Diving Lake Travis

Well I spent last Friday and Saturday diving with a group of friends in Lake Travis near Austin, TX. We managed to get 4 dives in over a little less than 24 hours. Visibility was only about 10 feet on average, but the deeper we went, the clearer it was. We had one night dive at the dam. I was following Dale at about 25 feet and we went over an underwater limestone cliff that dropped off immediately in front of us. We went spread eagle and more or less free fell into the dark. I turned off my light and watched Dale below me, silhouetted by his light and falling into nothingness before arriving at the bottom about 65 feet down. Experiences like that are quickly becoming one of my favorite things about diving. Saturday morning we dived off Windy Point and found a pecan grove standing in about 80 feet of water. We also found a pocket in the side of a limestone cliff about 55 feet down that we were able to fill with air and stand in and talk to one another. All in all it was a great trip and I look forward to our next outing. The picture above is the four of us at Windy Point after our last dive.

I'm BACK!

Hello all! (assuming anyone is still checking up on me!) I had a login failure and it took a series of back and forth communications (and miscommunications) with blogger.com to get it straightened out. But I am still here! I will try to get caught up soon. Man...it feels a little like I am coming up for air after being under too long.

TOC Changes

In thinking through my outline below, I am reconsidering the order. It might make more sense to begin with the Christian year and then consider the week and day. I'm also thinking that each section should begin with a description of the practice (section D) and then go on to the biblical, theological, and historical basis.

I know several of you are reading and interested in the subject. Feel free to post questions, arguments, etc. The conversation will help.

The Persistence of Time

Premise One: Time pervades all of my waking activities. Rarely, if ever (perhaps in the BVI, where "island time" is a reference to no time at all) is my day not structured according to the "when" of my daily activities. I've quit wearing a watch since I have a clock on my cell phone, on my laptop, in my car, in almost every room of my house, and on the wrist of most my friends. Some days I am even more concerned about the "when" than the "what." This is a reality and one which I am merely recognizing. However, it begs the question, if time has seeped into every nook and cranny of my life, should I not then seek to order it in a spiritually beneficial way? Humanity enjoys finding and celebrating cycles in life. We celebrate our birthdays, anniversaries, the seasons, graduations, weddings, and in a way, even death. What cycles do I find in my life and do they draw me into closer relationship with Christ or do they tend to disregard Christ and the new life that is mine (or better said, "ours")? I find that they tend to disregard. So I am proceeding in my study in the firm conviction that whatever my findings, I want to find a means of observing and organizing my time to reflect my confession of faith in the Triune God. Ideally the solution will lend itself to both private and corporate worship. Also lurking in the back of my mind is how I might apply the solution to my family on a daily basis.

Anyway, that is where I am in the process mentally. I'm also reading Ancient-Future Time by Robert Webber and Calendar by Laurence Stookey. It is difficult to take all of it in at once. If I were going to write a book (or could have one ready-made), I think the table of contents would look something like this:

Introduction: Why Observe Sacred Time?
I. The Christian Day
A. Biblical Basis
B. Theological Basis
C. Historical Basis (an appeal to tradition)
D. Practice
II. The Christian Week
A. Biblical Basis
B. Theological Basis: The Sabbath and Christian Time
C. Historical Basis (an appeal to tradition)
D. Practice
III. The Christian Year
A. Biblical Basis
B. Theological Basis
C. Historical Basis (an appeal to tradition)
D. Practice
Conclusion: Putting it all together
Appendix A: The Place of the Sacraments
Appendix B: A Family Affair
Appendix C: Theological Presuppositions

Let's use this TOC as a working model to guide our thinking. What are your suggestions?

and again, for the last time.

And finally, looking back from across the pond.

and again...

Looking across the front to the pond...

The Retreat

Coming up the drive to the house...

A Perspective on Time

I wasn't raised in a religious tradition that paid much attention to the liturgy or a Christian approach to ordering time. However, in recent years I've begun to try and get caught up on what I missed. Now that I am free of the mixed blessing of assigned reading, I am planning on doing some more reading in this area and thinking out loud about Christian time. This space offers a great place to do that. If you have something to contribute, I'd love to get your input, especially if you were raised in this tradition and have an intuitive understanding of it. So feel free to jump in.

I'm ordering my thoughts along two primary axes. First, I want to learn more about the practice of observing and ordering time from a Christian perspective, especially with regard to the cycle of the day, the week, and the year. The second is the biblical/theological underpinning for such practice. My motivation stems from an appreciation of the Christ-centered focus the observance brings to daily life; the community that is implied in an observance that is shared by those members of the body of Christ from whom I am separated by time and geography; and the growth in my understanding of the new life in Christ that is taught implicitly through the rites of the liturgy, especially as it is observed in the Morning, Evening, and Compline Rites as well as the Lectionary.

My primary text for this journey is the Book of Common Prayer. I am using the 1979 edition as it seems to be the most common edition in use today. However, as my study advances, including my study of the history of the prayer book, the previous editions and the editorial work that separates them, will likely be useful to my study.

I have also moderately studied the Orthodox faith and especially with regard to their daily cycle, will take occasional excursions into the rich history of that faith in order to maintain some historical and cultural perspective.

I hope as I find myself satiated not only to have grown personally in my understanding of the Christian observance of time and in my own spiritual life, but also to be able to provide those in the Baptist context in which I minister another means by which to experience relationship with their Creator and Redeemer. Hopefully by encouraging them to adopt or incorporate certain elements of the Christian observance of time they will discover that God is not merely the God of their Sundays, but of every one of their moments, even as he has been since he ordered their procession.

So I invite you to join me either as teacher or as fellow student. I welcome warnings of pending pitfalls as well as recommendations for library enlargement. We have nothing but time.