May 2012
2 posts
One of the mariner’s worst enemies is distraction, and one of the chief sources of distraction is worry. To wish for a life that’s “worry free” is in all likelihood to dream the impossible dream. Statistics show that between 20 and 30 percent of all Americans live today under significant stress: 13 million of us worry intensely for at least 90 minutes. It may be about our...
April 2012
8 posts
America's most unlikely 'Founding Father'
John Dickinson (1732 – 1808)
by the Rev. Kempton D. Baldridge
John Dickinson might have gone down in history as a villain, a traitor or, at best, a defeatist to the cause the American Revolution. As a member of the Second Continental Congress, Dickinson took a principalled if risky stand against American independence. Defying the majority, he refused to vote for independence and likewise would...
Joined by God in our Fellowship
While the disciples were telling how they had seen Jesus risen from the dead, Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.” They were startled and terrified, and thought that they were seeing a ghost. He said to them, “Why are you frightened, and why do doubts arise in your hearts? Look at my hands and my feet; see that it is I myself. Touch me and see; for a ghost does...
3 tags
Easter: The Promise of Life after Life
One of the stories of Easter is found in the 16th Chapter of St. Mark’s Gospel. It tells about Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome coming to Jesus’ tomb very early in the morning of the third day after his crucifixion. They are bringing spices to anoint Jesus’ dead body; this was the way people used to embalm the dead. If we’re quiet for a moment, we can almost hear the crunch...
Seafarer to Remember : Of Easter and the Seafarer
Happy Easter my dear seafarer! Thank God our Maker for this greatest moment for all the faithful to remember. To Christians at least, Easter is the best; For it proves that the least can outsmart the beast. Seafarers are vulnerable sites for the warfare of evil versus good to reside; Easter provides though that when fear and and hope collides, the former subsides and the latter presides....
Thoughts on Good Friday 2012
Driving home one Good Friday a few years back, I recall the announcer at our local radio station saying, “It’s sunny and 72 degrees and a beautiful spring day out there, folks…it’s a Good Friday indeed!” I think I know what he meant by calling it Good Friday but I’m not entirely sure he knew what Christians mean when we do.
“What is so good about Good Friday?” someone once asked me, adding, “If...
Happy April Fools!
Today is both Palm Sunday and April Fools’ Day. It is oddly appropriate to have this day of foolishness kick off the holiest 7 days of a Christian’s religious year. The message of the cross is, as St. Paul once wrote, foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.”
The core of Paul’s message is the cross and the proclamation of Christ...
March 2012
2 posts
6 tags
Mid-Lent — Mid-Life’s Journey
The pilothouse on a towboat is a world of its own in the middle of the night. You can almost cut the quiet with a knife. The pilot is surrounded by the ghostly light of computer screens and lighted dials. Outside, the huge spotlights search the water ahead and the shore that quietly slips by on either side of the tow and her barges. All these – the instruments and lights – ask the questions:...
February 2012
4 posts
Seafarer to Remember: A Lenten...
Comes this Forty days and Forty nights, a LENgThened Christian self-examination Rite; Allowing the faithful not just to be riteful but more so to be rightful Seafarers can be vulnerable to sea sickness, causing them to their weakness; For Forty days and Forty nights or even more is their longest sailing time from from to shore. Seafarers, challenged by a commotion, needed a chaplain’s pastoral...
Lent - "Sacred Spring"
The 40 days of fasting and repentance known as Lent began today for millions of Christians around the world. It is a solemn time that Christians use as a preparation to observe the holiest days of the Christian’s year, the days of our Lord’s passion, death and resurrection. We prepare ourselves for Holy Week and Easter by scrutinizing our lives through prayer, fasting, self-denial and meditation...
I'm Tired - But Jesus Got Tired Too!
As I sit down to write this, I’m tired - I’ve not returned home from out of state activities until Saturday evening for the last 2 weeks, and that before needing to be in church no later than 7:00 the next morning for a full day of Sunday services. Of course, there were also chores on the home front and the needs of aging parents to be considered, as well as another out of town meeting early...
6 tags
Healing Hands
Mark 1: 29-34
“Jesus left the synagogue at Capernaum, and entered the house of Simon and Andrew, with James and John. Now Simon’s mother-in-law was in bed with a fever, and they told him about her at once. He came and took her by the hand and lifted her up. Then the fever left her, and she began to serve them.
That evening, at sundown, they brought to him all who were sick or possessed...
January 2012
5 posts
Glimpses of the Kingdom at Customer Service:...
“There but for the Grace of God go I.”
These are often my thoughts when I pass some poor fellow with a breakdown or a flat tire on the shoulder of an Interstate.
“I’m sure glad that’s not me…”
For chaplains, car trouble can mean missing getting underway on a towboat or being a “no show” as guest speaker or preacher. And while changing a flat tire is a simple task, it often results in...
4 tags
Mariners and Disciples
As Jesus passed along the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the sea—for they were fishermen. And Jesus said to them, “Follow me and I will make you fish for people.” And immediately they left their nets and followed him. As he went a little farther, he saw James son of Zebedee and his brother John, who were in their boat mending the nets. Immediately he called...
4 tags
An Invocation
INVOCATION for the Presentation of the National Charter to The La Crosse Area Council of the Navy League
“Eternal Father strong to save whose arm doth bind the restless wave. Who bidst the mighty ocean deep, its own appointed limits keep…. ”
These are words buried deep within our hearts and remind us of God’s power and majesty that keeps those who sail the oceans and inland waterways in...
