Sabbatical Journey…on Choosing Unity

05 Wednesday Jul 2023

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License Plate Game (reuse with permission)

As we celebrate the 4th of July today, I cannot think of a more appropriate activity than to be on a cross-country trip.  Our trip so far has given me a renewed appreciation for the vastness of our country, the unique topographical beauty in each state, and the tremendous diversity of people.  Though we call ourselves the United States of America, sometimes I think we forget what an improbable arrangement we have – that these fifty states, in all their glorious diversity, are united as one.

Traveling through the country these last eighteen days, I have seen both signs of our political divisions as well as indicators that there is more in common between us than different.  I have also seen that experiencing each other in our own settings, learning about each other’s heritage, remembering that the creation of this country was done on the backs of so many oppressed peoples, helps me remember that being united states takes work.

Often when I am doing premarital counseling, I will tell couples that marriage is a choice – not made one day in beautiful attire with all your family and friends – but a choice made every day, over and over again.  Only when we make that daily commitment do marriages thrive and can be filled with love.  What I appreciate about the Fourth of July is that it is our annual reminder that we have to choose to be united over and over again, so that we might thrive and be filled with love.  I realize that may sound overly romantic, and in our current political times even impossible, but that we live in such a place that allows for differences and disagreements is a true gift that can help in the midst of our divisions.

As fireworks go off tonight, my prayer is that we renew our commitment to care for one another and respect the dignity of every human being in this country.  We know that we are all made in the image of God – even those folks with whom we disagree.  I offer the following prayer from the Book of Common Prayer for you tonight.  May we take up the mantle of being united once again.

Lord God Almighty, you have made all the peoples of the earth for your glory, to serve you in freedom and in peace:  Give to the people of our country a zeal for justice and the strength of forbearance, that we may use our liberty in accordance with your gracious will; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.  (Book of Common Prayer, 258)

Sabbatical Journey…on the Ties that Bind

04 Tuesday Jul 2023

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Sisters (reuse with permission)

When I was growing up, my brother was my best friend.  As a preacher’s kid, we moved around a lot, always relocating in the summer, and so for every move, he was the only young person who knew me until I could make friends when school started.  So, by default, we became close over the years through the common experience of being the new kid on the block.  That did not mean we did not have our fair share of fights and bickering, but in the end, we knew we needed each other and how important our companionship was.

When my husband and I had two children, I hoped the same would be true for them.  But there are all sorts of factors that are different for them.  For one, they are both girls, which can change the dynamics.  Two, they are a little further apart in age than my sibling and I are, so there are some maturity gaps.  And three, I know the relationship between every set of siblings is unique – some are very close, some are strained, some have falling outs, and some remain best friends far into adulthood.

One of the tremendous gifts of this cross-country trip has been watching my children form bonds.  Of course, there has been the typical sibling bickering (“She’s on my side!”), the rowdiness that comes from being cooped up in a car for hours on end, and the whining that even adults do when we’re not being intentional.  But there has also been a tremendous amount of laughter (lots of new inside jokes being formed), caretaking that only a big sister can offer, and learning new things together.  I imagine these twenty-one days will be days that build the foundation for a lifelong friendship – not just family ties.

As I have been watching our children’s relationship grow, I have been thinking about the relationships in my life.  One of the themes of my sabbatical has been reconnection.  Our time in pandemic meant that many of my friendships were harder to maintain because we simply could not see one another.  As I have forged renewed relationships with my family during this trip, I am also reminded how intentionality can help with my friendship ties.  Just like our relationship with Jesus needs tending, so do our earthly relationships.  I invite you to reach out to a relationship that needs tending today.  Your point of contact may be the only reminder to them and you how you are a beloved child of God.

Sabbatical Journey…on Being the Church

03 Monday Jul 2023

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Several years ago, I encountered a mobile chapel at General Convention.  The idea was that if people are being taken away from church on Sundays by sports, competitions, or other commitments, bring the church to them.  The mobile chapel was set up so people could go in for personal prayer, but there was also a set time for the distribution of Eucharist with a priest.  It was a creative expression of an ever evolving Church.

Travelers Chapel, Wall Drug in Wall, SD (reuse with permission)

On today’s leg of our sabbatical journey, I felt embraced by several other folks bringing church to me.  The first encounter was at Wall Drug, the famous roadside attraction and tourist stop in Wall, South Dakota.  Among the drug store, gift shops, stores, and restaurants is a “Travelers Chapel.”  The Chapel is always open, offering a peaceful setting for prayer.  Amidst the consumerism and loud animatronic singing, the Chapel is like an oasis for all of us passing through.  Somehow, Wall Drug managed to bring church to me today.

