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   Jonathan
Peregrin Sleight Baptized,
July 15, 2018
It was a cultural experience for the
Presbyterian Sleights and Rutherfords to attend Jonathan's
baptism at Saint Stephen the Martyr Roman Catholic Church in
Renton. Daniel Eby and his bride of one year, Brenda,
ended their cross country vacation from New York in Seattle so
they could be present at this very special sacrament. It
blessed the whole family as Grandma Ginger, Susan, Jean, and
even cousin Rob Hollis were there.
Father Alfonso Kim administered the
rite. He was visiting from New York and gave an inspiring
homily on missions based on Mark 6:7-13. The other
passages that Sunday morning were Amos 7:12-15, and a favorite
of mine, Ephesians 1:3-14.
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 Acts 9-15 in Eight Hours
Nancy caught this shot after my last
hour at Emerald Heights Retirement Community. Although a
few in attendance had already left, it shows that the class was
smaller later in July. But like all seven summers I've
taught here, I learned a huge amount.
Nancy made it to all of the eight hours
and provided very useful feedback. And a few hours, Annie
came with Charis in tow. Charis was a hit with the senior
ladies, but she was not an attentive Bible student and had to
be taken out occasionally.
Back in September, I had outlined what
I would cover each hour. It never comes out exactly as
planned, but I did actually get all the way from the conversion
of Saul in Acts 9 to the 1st church council in Jerusalem in Acts
15. If I am invited back for an 8th summer, I'll be
starting at Acts 15:30.
(Nancy's camera got sun damage at last
year's eclipse so my white shirt looks smudged.)
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Babies on the 4th of July
Steve White, Julie Adams, and the
normal Sleight/Rutherford/Disher family enjoyed a traditional
4th of July barbeque on our deck. But apparently, I only
cared to photograph the grandchildren. Only Steve and I
attended the especially good fireworks this year at Bellevue
Downtown Park.
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Ginger
Celebrates Her 96th
Grandma Ginger was required to blow out all of her candles.
Susan turned the cake as she managed to extinguish each one.
After one of our Thursdays at Emerald Heights, I was surprised
that Nancy was willing to go to Goodwill in east Bellevue.
I found a few summer shirts, but she found anniversary gifts and
birthday gifts that were well received by Annie, Thomas, and
Ginger. It was hard for me to get her out of the store!
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Cousin Rob Hollis from Orinda, CA flew up to celebrate with
Ginger. And babies make every gathering a party.
Sunday, July 15th did triple duty.
That day was Jonathan's baptism. Monday the 16th was the
7th anniversary of Annie and Thomas, and July 17th was Ginger's
birthday.
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Annual SBGE Staff Outing to My Happy Place
This was the first time that I was the one to
suggest where the SBGE staff would take its summer outing. I
selected the Argosy tour to Blake Island. Ross Stewart had just
returned from his three weeks back home in New Zealand. Others to
join us were Kim Sawers, Jackie Miller, Jake Carlson, Kris McGaw, Jenn
Danke, and Mark Oppenlander. And our trip on the 25th was
wonderful.
I took the 550 bus downtown and had time to visit
Sylvester at Ye Olde Curiosity Shop. I love it that some things
don't change. We went aboard the Argosy Goodtime II at
11:00AM at Pier 54.
We had an excellent salmon buffet dinner with a
good NW Coast Indian dance program. The program spoke of the
Coast Salish and Chief Seattle, but the art, costumes, and dance were
from northern British Columbia and southern Alaska. That met with
my approval.
Blake Island, and especially the beach east of
Tillicum Village, is my happy place. A world away from the hustle
and bustle of the city — but with that city still in view.
The expanse of Puget Sound separating chaos and tranquility. And
what memories! Earliest family trips, camping with the
neighborhood gang, Troop 288 Scout campouts and District Camporees, romantic
walks, and now a return many years later to see some changes, but not
enough to blur the sharp wonderful memories.
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 Jean in
Romeo
and Juliet with
Bainbridge Performing Arts
On Thursday the 26th, Nancy
and I drove Jean to the Colman ferry dock. She was able to make
the ferry to Winslow, as a walk on, while we in the car missed that
sailing by about ten cars. It meant that Jean was there on time to
meet her carpool to the
Bloedel Reserve at the north end of Bainbridge Island.
Nancy and I arrived in time for the 7:00PM outdoor performance. I
went ahead with our two-seat camp chair, but Nancy, hobbling with a
cane, finally got to our seat at 6:59PM!
