Instead of starting on sabbatical reflections I spent most of Friday afternoon locking our credit with the big three (Equifax, Experian and Transunion). Thank you Equifax. (That was sarcasm.)
However, as this time away began just this past Monday, I didn’t have much to write about. According to our diocesan sabbatical policy this is to be a “time for rest, renewal and inspiration.” I hope these seven weeks will encompass all three, but the first few days have not reflected that hope. Much of that has to do with the peculiar setting for this sabbatical. We lived in Evergreen, Colorado full time from 1989 until 2003. In 2003 God took us on what we thought was a temporary sojourn to Greeley, Colorado to work with Trinity Episcopal Church. Things did not go as planned, and thanks be to God for that. Because of the peculiar path we ended up with two homes, visiting our Evergreen residence for an overnight every other week. Most of our furniture moved with us to Greeley, so we’ve been “camping out” in the mountains when we visit.
This sabbatical is intended to be a time of revisiting many of the books that have shaped my approach to parish ministry, a time of collecting disparate writings and reflections on that journey and seeking to put all this material together in a way that can be shared by others. This is all being done back in Evergreen, but we’ve had to create a space for prayer, study and writing and that has been our work for the past week. We’re almost there and we’ve been able to walk through our neighborhood daily, listening to the elk bugling and occasional running across our local herd while keeping a safe distance.
Today we took an early break to visit the Evergreen Rotary Club where Greg Dobbs, a new inductee into the Denver Press Club hall of fame, was the speaker. I also signed up to help with their annual recycling event on the 23rd. And this afternoon I finally opened the first book I needed to revisit, Martin Thornton’s Pastoral Theology. The real work of the sabbatical starts this coming Monday.
The Apprentice Priest 