The second encounter came as we checked in at hotel tonight.  A laminated card was left on the nightstand.  The card is basically a greeting and blessing for all who stay at the hotel.  I confess I have never received such a note at a secular hotel, and I was thoroughly humbled by the witness of love of the management and staff of this hotel.  Once again, church found its way to me, this time at a Comfort Inn and Suites.

Hotel Note in Albert Lea, MN (reuse with permission)

Far too often I hear churchgoers complaining about how fewer people are making their way to church.  Today I am reminded that our work is take church to others.  Jesus was always commissioning people to go out and witness God’s love and redemption.  Our work is no different.  I wonder what unique way you might figure out how to be someone’s church today.

Sabbatical Journey…On Weariness and Gratitude

01 Saturday Jul 2023

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Montana Driving (reuse with permission)

Today was a driving day for our cross-country trip – perhaps the longest driving day of the trip.  All told, we were on the road, with multiple stops, for about 10-11 hours.  By the last hour, I was engaged in an inner complaint fest:  the trip felt like forever, I was stiff from the ride, and I just wanted to be in the next location and stretch my legs.  But when we arrived, I was glad I had kept my complaining to myself.  First my younger child exclaimed, “That wasn’t so bad!  It went by kind of quickly!”  My husband agreed, “Yeah, that was an easy drive!”  My elder child confessed, “I kind of like driving days.  They’re like ‘chill’ days.” 

Their comments helped me reflect on the day a little differently.  I tried to remember all the good things about the day:  the way the heavy fog slowly lifted to reveal beautifully green mountain scenery with rivers and tall pines; how fun it was to drive along winding road, hugging the curves; the pops of color that wildflowers brought to the drive; the fun road trip games we played, where everyone was winning at different points; the laughter, the naps, and adding a new state to our list of visited states.

Today, I am grateful for the invitation into gratitude.  It’s a practice I encourage all the time, but one that is easily forgotten when we are tired, weary, and cranky.  But the funny thing is that gratitude is the best antidote to us who are tired, weary, and cranky.  When we give thanks, we see all the good things that made us tired.  When we offer gratitude to God, our weariness is held like soft mattress.  When we give ourselves to thankfulness, crankiness is melted into praise.

I would love to hear what you are grateful for today.  How has God shown up in surprising ways?  How has the Holy Spirit spoken grace through people in your life?  How is Jesus inviting you into a new interpretation of the day?  I’m grateful for you and our journey together in gratitude!

Sabbatical Journey…On Sabbaticals within Sabbaticals

30 Friday Jun 2023

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Time for S’mores! (Reuse with permission)

If you are following this blog, you may have noticed that our family’s version of sabbatical is not really about rest.  Our sabbatical is more about getting out of your comfort zone, seeing the beauty of God’s creation, and making amazing memories.  But even sabbatical adventurers sometimes need a day of rest.  One of our crew was not feeling 100% today, so we left him behind and saw just a morning’s worth of the national park we wanted to visit instead of a whole day.  Seeing him have some down time made us realize maybe we all needed a little down time.  So instead of making memories out in the wild, we made memories resting in our lovely hotel.  It wasn’t dreamy or romantic, but it was very much lifegiving.

I was thinking how hard it is for all of us to give ourselves rest.  Our weekends are often a break from the work week or school week, but we want to enjoy them so much we often overly jam pack them – with sports commitments, attending events, meeting up with friends, or just getting out and about town.  Somehow rest on the weekend feels like wasting the weekend.  Part of my own sabbatical and my parish’s sabbatical was not necessarily scheduling a bunch of naps, but about creating space outside of the normal pace of life to reconnect – with God, with one another, with ourselves.

If you are not a part of our parish’s sabbatical (although if you are local, feel free to join any of the fun events found HERE), perhaps you can make this summer about finding mini sabbatical times too.  Maybe that means making space for prayer, finding your way to a church service (either in person or online), or taking on a spiritual practice.  Maybe it means engaging in an activity that helps you connect with God in a way that you haven’t tried before.  Or maybe it means taking a deep breath and really seeing the goodness all around you.  I promise, you’ll be grateful for the energizing your “sabbatical” can create!

Sabbatical Journey…On Hope and Humanity

29 Thursday Jun 2023

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West Yellowstone (reuse with permission)

I often find myself worried about the state of humanity.  Between our bitter American politics – where the art of compromise seems lost, the nasty interpersonal ways we interact with one another (don’t get me started about my local newspaper’s anonymous section), the way we are almost desensitized to mass violence, and the never-ending presence global warfare, I sometimes find it difficult to see hope or redemption for humanity.