Seafarer To Remember: Thank You and Bless You
Happy New Year to each dear Seafarer, wherever you are, far or near; Another fruitful year has past; a new year is welcomed which proves that you last. Happy New Year to each chaplain, who knows neither to whine nor complain but get the right things rightly done again and again; Another fulfilling year has past, a new strategic plan has been passed, a renewed chaplaincy is before us, we trust. I...
3 tags
December 2011
5 posts
Christmas Message 2011
“Keeping watch over their flocks by night” is what St. Luke writes that the shepherds were doing when the angels came and told them that Jesus was born in nearby Bethlehem. Mariners, of all people, can uniquely relate to the shepherd, for keeping watch at night is something that mariners also do every night of the year. Like shepherds, mariners understand the demands of a career that requires...
8 tags
Saint Nicholas and Seafarers
Saint Nicholas is the patron saint of children, and many of us have heard of him being a bearer of gifts on December 6th or, of course, on Christmas Eve. Saint Nicholas is also the patron saint of another very special group of people … sailors!
Thank goodness for the patronage of Saint Nicholas, bringing attention to a population of people so dear to the heart of the Seamen’s Church Institute …...
Seafarer to Remember 2
Seafarer to Remember (Part 2)
Dedicated to AB Matrai (injured and confined in the hospital for more than 40 days and 40 nights now)
By Chaplain James Kollin
I visited you in the hospital, for an illness that got you not-so normal;
You shed tears when you saw me, for you had no one in your family in a strange land called the U.S. of A.
I tried my best to make you smile, at bed rest at least...
5 tags
Hospitality Found Here
Back in April of this year I was welcomed aboard a tow at Memphis, Tennessee. It was shortly after one of our unusually fierce mid-west storms. The wind and current were so strong that we had to call in a tug to help us pass under a major highway/railroad bridge over the Mississippi. Whole trees were coming downriver toward us so everyone had to care for the safety of the boat, crew, and cargo. It...
November 2011
3 posts
The Light
On this First Sunday in Advent, we hear the Psalmist cry, “Restore us, O God of Hosts; show us the light of your countenance, and we will be saved.” (Psalm 80: 3,7,18)
I am reminded of the lighthouse at Owl’s Head, Penobscot Bay, Maine. My father, husband, and two young sons were fond of sailing our little day-sailer just outside the breakwater in Rockland over to Owl’s...
Gratitude is the Attitude
“O children of Zion, be glad and rejoice in the Lord your God; for he has given the early rain for your vindication, he has poured down for you abundant rain, the early and the later rain, as before.” Joel 2:23
This week we celebrate that uniquely American holiday - Thanksgiving Day. We set aside this day to express our gratitude to God for the fruits of the earth and for those who labor to...
DEEP WITHIN THE HEART OF ABRAHAM
Genesis 15:5 “and he brought him outside and said, look toward heaven, and number the stars, if you are able to number them” Then he said to him “so shall your descendants be ” and he believed the Lord; and he reckoned it to him as righteousness.”
It was a few weeks after 9/11 and I boarded a ship who’s crew consisted of Egyptian and Indonesian seafarers who...
October 2011
5 posts
Strangers, yet Known
Matthew 11: 28-30 “Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
Last May, my husband and I had the privilege of spending twelve days on a South Carolina beach. We brought our...
Wanted: Peace (understanding not required)
Our culture has a peculiar fondness for definition in the negative. For some reason, we choose to describe a thing by pointing out what it is not: fat-free ice cream, smokeless tobacco, no fault divorce, painless dentistry. And while definition in the negative is temptingly easy, it is often wholly inadequate to provide understanding. One common definition of water is “a tasteless, odorless and...
Channels of Peace
This past week the Christian community celebrated the Feast of St. Francis of Assisi on October 4th. The following prayer is attributed to the life modeled by Francis. In some translations, the word channel is used in place of the word instrument. Channel has many definitions, most of which are nautical. In one instance a channel is described as a lane of safe travel.
We are all called, in...
Amazing things can happen!
Towards the end of Jesus’ earthly ministry, his disciples asked him a very direct and simple question. “How long are you going to keep us in suspense? If you are not the Messiah tell us plainly.” Of course, what they wanted to hear was that Jesus was going to rescue them from the Romans and return Israel to a place of improtance like it was under King David. In no uncertain terms Jesus ...
September 2011
4 posts
SEAFARER TO REMEMBER
(First part of an intended series of rhymes, rhythms, and reasons dedicated to seafarers, seafaring, and servants serving seafarers. By Rev James Kollin, Port Chaplain, The Seamen’s Church Institute. Location: Port Newark, New Jersey. First Post: September 25, 2011)
SEAFARER TO REMEMBER You wave your hands so eagerly to me, As I parked the van and climbed the gangway. You signed me in and...
Holy Children: Reflection @ Sea & in Daly City
A few weeks ago, I met an A.B. (able bodied seaman) named Dino aboard the MOL Express, a vessel bound for Asia that would visit Oakland again in three months. Dino and his wife, Maria Theresa, are expecting their first baby at the end of August, while he is still at sea.
As we stood in the recreation room after celebrating Mass together, the group of Filipino seafarers laughed and joked...
A Prayer for 9/11
Our Father, on this 10th anniversary of 9/11, give courage and faith to us who still are bereaved, that we may continue to have strength to meet the days ahead in the comfort of a reasonable and holy hope, in the joyful expectation of eternal life with those we love. Help us, we pray, in the midst of things we cannot understand, to believe and trust in the communion of saints, the forgiveness of...
