I go on Sabbatical in 22 days. I have been thinking about
this Sabbatical for over a year and a half. The idea of this Sabbatical has
gone a long journey all on its own. As I have thought about it, dreamed about
it and made plans for it, it took on the life of a fairytale, a dream, a story I
was writing. The reality of a thing, does not fully sink in until the thing is
actually before you. I found this true
of marriage, having a child and even moving to a new Church. You can talk about it, you can dream toward
it, you can prepare for it, but the thing is not a thing, until it is. And even
now with 22 days to go, it is not as real as it will be when I wake up one
morning and there is no sermon to research, no notes to write, nobody to visit,
no plumber to call, or announcements to send out. Nothing, well not
nothing. I have sabbatical plans. Some think I have to many plans. But I am trying to slow down, really I am.
I have trips planned, a week with the family camping on
Prince Edwards Island and anther week with them in a cabin in Maine. We are
going to New York City. My daughter
wants to see Starry Night, which she tells me is at the MOMA in New York, I am
sure we will do other things but that is high on her list. I plan to take my girls hiking and biking, to
museums and to the beach. I imagine days
of clamboring through the New England wilderness, finding a rock and letting my
girls run wild in a clearing while I read a book. I imagine something similar with a large floppy
hat, a low sitting chair and a New England Beach. I actually have a lot of pictures of me sitting
and reading with my girls running around like wild things all around me. I figure there will be more arguments, she’s
in my space, she touched my sand, she stole my stick than I think a 9 and 11
year old should have.
I imagine a glorious dream of a Summer with me doing things
with my girls, ambling through our city, meandering up a trail near a brook,
eating ice cream from a shoppe in a small coastal town. I imagine staring intently at amazing art
together and pondering the intricacies of an exhibit or the beauty of a botanical
garden, you know all the things an ideal parent does with their time when they
have it and they have children.
There are some spiritual journeys planned as well. Going to see the Street pastors in Maine, a
silent retreat at a monastery, and a three day backpacking trip with my best
friend, all spiritual journeys I plan to take during my time of rest. But
between them is time, so much time. Time
to read, to write, to rest and relax.
This is the dream, the place my imagination takes me. I know the thing will be what it is when it he
is here, but right now, it is a plan, a dream. We will see what it is when it
is here. We will see God gives us when
it arrives, but until then, I plan, I prepare and I try to make sure everything
and everyone is ready for my departure.