But today was not one of those days.  Today was all about community and shared connection.  It started when we drove through Grand Teton to get to Yellowstone.  We had already had our Teton experience but were hoping to get a last view on our way out of town.  But a thick fog fell on the whole area, and my immediate thought was one of sorrow for all the beautiful sights today’s visitors would miss.  Later, at Old Faithful, we sat waiting for about thirty minutes to see the iconic geyser.  Swarms of people were gathered from all over the country and the world.  But when the geyser finally blew, the united gasp and cheers of joy made me feel like the barriers between strangers were immediately leveled.  Finally, at a community theater in West Yellowstone, we enjoyed a musical in a small venue with a variety of people.  With interaction encouraged, kids invited on stage to sing before the show, laughter, and the love of theater, I felt a true sense of connection to the gathered community.

Of course, I am unlikely to see most of the people I spent time with today again.  So, in the strictest definition, I was not building community.  But what was happening was the fulfilling of my baptismal covenant – where we were all respecting the dignity of every human being.  I think we make that promise in baptism because that is the real first step to building community:  respect, and being able to see the sacred in every person created in the image of God.  When we do that, all that hopelessness about humanity fades away.

If you have not looked at someone today with that kind of reverence, I invite you to give it a try.  Maybe you just watch people a little more gently (remembering days when you were “in a mood,” or when parenting was just super hard).  Maybe you offer a hand or an encouraging word.  Or maybe tonight you pray for someone you never actually met but crossed paths with during the course of the day.  I look forward to seeing how Jesus softens your heart and gifts you renewed hope!

Sabbatical Journey…On Seeing through Song

28 Wednesday Jun 2023

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Chapel of the Transfiguration, Episcopal, Grand Teton National Park (reuse with permission only)

After a day of exploring the magnificent Grand Tetons, seeing beautiful waterfalls, peaceful lakes and rivers, we closed the day with a covered wagon dinner and show.  I had been pondering the beauty of this day, when the western quartet closed the show with the old hymn, “How Great Thou Art.”  If you are not familiar with the hymn, the lyrics are:

O Lord my God, when I in awesome wonder
Consider all the works Thy hands have made,
I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder,
Thy pow’r thru-out the universe displayed!

Chorus
Then sings my soul, my Savior God, to Thee;
How great Thou art, how great Thou art!
Then sings my soul, my Savior God, to Thee;
How great Thou art, how great Thou art!

When thru the woods and forest glades I wander
And hear the birds sing sweetly in the trees,
When I look down from lofty mountain grandeur
And hear the brook and feel the gentle breeze,

Repeat Chorus

I could not have asked for a better summary of this day.  As I saw the enormity of the mountains, I stood I awesome wonder.  As I listened to a different familiar hymn being played in rustic chapel, I remember thinking I could look at the views all day from that beautiful space.  As I watched the calm lake, I marveled at the reflection of God’s creation.  As I heard the roar of waterfalls, I felt in my chest the way that God’s love sometimes roaringly overpowers me.  And as the mist of the falls kissed my face, I remember thinking, “My God, how great thou art!”

Sometimes words fail me, especially when encountering so much of God’s inspiring creation.  So often, the artistry of song has helped me shape words my mouth could not.  Tonight, singing that song “How Great Thou Art,” with the help of guitars and a fiddle, I knew immediately those were the words I could not articulate all day.  Other times, sacred songs have come to me in sorrow, in anxiety, and in longing.  I hardly ever choose the songs.  And sometimes I must sit in silence for a long while before the songs pop into my head.  In these times, the songs feel like gifts from God, who knows I need a way to express the inexpressible.

What songs are you longing to hear?  I would love to hear how the Holy Spirit has flitted through your longing heart and given you a song.       

Sabbatical Journey…On Resetting and Love

27 Tuesday Jun 2023

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Idaho Road (reuse with permission)

In case reading about and seeing pictures from our cross-country adventure make you think we are having a perfect trip with perfectly behaving family members, today reminded me how human we really are.  When you are family, you know each other almost too well:  you know what makes family members laugh and what embarrasses them, you know the quirks of each member and you know teasing is a form of love, you know how far you can push someone until they lose their cool.  But because you love each other unconditionally, sometimes you push anyway.  And when you are in each other’s presence 24/7 for ten days, apparently, the tenth day is when the pushing becomes almost inevitable. 

Despite the dazzling green of Idaho’s countryside, the beautiful rivers of Wyoming, and the stunning mountains across three states, and although there were fun road trip games, stories shared, and conversations had, today I also lost my patience and my ability to exhibit mature parenting responses.  Even with some downtime for all of us, I realized I was snapping too much, and my patience was brittle thin.  What I needed was some unconditional love, and so, as I said goodnight to each family member, I asked for a hug.  Despite having just been bickering not ten minutes earlier, each member to a person gave me a hug without protest.  And suddenly the unease that had settled around me melted away.

