Months, since I've filled you in on the adventures of the aCross Creation film crew. Months, I say!
So, let's catch up.
After the Labor Day fun of Sunflowers we scheduled a trip with my colleague and friend, Rev Larry Greenwood, on his boat at Lake Cheney. Perhaps it is obvious to you that when a preacher wants to talk about water/sailing/boats there are many scripture passages from which to choose. What with the disciples mostly being fishermen and the majority of Jesus' life centered around the Sea of Galilee there is plenty of lake-related material in the gospels alone. I had planned to write and prepare two episodes for our day with Larry. Life (and a month old worship service) intervened and I was lucky to get one script done. That turned out to be for the best as one episode was all the film crew could stomach that day (call that little pun foreshadowing, if you will).We chose a day in early October and arranged things with Larry. I had been on Larry's trimaran (like a catamaran but with three hulls, not two) several other times and expected a very pleasant day. Every other time I had been out with him on the lake it was summer, always very warm, often very calm. Once we didn't even put up the sail there was so little wind. Well...our day in early October was of a vastly different quality. It was cold. And windy. Oh my good Lord was it windy. And did I mention cold?
Because Greg takes secret pleasure in making me preach the scenes out of order, we started by filming everything we could on or around the dock. Which was cold. And windy. Larry was amazingly patient, explaining everything I wanted to know about his boat, letting us take and retake all we wanted while he did "sailing things" in the background for action. Eventually it was time to go out on the water. Because I had only ever been on Larry's boat in the warm summer, and because I don't really have to deal with motion sickness, I was not at all smart enough to anticipate what a trial this would be for the film crew.
Larry's boat is small, which means it is fast, and very low to the water. Everyone except Larry, Greg and me climbed into the main cabin because they anticipated it would be even colder on the lake, which it was. It was also windier. Greg crawled out toward the bow to try for the best shot as we sailed along. Thankfully he had on a life jacket. Not that he fell in, but there were plenty of moments it looked like he might. And also plenty of moments that I wished we had a life jacket for our camera. Greg would have survived a dip in the lake. The camera? Not so much.
Once we got onto the lake with the sail up I realized how amazingly choppy the water was. It was a little like a roller coaster ride. Except windier. And colder. And with more water spray. Sorta fun for me sitting with Larry at the stern. But for the crew, who were a few feet lower than me in the cabin, sitting at water level and unable to see the horizon, it was cause for serious motion sickness. God bless them they didn't even complain as they were turning green and losing their breakfasts. What a crew! Poor Janet had to choose between battling sea sickness below or being up top and watching her husband struggle to hold on the camera and the boat, if only he had three hands!
God has given us (especially Greg and me) serious amounts of determination (You say stubbornness, I say determination) so there was nary a peep to suggest trying again on a calmer day. Honestly since I was talking about Jesus stilling the storm in Mark 4, the setting was about perfect. We managed to get all the footage we needed on the water (we think) and we filmed the final scene back on dry land as Larry sailed by behind me. From the shoreline the boat looked amazingly peaceful. Though still not warm.
Looking back a few months later I can say it was a great day. I'm thankful for Larry's hospitality. And I am interested to try for that second episode on another day. One that is warmer. And calmer. I hope I can talk the film crew into joining me again. If not, I may be recruiting, from people who have not read this blog, obviously.
Remember you can see aCross Creation episodes live many Sunday's at Woodland United Methodist Church during our Daybreak Worship at 9:30. We are also moving toward release of our first small group DVD. Stay tuned!
