KINDNESS & Patience

Love is patient... And I'm not. This reminds me of a well known quote from the movie Rudy, where a priest consoling Rudy promotes two incontrovertible facts, "There is a God... And I'm not Him."

Patience and KINDNESS go together. On SV KINDNESS there is no saying, "Let's just get there." There is nothing instantaneous about it. The distance KINDNESS covers in twelve hours can be covered by a car on a freeway in one hour. There is even a saying, "If you want to go somewhere fast, don't take a boat".

So is KINDNESS slow? No, as far as sailboats go, she is pretty speedy especially when the wind is just slightly behind her. At the same time, there are certainly faster sailboats. KINDNESS is a wonderful mix of performance, comfort, and cost.

On the Inter-coastal Waterway(ICW), KINDNESS is about as big a sailboat you will find. Her sixty three foot mast barely fits under the many sixty five foot fixed bridges. On the ICW, KINDNESS is passed by just about everything. She is passed by jet skis, power boats, and even super yachts. She doesn't mind though because they are all just sprinters. KINDNESS is a marathon runner and she can go the distance. We have already traveled well over two thousand nautical miles on her so far and she lives to sail.

They say if you are scared of heights go do a high ropes adventure course. It will either cure you or drive you crazy. So here I am hanging out with patience and KINDNESS. It remains to be seen whether it cures me or drives me crazy.

Perhaps peace can be found in the stillness of patience overseen by KINDNESS.

©2023 Living Source

KINDNESS & Restoring

Challenges. What are challenges? They are obstacles, bumps in the road toward a perceived goal. They take away a piece of ourselves, creating a void to be filled with something better, more meaningful. They refine us. They purify our authority in this world so we can be worthy of a great calling. Out with the old and in with new.

Are there any challenges associated with restoring a fifteen year old boat named KINDNESS, more than a few. There is not a major system on KINDNESS we have not touched and in some cases even replaced. The process is exhausting. Yet, KINDNESS is being restored.

You have probably heard me say this before and I will undoubtedly say it again, "What matters most is unseen, the physical counts for nothing". Every challenge is an opportunity for restoration but where do we go for repairs when we are broken? Who restores us? Who is capable of making us new? I recall the Indiana Jones quote from the movie, Raiders of the Lost Ark where he comically compares being physically worn out to that of an old car, "It's not years, it's the mileage."

We live in a world where we are constantly poked by our challenges, saying to us "You are not enough" over and over. It wears on you over time, our own challenges, or even the challenge of loving others with their challenges.

When I look at a sunrise with Diane resting in my arms, I am reminded of grace/unconditional Love and the unconditional love speaks to me, "You are, enough" and for a moment I know peace. I need the constant reminder.

Sometimes, it seems, Diane and I have experienced and witnessed so many deep challenges, there is not much left of the original us. The original us has been purified away in a fiery furnace the way metal is melted, purified, and ultimately reformed into something more purposeful. I think this is true for anyone who cares deeply about others and tries to do what is right.

However, I have to contend with a lingering desire to hold on to a worldly part of the old me. I sometimes get mad, and rebel against the process. Perhaps KINDNESS and all her challenges is teaching me to embrace who I am meant to become. Some might even call this maturity. So KINDNESS is maturing but then again, so am I.

Thanks for allowing us to share a piece of KINDNESS with you.

KINDNESS is being restored.

©2023 Living Source