Too often – with loved ones, with neighbors, with community leaders, and certainly in church – we forget to reset with love.  I know not everyone is comfortable with physical touch, and I know the pandemic made us anxious about physical contact, but sometimes I think a hug might help us all reset some of the tension between us.  In fact, I know some of us have been frustrated or angry for so long that we are not even sure what we were originally frustrated or angry about. 

When I’m feeling frazzled, one of my favorite prayers is from Psalm 46.10, “Be still and know that I am God.”  I love to pray those words repeatedly, each time, dropping the last word in the phrase.   The first time I pray all eight words.  Then I pray just seven, “Be still and know that I am.”  And then six, and so on, until I just pray the word “be.”  If a hug is not available to you today, or if you want to do your own self work on resetting with love, I commend Psalm 46.10.  Between God’s invitation into stillness, and the stillness one finds in hugs, I pray you find some peace this day.

Sabbatical Journey…On Differences and Experiences

26 Monday Jun 2023

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She Will Find What is Lost, by Brian Kershisnik, at the CJCLDS Conference Center (picture taken June 25, 2023)

Today, we toured Salt Lake City with a family friend and her family.  We wanted to learn about Temple Square, and help the kids learn a little more about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.  We couldn’t have had a more patient, open, vulnerable tour guide than our friend.  She constantly said all questions were fair game, and she meant it.  We learned about Church structure and governance, liturgical practices, theology, and personal experience.  Her son told us about his Morman mission to Korea and her girls talked about their choice not to take a mission.  We also got to see the 20,000-seat Conference Center, and the Tabernacle with the 11,000-pipe organ.  And we got the real experience of most businesses being closed on Sundays due to the widely respected sabbath day of rest. 

As we were talking with our friend about her faith and considering the differences in practices and theology, I began to realize how strange my faith must sound to the unchurched.  It is tricky enough to navigate and respect differences within the Abrahamic faiths.  But to someone who is unchurched, surely how we interpret scripture, what we practice (and don’t), and all our rules and restrictions must seem so foreign and intimidating.  Trying to figure out the differences between an Episcopalian and a member of the LDS must feel completely befuddling. 

I think we forget that what matters most to the unchurched is not necessarily all those distinctions among us, but how we treat the unchurched.  So much of what we think about church or other faiths is based on our experience of them – not some heady explanation of doctrine.  So, whether we are treated with dignity matters.  Whether we are given freedom to explore and ask questions without judgment matters.  Whether we experience genuine love and acceptance as we are matters.  I have known many an Episcopalian who was drawn to the Episcopal Church because they were frustrated by the doctrine of another denomination or faith.  But what kept them in the Episcopal Church wasn’t the doctrine they were seeking, but the reception they received once they kept coming back to church.

I hope this blog is one small way you might begin to experience the invitation of church another way.  Your questions and your struggles are welcome here.  You pain and hurt, as well as your hopes and joys, are welcome here.  Your skepticism and your hesitancy are welcome here.  Most of us people of faith are still figuring out this whole faith thing too.  You are welcome here.

Sabbatical Journey…On Finding Mystery

25 Sunday Jun 2023

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Inspiration Point at Bryce Canyon (reuse with permission)

Our sabbatical journey got back on the road, heading this time to Bryce Canyon in Utah.  Before we got started, we watched a fabulous introductory video, telling us all about the flora and fauna of the Canyon, how the hoodoos were formed, the history of the Canyon becoming a National Park, and more.  It was a great introduction to what we would see, and what we might miss otherwise.

Despite the very scientific explanation of how the hoodoos (freestanding columns of weathered rock) are formed, I confess that in this one instance, the science leapt out of my mind as soon as I saw the hoodoos myself – or rather the sea of hoodoos.  Truly, one hoodoo alone is magnificent.  But hundreds of thousands of them is mind boggling.  I stood there unable to comprehend how such an unusual sight could be repeated over and over again.  All I could conclude was that it was a mystery. 

Now I know what you are thinking – there is nothing mysterious about rock formations.  I saw the scientist explain the formation process myself!  But knowing the science and experiencing the science are two different things.  As I stared into what seemed like infinite hoodoos, I kept coming back to that word:  mystery.

Sometimes I think we steer clear of the word mystery when it comes to our faith.  Saying something is a mystery seems like a cop out, or a way to shut down an intellectual conversation.  But I think there is enough in all of our lives that has taught us that mystery is indeed a reality.  Labeling some of our experiences, whether in nature or with God, as mystery allows us the freedom to set aside rigidity and open ourselves to things that seem impossible.  I wonder where in your life you are finding mystery and how mystery is deepening your sense of the divine.