Sabbatical Glimpses

January 28, 2018

(With screen shots from slideshow)

     Our Psalm this morning tells us to:  “Praise the Lord!  I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart, in the company of the upright, in the congregation.”  Today, I want to give thanks, with my whole heart, in the company of this (very upright) congregation.

     If you were here just before I left, you might remember that I preached about my hopes and plans for my sabbatical, but that it had just occurred to me that the origin of the word “sabbatical” came from the word “sabbath”.  Sabbath, meaning, most importantly for my purposes, a time of rest.  And true sabbath rest-taking, as I confessed in September, is not really my strong suit.  So when people ask me what I did on my sabbatical, part of me would really love to be able to answer with impressive accomplishments.  Like writing a book, maybe, or walking the Camino, or running a marathon, or something equally impressive.  But the truth is, I didn’t really accomplish much.  But I do feel like I’ve had a sabbath - a good, long, beautiful, healing, prayer-filled time of rest.

And that, at the end, is what I most needed, and in my heart of hearts, what I was most hoping for.  Since this wonderful parish so graciously encouraged me and supported me on my way these past few months, I wanted to give you a glimpse of this time of rest.

  

    Probably the oddest part for my whole family was not being here on Sunday mornings.  We were like church shoppers who weren’t actually looking for a church.  I’m always curious about what the other folks are up to, so we went to a fair amount of Episcopal churches.  And what I learned is that while they are all fine places in which, I’m sure, their people are very happy, none of them carries a candle (in my opinion) to this place.  I come back feeling incredibly blessed to be doing my ministry here in this place, with all of you.  You are so welcoming and so full of fun; our building is so most radiant in its simple, natural beauty; John is such an open and supportive mentor and colleague, children are honestly cherished.  So thank you all for making St. Aidan’s the warm, comfortable, enjoyable, unfussy, spirit-filled place it is.

We also went to a fair amount of non-Episcopal worship in my time away.  I loved worshipping with other local communities that I’d heard about but not spent time with.  I loved the patient silence and openness of the Quakers.  (Although - man - an hour of total silence on a wooden-backed pew is a long time!)  I was glad to share a meal and be in conversation with our Jewish brothers and sisters at the synagogue across from the seminary.  I was challenged by the diversity and sheer numbers at the movie theater church.  But I came away from all of it so glad to be an Episcopalian, with our openness to questioning, and our middle way of finding a path through conflict, and our 3-legged stool of scripture, tradition and reason.  (My bishops will, I’m sure, be pleased to hear that.)

This next part I hate to talk about because I certainly don’t want to be an advertisement for skipping church and staying home.  But our most meaningful church experience over the last four months was definitely our Rees-Hoofnagle Home Church services.  We lit candles and talked about scripture and shared our highs, lows, and God-moments, and sat in silence, and gave each other blessings.  In this holy time together, I knew that the kids’ enthusiasm for church participation and their confidence in leadership came in large part from their life here at St. Aidan’s.

I did a lot of reading over my time away.  I will be super-prepared for the next time Peggy Trumbo asks me for book suggestions for the St. Aidan’s book group.  I read books about theology, and books about prayer, and books about living faithfully.  

And I read lots and lots of non-church-related books.  What a luxury!  I read fiction.  I read books out loud to the kids.  I read parenting books.  And with pretty much every book I read, I jotted down ideas for future sermons.  Which just goes to show that nothing is really secular.

During my sabbatical I continued my monthly meetings with my spiritual director, who asks great questions, keeps me honest, and lowers my self-expectations.  She helped me to see the holiness in all of the diverse experiences of these last four months and to keep recommitting to sabbath and letting go of accomplishment. 

My most important spiritual times over my sabbatical were definitely my retreats.  I come away realizing that periodic spiritual retreats are absolutely critical to my growth in faith.  

