Five Years Later.....

I haven't written in this blog since my last sabbatical - 5 years ago!  And here I am again - with four months (less one week) stretching out in front of me.  However, this sabbatical is different in a couple of fundamental ways from my first one.

The first way it is different is that the congregation and I are not blessed with a National Clergy Renewal Grant.  As a pastor-congregation team, we can only receive one such grant together.  That means this sabbatical will be much more low-keyed and home-based for me!

There will be no family trips to Peru (I will miss that - so many fond memories).  The time away for Joe and me will be bicycling in Nova Scotia rather than hiking in Scotland - but I know I will cherish those 12 days for just the two of us.  Instead of constructing a labyrinth, I will be maintaining the one I created five years ago.  There are a zillion pine needles to be raked, grass to be pulled, and native ferns to be transplanted.  Yet being outdoors and working intentionally on the circular path of the labyrinth will evoke the same sense of peacefulness.  Of that I am certain.  I will still be going to our cottage on Cache Lake in Algonquin Park in Ontario for a couple of weeks - another similarity to my first sabbatical - where the schedules of all of us will overlap for at least three or four days - and that will be wonderful.

This time I will find my sense of renewal in freezing vegetables from our garden, extending my perennial garden, blogging, and writing.  Perhaps my spirituality will be deepened working more consistently with the bees - and affirming that God can indeed be found in the wonder of honey production!

The second way this sabbatical is different is because I have known many people in the congregation for ten years now instead of just five.  Our lives are more intertwined now than they were in 2011.  I am concerned in a different way about folks as they have aged.  What if someone is injured?  What if someone dies?  What if someone with dementia does not know me when I return?  I find that I am bound more closely to people in my congregation than I was five years ago.  Our friendship runs deeper, and our spirits are tethered more strongly.

I look forward to the days and weeks ahead.....