Two years ago, Jean appeared there with
Bainbridge
Performing Arts in Much Ado About Nothing.
In this year's Bard at Bloedel show, she
 played
Paris, a Count and kinsman of the Prince, and the suitor of Juliet most
preferred by her father Capulet. But she also appeared as Sampson,
a Capulet servant. As Sampson, she introduced the story and the
famous feud and got to showcase her fencing skills first learned at SPU.
She was also in the chorus.
I enjoyed this telling of the famous story of
star-crossed lovers. The standing ovation at the play's end was
much deserved. Having Jean act in so many Shakespeare plays has greatly
filled out the voids in that area of my education.
I'm happy to include these cast photos of Jean
by
Debbie MacLeod.
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  The
Dishers Fly to New Zealand
Annie, Thomas, and Charis flew off to New Zealand on the morning of the
25th. This three-week trip to visit friends will have them moving
to a winter clime during the height of our summer heat wave. Now
even Charis has traveled further than I ever have.
Upon arrival, Annie sent pictures and this
note. "Charis let us sleep almost eight hours after the flight.
Yay! Not continuously, but still. Yesterday afternoon we explored
waterfront Auckland by foot, ate Persian and Japanese, and loved the
parks, including the large Great War memorial in front of the Auckland
Museum. This place feels like a tropical Britain, not warm, but British
architecture and vocabulary plus Banyan trees and Bird of Paradise.
Today planning to drive to beaches and little volcanoes. Love to all."
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Bits and Pieces
  ♦
Every so often, someone catches my bad side and I get surprised by the
back of my head. I got the Moody family hair, not the Sleight
family hair.
♦
My weight has bounced around between 195 and 190 all month. On the
17th it was at 191.5. I spent the afternoon online studying diet
and diabetes and made some significant diet changes. An A1c blood
test on August 2nd will tell if I've made any progress. But my
weight may tell sooner. On the 28th, my regular Saturday weigh-in
day, I was 189.5.
 ♦
Jean is spending two weeks teaching Shakespeare Summer Camps for kids
ages 8 -16 with GreenStage.
Her first week turned out OK, and she learned she could do the
job. That's great, since she'll be running the show with one
assistant for a week in August! And it's good that she is becoming
known by the GreenStage organization.
♦
After 8 years of using a "dumb" cell phone, I finally bought my first
smart phone.
I got the inexpensive LG K20 V. I also removed my Verizon tablet
from my account since the cell phone has the same features, and I can
still use the tablet where I have wireless access. My eclipse
photo makes great cell phone wallpaper.
 ♦
Babies remain the center of attention (at least now that I'm not writing
20+ page Bible lessons each week in a 17pt font so I can read them at
the podium.) I have to catch Jonathan while he's sleeping, or else
he's yawning or winking or whatever. He's very active, when awake,
at two months.
My Quotes from July
Regarding the baptism of Saul at Damascus...
When someone has that change of mind and
heart that responds to Jesus’ call to “Follow Me!” That’s like saying
“I will” to a marriage proposal. But
following that up in obedience by undergoing the sacrament of Baptism,
is like the “I do” at the wedding ceremony. The
first initiates a betrothal, the second seals the marriage.
Regarding Acts 9:39-42...
From a human point of view, the friends of
Tabitha seemed to be pleading the worthiness of their deceased neighbor.
But Peter mimics his Master, ushering the women out. He’s not here to
create a spectacle or to entertain. Keep that in mind the next time you
come across some over-dressed TV preacher impressing his audience with
apparent healings that are impossible for the viewers to
substantiate.
Regarding Acts 9:28-30...
Saul took a huge risk to step into the shoes
vacated by the martyred deacon Stephen. As a Hellenistic Jew himself,
Saul was, like Stephen, a native Greek speaker. But all the zeal and
good intensions Saul had could not protect him from his fellow Jews. It
hadn’t protected Stephen from him! So a second sudden departure in the
face of an enraged populous got Saul sent home to Tarsus in the Provence
of Cilicia.
Regarding the conversion of Cornelius...
To hear from an eye witness that a crucified
man was alive again, in this case a celebrity well known to everyone in
the region, is the content of saving faith. Cornelius had demonstrated
faith in the God of Israel by his prayers and almsgiving, but, until
now, he lacked the knowledge, the historical facts, that provided that
faith its saving object.
Thoughts from my June lectures
at Emerald Heights.
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