West Valley Connection 9/17

Today (Thursday) started with optimism. The sun shone brightly as I stole a few hours away on my sailboat with a couple of eager fishermen. As we pulled out of the marina the blue skies were matched by the blue water under my bow, only to be matched by the blue lights flashing behind us. Yes, there are police on the water and they do pull you over. I had literally pulled out of the marina in front of Tacoma's finest, and was instantly identified as one of society's miscreants. I'm afraid the video won't make the "Police's Wildest Chases" TV show. The cop barely raised his voice as he asked me to put my little six-horse motor into neutral.

Even though this is the second time I've recently written about finding myself on the wrong side of the law, let me assure you that I'm not a habitual offender. My crime today? Expired boat tabs. The fine: $257.

As the officer handed the citation, he encouraged me to plead for mitigation. "They really don't want to take your money," he said. "It's really more about educating boaters about the laws."

What a crock! I'm plenty educated. In fact, when I bought the boat I had to make two trips to the DMV to get the title/registration transferred. That was in April. It seemed reasonable to assume that when one transfers the title and registration of a boat, that boat is registered. Wrong! The officer "educated" me to the fact that all boat registrations run out in June. Too bad the guy at DMV hadn't made the same effort to "educate" me.

I hate to write this but you should know, Kathy's reaction to my latest ticket wasn't as gracious as mine. "Let's move out of this stupid state! Every time you turn around you're getting taxed or fined for something! " she said in comforting me.

I have to agree with her assessment that Washington State has way too many taxes, fees, regulations, rules and surprises that pick away like a million mosquitoes, sucking the joy out of life in an otherwise beautiful setting. What's even more discouraging is the fact that I've never seen in my lifetime when bureaucracies and regulations didn't multiply. It's only going to get worse. No government voluntarily decreases in size just as no vermin voluntarily stops multiplying and spreading disease.

Thank God He doesn't run His Church like a bureaucracy! The model of His Church is family. We're adopted as His children. There's no application form, letters of reference, background check, drug test, psychological assessment, or experience required.

But people like regulations. We must - we keep accepting more and more of them. Sometimes it's hard to accept the fact that God has chosen us to be His children and that's the end of it. We may find ourselves looking for additional requirements. Like a jaded boater who discovers his registration has expired (through no fault of his own!!!!) we can live in a perpetual state of wary disbelief, just waiting for God to tack on additional fees for our salvation.

But the three most powerful words a human ever uttered were "It is finished." Jesus made the statement as He completed the work of our salvation on the Cross. His sinless life and His death for our sins fulfill every requirement God has set for us to be adopted as His children. Our only job is to accept Jesus' work on our behalf.

There may come a day when living in Washington State isn't worth the bother. When taxes are beyond oppressive and all the regulations are beyond reasonable compliance. Thankfully, the Church will never face a similar fate. God's children never have to worry about oppressive fees or unreasonable regulations. Jesus paid it all. That's a hope that brings me joy - even when I've got another court appearance on my schedule!