Dolphins and Waiting

Dolphins and Waiting

“So God created the great sea monsters and every living creature that moves, of every kind, with which the waters swarm.” Genesis 1:21

 I wake up too late to see the sun rising spectacle on the Gulf of Mexico, but it is still quiet with only the blue heron and pelicans and sea gulls stirring about. A lone Share the Beach sea turtle volunteer now arrives with her stethoscope to monitor the walled off clutch of turtle eggs just in front of our condominium. A second turtle volunteer in her green shirt arrives from a different direction. They are conferencing. They think tonight may be the night. I just want to sit. Something keeps me from checking my email or going over my sermon for later this morning one more time. I just wait.  Something tells me to wait.

There are not words to describe what soon happens A white fishing boat motors then pauses, then motors on the horizon. On either side, in front, and behind the boat are at least five or six dolphins swimming, jumping out of the water beside the boat! My instinct is to yell out to the fishermen to turn off their motor. I don’t want the dolphins to get caught in the engine. Are these dolphins being trained for some aquarium? They follow so closely.

The fishermen don’t seem to be observing the dolphins. This must be old hat to them. I don’t see them throwing fish to get the dolphins to entice them to follow the boat. The boat turns around and the dolphins follow pursuing the boat until it is out of sight. It was brief but like something I had never seen before.  I google “why dolphins follow boats.” This may not be an uncommon occurrence, but it was new to me. It is called bow riding when the dolphins surf in the wave created by boats and wake riding when dolphins swim along and surf in the waves created by the back of boats. Google cannot explain it but suggests the dolphins are just playing and enjoying the surf. What a novel idea. Nature is affirming our need to play.

Later at church I talk to our old friend Chan, who knows all about the sea. She thinks the fishing boat probably was a shrimp trawler and after gathering the shrimp, the fishermen throw the rest of the sea’s treasure back. It becomes a feast for dolphins. Dolphins have learned instinctively to follow these boats and wait for the catch of the day. So the dolphin show could have been related to food rather than fun, but could it be both?

That evening I sit again in silence at sunset.  I keep thinking about the synchronicity that I was instinctively able in the early morning by the sea to sit and wait and watch for the dolphins instead of getting caught up in the agenda for the day. Synchronicity, serendipity, the occurrence of events that appear significantly related. 

Now I don’t know if my need to sit and wait and watch the sea was related to the dolphin spectacle, but I am staying open, especially staying open to more sitting and waiting and watching especially by the sea.

Joanna  joannaseibert.com

cymbals and morning prayer

Cymbals

“Praise him with clanging cymbals;
   praise him with loud clashing cymbals!” Psalm 150:5

I frequently read Morning Prayer online from The Daily Office, dailyoffice.wordpress.com posted by Josh Taylor in Indiana. Josh calls the site “not a web site but a community” because Morning Prayer is offered during the week online and as a webcast at 7 and 9 in the mornings with participation from those listening in. There is also a video Evensong every Friday night at nine. Josh is the vicar and lay Commission Evangelist in the Episcopal Church who founded dailyoffice.org in 2004. I am drawn to the website because of the ease of reading Morning Prayer according to the tradition of The Book of Common Prayer, but I especially look forward to the art work, the music, and short related discussions Josh and his staff bring to the daily office.

 Recently Josh included some information about cymbals in worship referencing this article in the New York Times by Lara Pellegrinelli with this photograph by Kayana Szymczak

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/03/arts/music/zildjian-cymbals-400-years.  

For over 400 years an Armenian family has been manufacturing what is considered the world’s best cymbal called Zildjian, which means in Armenian, son of the cymbal maker. The family first developed the cymbal for the Sultan of Turkey but moved the business to Massachusetts just before the Armenian genocide. The cymbals are made from a carefully guarded family secret alloy of tin, copper, and silver, and the company is today led by its 14th generation of cymbal makers and the first female CEO, Craigne Zildjian.

We sometimes have cymbals in our resurrection Easter worship, but we more often see them used in bands and at the symphony. Interestingly, no two cymbals are exactly alike.

Today I learned about an instrument we so often see and hear but take for granted and would normally not consider interesting unless we were a drummer or a percussionist.  I learned that this powerful instrument came alive 400 years ago when an Armenian artisan convinced a Sultan that the cymbal would be a significant instrument to mark the rhythmic cycles each morning before prayer and every evening after prayer.

Next time I am at the symphony I will pay more attention to the cymbal player and give thanks for this Armenian family that has made a difference in so many of our lives. 

The Zildjian family story is only one of so many powerful stories to be told about people who have come to this country seeking a new life who have enriched all our lives in ways we most often take for granted.

Joanna  joannaseibert.com

Feeding, Being Fed

Feeding, Being Fed

“The question of bread for myself is a material question, but the question of bread for my neighbor is a spiritual question.”  Nikolai Berdyaev. Synthesis Today Quote for August 7, 2018 www.synthesispub.com. 

Dan Gold   Unsplash

Certainly Jesus gives us continued examples of his feeding thousands as well as going to eat at the home of others, often with the most despised such as Zacchaeus and Matthew, tax collectors. Jesus feeds others, and he lets others feed him. A role model. For Christians, Jesus leaves us with another meal, the Eucharist of bread and wine, a sacrament reminding us and bringing his presence to us.

When I am having difficulty with someone, I imagine us together at the altar rail kneeling if possible to receive the bread and the wine of the Eucharist. Jesus is with us. I see the person in a different light. Sometimes I can see the Christ within them. 

I have given up trying to understand why eating a meal with someone else can help us to develop a relationship faster than spending hours talking to that person. As we are being fed, we see the person in a different light. Often, we can carry on a deeper conversation when food is present. It is almost as if the food is a natural ice breaker.

I remember my medical practice where I worked with nine other physicians who were very different with different gifts who were advocates for different parts of our practice. Each person wanted his area to be funded and fully staffed. One day we decided to have lunch together once a week to try to work through the issues we had difficulty with at these other decision-making meetings. The situation changed almost overnight. We began to see the needs of each other in our many  areas of interest. We began to prioritize what was really most needed for the patients we were caring for instead of focusing on our own needs.  

Some of us even became life-long friends!

Joanna  joannaseibert.com