in the beginning, there was…
My 13 year old was supposed to take a class field trip to a sequence of church, synagogue, temple and mosque. He begged, and I let him bail out.
The class was told to write an essay about their experience. The teacher suggested Max write about his favorite sport, sailing, instead.
So here is Max’s blend of religion and sailing, a la Genesis.
In the beginning there was man.
Man had the earth but was very, very bored. Man discovered the wind and the water. So man worked for 10 days and 10 nights until the masterpiece was finished. Up until the seventh day it had just been hull, boom and mast. Man could not make the boat go. On the eighth day man made a breakthrough – he discovered the sail.
Twenty days later he and his friends invented beer. There was much rejoicing. The Sailor’s destiny was complete. Wind, water, and lifts were distributed to all, but only the best made use of them. The sailors were peaceful, never known to harm anyone. Most conflicts were resolved with beer.
Then years later a sailor named Max came along. Sailing was his life. No one knew whether it was the peacefulness, the excitement or the friends, but Max was super excited about sailing. Max treated the sport with a royal greatness. When Max was in his boat, he was a different, calmer person. The waves off his bow, the wind in his face, put him in a Zen place.
Winning was great, losing was an experience. Sailing was important.