    Best, and most life-changing, was my first retreat, that I thankfully had the forethought to schedule for my first week of sabbatical.  I spent 8 days in silence at Eastern Point Retreat House, an incredibly beautiful and soul-quenching place on the coast of Massachusetts.  Every day I met with a spiritual director, walked for miles in the woods, and spent hours sitting on my favorite rock perch over the crashing waves with my journal and my colored pencils.  Scripture came alive to me during that week.  God walked closely with me.  My joy in Jesus overflowed.  It will be a touchstone for a long time.

The following months, I took short retreats — times of walking and prayer and reimagination.  I went to Shrine Mont and Roslyn (our two Diocesan retreat centers) and to a tiny one-person hermitage set in the woods behind the Franciscan Monastery in D.C.  Being short and self-directed, these didn’t have quite the richness and life-changing feel of my first retreat, but they were each holy and strengthening.

    One thing that physically remains with me after my sabbatical is my new prayer space.  I took a little unused office nook in our house and cleaned it up to use as a place for prayer.  I filled it with photos and icons and favorite books and art supplies.  It’s a place I look forward to going with a mug of tea when I have some quiet minutes alone.  I sit in silence, or imagine myself into scripture, often along with an Ignatian book of meditations that provided fodder for most of my sabbatical.

    During sabbatical I finished a journal.  It’s full not just of thoughts and feelings and prayer, but also art and poetry that I worked on over the months.  It’s been a very creative time. In addition to spending quiet time in my new space, when the weather was good I took walks along the river or in Fort Hunt Park, often listening to the daily scripture meditation on the Pray-as-you-go App

Something that felt very Sabbath-y to me was time I got to spend in museums.  I wandered around the National Galleries, the Hirshhorn, Freer, Sackler and African Art Museums and the Fine Arts Museum in Richmond.  It was such a treat to have that unhurried time to wonder and gaze. 

I was also able to be part of a few of the free writing and art salons at the National Gallery - amazing opportunities to spend a few hours in creative making in the midst of the art. 

On the arts front, something I’ve always loved but haven’t gotten to do much of in the last decade or so is theatre.  Thanks to the Lattus, Maya and I went to see The Nutcracker at the gorgeous Warner Theatre.  And Holden isn’t a big fan, so I took Sophie to see Mean Girls and Les Miserables at the National Theatre.  It was my 4th time seeing Les Mis, and, as in the past, it felt like a spiritual experience.  Once again, I got chills at the line that has stuck with me from my first viewing 30 years ago: “To love another person is to see the face of God.”   As theology, that is just about as good as it gets.

  

Things were much simpler during my sabbatical months.  I announced to my kids that we wouldn’t be signing up for any sports in the fall.  And so, for several months, rather than schlepping kids to different practices and games 5 days a week, we had dinners together and read books together and sat by the fire.  Holden and I even had a few date nights!  One of our favorite new family activities was a take on the “Chopped” cooking show, if you’ve seen that.  We’d pick a few ingredients and break up into teams to create interesting food for each other.  Basketball has started for all the kids now and I really miss the spaciousness of those unstructured months.

    Since we didn’t have the usual sports or church responsibilities, it was easier to go away.  We had a great family trip full of adventures the week before Christmas - a time that is usually too busy for me at work to do much.  We did some hiking in the Shenandoah mountains and tried skiing (the first time for the kids and Holden), among other things.

    I also had some great weekend trips and chances to reconnect with friends.  I went to my seminary class reunion and had a weekend with the hallmates from my freshman dorm.  We went to visit Dylan’s godmother in Richmond and my niece at Duke, and we cheered Holden and some other friends on during their marathon in Philadelphia.   Having time to enjoy and deepen these relationships was wonderful.

    Sabbatical is an incredible luxury for which I am, again, so very thankful.

Beyond just the wonderful adventures I was able to have, this time apart reset my prayer life and deepened my relationships.  I come back to you all here at St. Aidan’s with so much love and energy for this wonderful place and you amazing people.  

“Praise the Lord!  I give thanks to the Lord, with my whole heart, in the company of the upright, in the congregation.”  Amen.