Today is June 1st. Today marks the half-way point in my sabbatical/holiday time. To remind you, I was given a three-month sabbatical from BUC to combine with my one-month of holidays. This gives me four months away from regular duties for reflection and renewal. It is indeed a privilege and the first time I have had such a break in my 32 years of ministry.
The first two months have flown by. During this time I have had numerous conversations with people as to ‘why they go to church?’ and/or ‘why they don’t go to church?’ I have been able to do some reading and reflection on the changes occurring in the Christian church as we move into a secular society and an interfaith world, and how this is impacting local congregations. All very interesting. I have attended a couple of Continuing Education events.
On a personal note, I have had the time to connect with friends that I just never get to see. One of the challenges of ministry is that usually we get one day off a week and that day is Monday. Well, we also have some down-time after the Sunday morning rush is over but by then I am too pooped to do much! While most people are able to catch up with friends or have time away on weekends that is just not an option for a minister… we do have that Sunday morning gig! One of the blessings of my ministry has been moving from community to community over the course of my vocation. This means I have met and befriended many interesting people, people I like to keep in touch with even though I have moved on to a new community. It is hard to keep up with friends and so yesterday, after some careful planning I drove for an hour-and-a-half to meet a friend who drove equal distance so that we could have lunch together. We couldn’t remember how many years it had been since we had actually seen each other. It’s been a few. I was the minister who baptized her daughter. I stood by as she tried to make sense of an unexpected and painful marriage break-up and divorce. And I celebrated with her as I co-officiated at her second marriage 15 years ago. We had a lot of catching up to do so we warned the waitress it was going to be a long lunch. It was three-hours long in fact, and well worth the planning and driving. These kinds of reunions restore my soul and keep me grounded in the preciousness of relationship.
Sabbatical means many things, one of them is to find restoration – a good lunch, a glass of wine, refreshing conversation and happy reminiscing – I felt restored as I drove home.
Our lunch was a beautiful blessing!