In 7 days I will embark on the journey that I've been awaiting for 2 years. I can't begin to tell you how grateful and excited I am that I am allowed to take 11 weeks to rest, renew, and listen for God's heartbeat.
I am finding it difficult staying fully engaged in life and ministry this week. I have "sabbatical-itis" something fierce! That's not to say that I don't like ministry or anything of the sort, it's just that I've been waiting for this summer for 2 years. I realized the other day that I haven't had a real vacation in I don't know how long. Maybe over a year??? I had bereavement time last summer, and I had time off for surgery in December, but that's about it. I have a feeling that the first few weeks will be a sort of detox, catching up on sleep, and disengaging from the pace of life that I've known for the past months.
As I prepare, I'm starting to ask the question about what "sabbatical" can look like here and now. That is one of the reasons Celtic spirituality is attractive to me. As I understand it, the Celts practiced a spiritual life that was in pace with the earth, with the day-t0-day living and working and being. One of my hopes is that learning the rhythms of rest modeled by the Celts will teach me to rest once I'm not on sabbatical any more.
So my prayer is that God guides me to deeper wisdom of rest, of space, of rhythm so my life reflects sabbath when sabbatical is 2 or more years away again (but let's not get ahead of ourselves to quickly, right?)
Peace!
Jim
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