We played tourist yesterday, driving across the bridge over the Swinomish Channel onto Fildago Island and then south across the Deception Pass Bridge onto Whidbey Island. At Deception Pass we walked across the bridge and watched the salmon fishers below then proceeded to the town of Coupeville for a seafood lunch. Our adventure included a visit to Fort Casey State Park and the Admiralty Head Lighthouse. We had a look at the WW1 coastal fortifications and artillery post.

I have been visiting Whidbey Island for decades. Years ago my brother lived on the Island. I also had a cousin who lived on the island for many years. Our visits to the island, however, mostly involved exploring the southern end of the island whereas we are more likely to visit the northern part of the island these days because we live to the north.

Whidbey is interesting to visit because it can be accessed by crossing bridges from the north. The main access point from the south is the short ferry ride from Mukilteo, near Everett, to Clinton on the island. My brother lived both at Clinton and also in nearby Langley over the years. Our visit yesterday didn’t take us that far south.

We have also taken the ferry from Fort Casey across the Puget Sound to Port Townsend in the past.

Having visited the island previously, but not really having explored the many state parks and other attractions of the area means that there are plenty of new things for me to see when I visit. The island is interesting enough to invite more visits and I am sure that we will continue to explore the area.

I have to be a bit careful, however, to avoid sounding like an old man when I talk about our previous visits. I really do remember earlier times. The times we’ve taken the ferry to and from the island we have never made reservations. I remember when reservations were not needed to get a car on the ferry. We simply drove up, entered the line of cars waiting and were able to board the next boat when it arrived. There is too much traffic for that to work these days. Had we been able to simply drive onto a ferry, we might have taken the ferry to another island yesterday. I checked online to make ferry reservations and found out that you have to make those reservations far earlier than my attempt. I think I could have gotten onto the ferry for the 4 am or 6 am sailings, and return would not have been convenient, either.

I guess that part of being more than 70 years old is that there are a lot of “I remember when” statements that I could make. Memories are indeed a precious part of my life, but I don’t want to become a person who complains about change. It is not that I want to avoid talking about my memories. I enjoy sharing stories with others. However, I’ve spent enough time listening to others complain about changes that have occurred to know that becoming a complainer is not something I want to undertake. I want to practice sharing my memories without dwelling in the past.

There are a lot of places in my past that simply have more people than used to be the case. Seattle traffic is worse than was the case 40 years ago. Campgrounds are more crowded than they used to be. The world continues to change and part of living joyfully is learning to adapt to change.

Part of the joy of our tourism adventures is memory. We enjoy visiting museums and learning about the past. As a pastor, I often told stories of the past of our people. It is important for us to understand the context of the events of the present. It is reassuring to know that ours is not the first generation to have faced significant challenges. We aren’t the first to have known grief and loss. We aren’t the first to have wrestled with the meaning of life and death. There is much we can learn from the past that makes living in the present more meaningful. Being able to share the past in meaningful ways is one of the tasks of an elder in any society. So I don’t want to shy away from sharing my memories.

Back in the 1940’s when the world was undergoing incredible change and conflict, the theologian Reinhold Niebuhr sought to provide faithful leadership for the church. As he and his contemporaries struggled with their German heritage and the deep conflict of a World War in which that country contributed to the violence, he wrote the prayer that has come to be known as the serenity prayer. It is a prayer that has informed generations about the nature of change. The prayer has had many different versions over the years and has been adopted by many groups, including Alcoholics Anonymous. Dr. Niebuhr’s original version was something like this:

“God give me the serenity to accept things which cannot be changed;
Give me courage to change things which must be changed;
And the wisdom to distinguish one from the other.”

Three requests equally important: serenity, courage, and wisdom. It may be vanity, but I think that I have achieved some progress in each arena as I have aged. People who knew me in my twenties probably would not have chosen the word serenity to describe me. These days, however, I do find myself calm and at peace in many different situations. I am learning to accept a lot of different things and to deal with the realities of the present. Courage and wisdom may be qualities that are best observed by others, but I feel like I have a bit more courage and even a measure of wisdom these days.

Whether or not it is a sign of wisdom, I know that part of the joy of our visits yesterday is the ability to let go of my sense of the way it was to explore the way it is. This is a fascinating world with incredible beauty. I hope I continue to be able to see that beauty and experience awe as we explore. I’ll continue to be grateful for the prayers of others as I go.