It's official

Now preaching at a church near you ...

June Happenings

It's been a while since I've updated the blog so here's a run down on what we've been up to this past month.

A couple weeks ago we marched in the Boston Pride Parade with Liz's new church. It was amazing to see the reaction of people in the crowd when they saw a pastor in a clerical collar marching in the parade. Liz carried on a Smith family tradition by carrying a "Choose Love" sign. It's a message that works for pretty much any occasion.


Last weekend we took a trip to Owatonna, Minnesota for Ryan and Mariah's wedding. It was a beautiful ceremony at Mariah's church and reception at a nearby golf course.



Touring the modern art of Minneapolis.
Interactive Art?
This afternoon will be Liz's Installation at First Presbyterian Church, Waltham so more to come on that soon ...

Rev. Liz, ad gradum Divinitatis Magistri

Yes it's true, when my wife preaches to me I have to listen to her now. On Thursday, June 4th Liz earned her Master of Divinity (M. Div.) and today, Saturday, June 6th she was ordained as a minister of the word and sacrament in the Presbyterian Church, USA. She will go on to begin a position as co-paster at the First Presbyterian Church of Waltham, MA beginning in early July.

The graduation ceremony was held at the Harvard Memorial Church and was followed by a very nice luncheon on the lawn at Andover Hall. The ordination was held at Clarendon Hill Presbyterian Church where Liz worked during her third year of divinity school. We had many friends and family at both events and enjoyed getting the chance to celebrate with them all. Here are some pictures of the events.

Graduation

Dean Graham awarding Liz her degree

Angels Mariah and Liz (see them featured also in the Boston Herald)
Michael, Leanne, Mariah, Anna, Liz and Rob

Ordination

Liz doing her first communion

Augustus, Ann, Rob, Liz, Karl, Dudley and Burns
Ann from Presbytary of the Cascades
Rob, Liz's new co-pastor

Congratulations Liz !!!

It Was 20 Years Ago Today that Sgt. Pepper Taught the Band to Play

On June 4th, 1989, a million people were cleared out of Tienanmen Square by Chinese army tanks. I found it interesting, though not surprising, to read in the past week's news coverage that the Chinese youth of today have little knowledge of this event because the media was so restricted at the time of the event and continues to be restricted to this day. Despite initial reports from the Chinese Red Cross that 2,600 people were killed they now deny ever issuing those reports and the Chinese government put the official death toll at 241.

This week, websites, news agencies and other media outlets in China have been blocked, shut down, censored and otherwise restricted from making any mention of Tienanmen square and the protests that occurred there. Vocal critics deemed likely to make note of these events have been preemptively placed under house arrest.

Unfortunately foreign governments and political leaders will make no protests of their own because the world needs China to help with growing nuclear threats from N. Korea and Iran and companies that do business in China (even media and internet service providers that will be involuntarily censored) will say nothing because they have to keep Chinese government officials happy in the hopes that they can expand into China's ever-growing, ever-strengthening market.

So, until Chinese media and Chinese citizens gain the right to free speech the rest of the world has to do our part in remembering, and talking about, these events and hoping that they will one day be seen as pivotal moments in the path to obtaining the basic human rights and freedoms that many non-Chinese citizens enjoy today.

Day Trip to Rockport

Today Liz and I took a trip with friends Andrew and Josh up to Rockport, Massachusetts. It's about an hour drive and the seaside town has lots of little shops, restaurants and a picturesque harbor and jetty. Here are some pictures. The red house is supposedly the most often painted building in America.

Boston Harbor Sailing

I finally made it back out onto the water after a couple weeks off. Yesterday Liz, Mariah, Ryan and I went sailing with a group of people out into Boston Harbor and to the harbor islands in the hopes of seeing the Volvo racing boats set out for Ireland. We passed by them at the docks as we sailed out of the harbor but by the time of their scheduled 1 o'clock start a dense fog rolled in and we couldn't see a thing. Before the fog arrived we'd sailed all the way to Spectacle Island and tried to dock to use the facilities but they turned us away as they didn't allow any boat without a motor into their harbor. On this map (click on it to enlarge) we sailed from the very top left where it says Boston (we were towed out of the Charles River through the locks) out to spectacle island just left of the center of the map.
However, when the fog settled in shortly after we departed the island on our way back to see the start of the race we decided to turn back to the island in the hope that they might be a little more hospitipal, and they were. We docked and explored the visitors center and the island, which was beautiful by any standards but especially so considering it's made up primarily of land fill. You'd never know it from the flowers, grassy areas with picknic benches and variety of bird species. The island also has a ferry dock and visitors' center that uses solar energy, radiant heat and a no-chemical, no-water, composting sewer system.

The fog lifted mid afternoon and we sailed back to Boston on a broad reach until the wind died around the airport where they tied us all back up and towed us through the locks back to Community Boating.

Here's our boat safely moored in the marina at Spectacle Island

Here are some of the other boats in our group anchoring in the fog.


Not sure why I'm sticking my tongue out (Spectacle Island in the background after the fog lifted).
The afternoon sail home.
Here's Liz having a good time while we're towed around in circles waiting for a drawbridge to open (locks in the background).

Well this past weekend I did something I'd been thinking about doing for a while. I got my motorcycle license! I took a two day beginner rider course through the Massachusetts Rider Education Program (conducted by Motorcycle Safety Foundation certified instructors) and a company called Ironstone Ventures. The course was held at Bunker Hill Community College (yes, where Good Will Hunting was filmed). It was two days split between classroom work and riding drills where I learned all the basics like shifting, balancing, turning, starting and stopping as well as some things like emergency breaking in corners, driving over obstacles (we drove over 2x4's), swerving and quick stopping. I'm not sure if I'll be getting a bike any time soon but hopefully I can ride with some of you guys back in Oregon next time I'm out for a visit.