never managed to include Leviathan in a sermon, until a couple of weeks ago. I figured it was about time since my retirement from the pulpit is coming quickly.
The awesomeness of God's creating activities and His playing with Leviathan according to this psalm, reminds me of my first kayak trip on Lake Superior.
It was a four day journey from Big Bay to Marquette with a group of clergy. Big Bay is only about twenty-five to thirty miles from Marquette, so it wasn't going to be a hard paddle. Except... three out of the four days we were paddling with small craft warnings. Now, those were some waves! Leviathan was considered more than once! We had to actually paddle quite a ways from the shoreline where the waves were more rolling than crashing so that we could ride them. The closer to shore, the more threatening the water. It was actually pretty awesome! I remember Pr. Peter Vorhes riding the waves in front of me, singing hymns! Now that was really awesome! Especially, since he has such a fantastic voice. "O Lord, my God, when I in awesome wonder consider all the works thy hands hath made..."
Was I afraid? I hate to admit it; as abnormal as it might seem to some people, I was not afraid. The wind and rain and waves were so great that it took all of my concentration to ride the waves much like a surfer would do. There was no time to be afraid. At one point, there was a long narrow peninsula we had to go around. Not far from the end of this peninsula was a small rock island. To get around this peninsula and the island, where the wave action was pretty fierce, we would have had to paddle a very long ways out... So, we chose to go between the little rocky island and the peninsula point, where the waves were bouncing off the island and crashing into the waves as they had bounced back from the little island. It was wild in there. We went through two by two. It only took about five minutes to get through; a ride of a life-time. Pr. Peter was only a couple yards away from me, but there were moments when he and his kayak disappeared from my sight completely as huge waves came up between us. I still cannot help but smile. When we made it through to slightly calmer seas; Pr. Peter, smiling, yelled at me through the storm, "let's do it, again!"
Playing with Leviathan...
That reminds me of another story... When my own children were young, I tried to get them to go canoeing with me on the New River in NC. I told them I was going to try to photograph some alligators. I realized then that is not the way to try to get someone to go paddling with you. It took quite a bit of convincing to get them to go with me. Alligators and Leviathan should usually be left out of the conversation if you would like anyone to join you on the water!
It was a four day journey from Big Bay to Marquette with a group of clergy. Big Bay is only about twenty-five to thirty miles from Marquette, so it wasn't going to be a hard paddle. Except... three out of the four days we were paddling with small craft warnings. Now, those were some waves! Leviathan was considered more than once! We had to actually paddle quite a ways from the shoreline where the waves were more rolling than crashing so that we could ride them. The closer to shore, the more threatening the water. It was actually pretty awesome! I remember Pr. Peter Vorhes riding the waves in front of me, singing hymns! Now that was really awesome! Especially, since he has such a fantastic voice. "O Lord, my God, when I in awesome wonder consider all the works thy hands hath made..."
Was I afraid? I hate to admit it; as abnormal as it might seem to some people, I was not afraid. The wind and rain and waves were so great that it took all of my concentration to ride the waves much like a surfer would do. There was no time to be afraid. At one point, there was a long narrow peninsula we had to go around. Not far from the end of this peninsula was a small rock island. To get around this peninsula and the island, where the wave action was pretty fierce, we would have had to paddle a very long ways out... So, we chose to go between the little rocky island and the peninsula point, where the waves were bouncing off the island and crashing into the waves as they had bounced back from the little island. It was wild in there. We went through two by two. It only took about five minutes to get through; a ride of a life-time. Pr. Peter was only a couple yards away from me, but there were moments when he and his kayak disappeared from my sight completely as huge waves came up between us. I still cannot help but smile. When we made it through to slightly calmer seas; Pr. Peter, smiling, yelled at me through the storm, "let's do it, again!"
Playing with Leviathan...
That reminds me of another story... When my own children were young, I tried to get them to go canoeing with me on the New River in NC. I told them I was going to try to photograph some alligators. I realized then that is not the way to try to get someone to go paddling with you. It took quite a bit of convincing to get them to go with me. Alligators and Leviathan should usually be left out of the conversation if you would like anyone to join you on the water!
God's Peace - Pr. J
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