ONE WEEK OF LIVING IN A BUBBLE

Last Saturday, I returned from a cruise with our son, grandson, and future granddaughter.  This adventure began in 2019.  We planned a cruise for 2020.  It was cancelled and rescheduled for 2021.  The rescheduled cruise was cancelled and re-rescheduled for 2022.  Finally the cruise happened. 

No, Bill did not go.  Having vertigo and motion sickness means he does not set his cowboy boots on anything that rocks and sways.  Over the years, I have left him behind as I placed my feet in a plane flying over the Grand Canyon and boarded a boat for a Fjord tour in Alaska.  I went on a Mother/Son cruise and was not home for his 75th birthday.  This cruise?  Our son picked me up at 1:00 AM (yes AM), I kissed my hubby goodbye, and wished him Happy 57th Anniversary.  Yes.  Once again I abandoned him on an important day.  Never fear… he survived.

Disclaimer:  I do not have a smart phone and sadly observed that I was almost the only person not walking around with my phone glued to my hand!  I did use my iPad to check email, briefly post to my personal page and the church page on Facebook, and to message Bill so he knew I had not fallen overboard.

Of course the adventure had a few hiccups, but the best part was spending time with family and - living in a bubble.

LIVING IN A BUBBLE

Once you step on the ship, it is as if an invisible shield surrounds the ship.  No newspaper stands.  No TV’s turned to the news in the bars or common areas.  No clocks.  No left or right.  No Republicans or Democrats.  No old or young.  No black or brown or tan or white.  No arguing, except in the sports bar and that was even good natured.  Items left on a lounge chair were there when you came back.  And people held the elevator for this gray-haired, 75 year old woman using a walker.

I love to hear people’s stories.  At the Chef’s Table (Now that will be the subject of another blog.), we sat across from a young couple from China.  They are studying at the University of Connecticut.  On my left, was a family from Puerto Rico.  They are third generation morticians.  At the other end of the table was a family from Florida.  They were taking their daughter on a graduation cruise.  We spent the evening talking and sharing our stories.  We heard the couple from China talk about wanting to become US citizens so they could have the freedoms we have.  We raised our glasses as four unique families ate at the same table.

The ship’s crew is a mix of people from around the world.  Do they always get along?  I am sure they do not.  They are there to work.  It is their job and they get tired and hot and they miss their families.  BUT – for the duration of the cruise – they do everything they can to make our experience a good one and are more than willing to tell us their stories.  I talked with a man from Ukraine and saw the sadness in his eyes.  An off duty lifeguard, on our first stop at a private island, made sure I could get to the shuttle back to the ship.  I did get to the shuttle and I did get back to the ship.  I just didn’t get back before the rain – an insane amount of rain – began.  (That could also be a blog.  My story does not quite agree with the story of those who call me mother and grandma.)  I loved being called Miss Mary by our room steward.  I thanked the staff cleaning the restrooms. 

Toward the end of the cruise it hit me that the cruise ship was inside a bubble.  Yes, I encountered a couple of people who were … less than considerate of those around them … but they were the exception.  People spoke to each other regardless of the color of their skin.  No one seemed to walk a few paces away from the guy with the pony tail and a whole lot of tattoos.  No one turned to find a different table because the woman they would be sitting beside had her head covered.  No one seemed to care what anyone’s sexual orientation was.  And elevator doors were held open for a 75 year old lady using a walker.

Why can’t the world be like this?  Why does stepping off the ship smash the bubble?  Why do we leave the ship and see the color of skin?  Or walk around the woman with her head covered? Or .. or .. or .. or push the floor button before the 75 year old lady using a walker can get in the elevator?

I enjoyed being in the bubble.  I enjoyed leaving items on a lounge chair and knowing they would be there when I got back from the pool.  I enjoyed teasing young couples and striking up conversations with … anyone.  I enjoyed the look on the faces of two 20ish young men, riding in the elevator with me, when I told them about leaving my poor hubby on our anniversary.  Once out of the bubble, they probably told their friends about the crazy white lady.  I enjoyed it when a guy asked me to make sure they didn’t take his plates while he went for dessert.  I watched over his plates, his cell phone, and the wallet he left lying there. 

I enjoyed being in the bubble.  I wish the world would be more like those on the cruise who left their anger, their stereotyping, and their lack of trust in their fellow man behind.  I wish those on the cruise would have taken the feeling of community with them when they returned to reality.

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How good and pleasant it is when God’s people live together in unity!  Psalms 133:1 

Jesus replied:  “ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’  This is the first and greatest commandment.  And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’  All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”  Matthew 22:37-40

“A new command I give you:  Love one another.  As I have loved you, so you must love one another.  By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”  John 13:34-35

 

In Christ’s family there can be no division into Jew and non-Jew, slave and free, male and female.  Among us you are all equal.  That is, we are all in a common relationship with Jesus Christ.  Also, since you are Christ’s family, then you are Abraham’s famous “descendant,” heirs according to the covenant promises.  Galatians 3:28-29  The Message

Yes, I want us to live in a bubble.  A bubble where we live in unity and love our neighbors.  A bubble where we love one another and everyone will know we are Jesus’ disciples.  A bubble where each can say, “I am a member of Christ’s family and no greater or less than anyone else.  I am a descendant of Abraham and therefore an heir to the Covent promises.”