Days 27 and 28 as the Sabbatical ends

Day 28-1, August 29

The Stillspeaking devotion in our morning prayers began with "Do not repay evil for evil or abuse for abuse" from1 Peter 3:8.  I was thinking about the timely connection to our country’s response to a chemical weapon attack in Syria.  But the devotion was not about that.  It was about violence against children, and the writer was meaning kids in our own communities who are sexually abused, suffer other physical abuse and emotional abuse.  When these kids grow up, we all deal with deep hidden moral injury.  The wars in the Middle East will end when they love their children more than they hate their enemies.

On this last full day away, I am finishing up the last sorting and filing that will make me, well not caught completely up, but in a position to catch up.

Kay has laid claim to a stick I found and used for my get-away-from-the-paperwork walk.  The walking stick gives support when crossing rocky streams, clears spider webs from the trail BEFORE contact, and gives some means of defense if there is a bear encounter. This stick is coming home for some improvements and as a sign of a new purpose for walking.

We are eating strategically to make the food in our larder be used up by the time of our departure.

DB reminds me that the first service to give to someone in Christian community is to listen them.  We preachers often think we have something to offer without taking the time to listen.  “I don’t know what to say,” is often to barrier to anyone visiting a fellow Christian who is suffering.  The best advice is do not say anything.  Just be present, listen, and cry together.  DB says the beginning of love is to learn to listen.

Day 28-0, August 30, 2013

This is pack up and go home day.  The sabbatical has been wonderful beyond simple description but we are ready to go home.  We pack boxes and bags and load everything into the car.  This is the biggest load yet.  There is some food left in the refrigerator that we offered to the housekeepers we have befriended.

As we drive out we give thanks to the founders of Christmount and places like it and prayers for the next person(s) will be in the sabbatical apartment tonight.  It stays booked up.

In South Carolina we stop to buy peaches.  Kay asked nicely.  I said yes, as long as we can find a place for them in the car.  She plans to “put them up” mostly in preserves with Splenda.

After lunch, we arrived at our planned stop in Greenville to visit Kay’s son, Bubba, his wife Sarah, and their young children, Abby, Kylie, Natalie and Riley.  We had the opportunity to surprise the girls at the school bus stop when they got home.  We all went out to eat at a Chinese buffet and then said our goodbyes. 

We finished the trek home in the darkness that is coming earlier.  We got back to Guyton at 10:30 pm and unloaded everything.  We found the essential meds before bed and slept in our own bed.  You know the feeling.  We will retrieve Rusty the dog tomorrow.

Day 28-2, August 28

Day 28-2, August 28

We liked the Stillspeaking devotional this morning in our prayer time.  Martin Copenhaver talks about how none of our families are normal.  “The Bible does not hold up an idealized picture of family.”  The Bible depicts all the drama that we know from dysfunctional families.  “Yet it is exactly in those flawed places that the Spirit of God can move and where we can catch a glimpse of grace.”

I took a walk adding mountain trails to the trek around Christmount.  I was reinforcing some of the things I learned yesterday in identifying plants and trees.  I ran into a couple from Atlanta who are in a transitional move to Black Mountain.

“Sometimes you feel like a nut; sometimes you don’t,” is a memorable ad line for Almond Joy candy bars.  It also illustrates our need for interaction in community and our need for silence in secluded places.  DB tests the limits by declaring that, “Whoever cannot be alone should beware of community,” and in the very next paragraph, “Whoever cannot stand being in community should beware of being alone.”  Disciples of Jesus need to find a healthy balance between aloneness and community.  Jesus often went off to be alone.  But when he ascended into heaven he left behind a community, not a doctrine.

Day 28-3, August 27

Day 28-3, August 27

Today would have been my father, Glen’s, 85^th birthday.  September 24 will be the 40^th anniversary of his accidental death on the farm.  That seems like a lifetime ago and I guess it was.

I spent time with DB early this morning after missing our encounter last night.   He began by saying that every human idealized image (dream) brought into the Christian community is a hindrance to genuine community.  With the awareness that the 50^th anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr’s I Have a Dream speech is tomorrow, I was thinking, “These two should talk.”  I think they would come to agreement that God has already provided foundation for the dream King articulated and that we accept it not with demands but with thanksgiving.  I wonder what kind of a pastor DB was?  It seems he would be a tough taskmaster.  That would make it hard for him to be a “people” person too.

We allow ourselves TV enough to watch the news in the morning and evening.  We ate breakfast while learning what was going on in the world.  Then we had our own devotions and prayers.

I learned at worship Sunday morning that FCC, Black Mountain was having Morning Prayer at 9 am today.  I wanted to learn about that and participate so I went.  There were just four people including me.  We sat in the sanctuary with soft music playing and an arrangement of candles on the Communion table.  After sharing a written liturgy including moments of silence, we lit votive candles placed next to pictures and names of members and friends in need of prayers.  We took turns saying, “May the light of Christ shine in [reading the person(s) name(s).”  There were some candles with no names or faces for spontaneous prayers including for Kay and myself.  We finished with the Lord’s Prayer and were about to leave when another couple came in to pray.  We all sat down again and continued shared prayers.

When I returned to Christmount, Kay was ready for our plan to visit the North Carolina Arboretum about thirty minutes away.  It was a beautiful day and place.  We toured the grounds, gift shop, and art gallery anticipating a free guided walk we had signed up for online.  We ate our picnic lunch we brought and met our group for the 1:00-2:30 pm tour of trees and plants along a trail on the grounds.  We ended at their bonsai exhibit.  We were pretty tired after that so we decided to eat out before going back to the apartment.  We had some great Mexican food in Black Mountain.

I saw through social media that my mother and older sister visited the farm where we became family in celebration of Glen Grandgeorge’s birthday.  I’m glad we could be there somewhat together in this way.

Kay and I watched the evening news and then caught up in our journals.  It will be early to bed tonight.

Tonight, DB said that Christians need other Christians who speak God’s Word to them and he quotes a verse from this coming Sunday’s sermon text, “Remember . . . those who spoke the Word of God to you.”  I have often said that to be a part of the Church, one must be present.  There are more and more Christians in name only.  Many of those blame organized religion.  As one of the “organized” I can only say that they are bigger fools than we are.  We fools should communicate better.

Day 28-4, August 26

Day 28-4, August 26

After our morning prayers and quiet time and breakfast, we loaded up dirty laundry and went to a Laundromat to make it clean again.  I save quarters for parking in Savannah and brought them here just for this purpose.  They came in handy.  In a way the laundry is a metaphor for our sabbatical.  Over time the pile becomes deeper and wider waiting a time for refreshment.  Renewed by cleaning and sorting the clothes are ready to do their job again.  We feel sorted out, refreshed and ready for use again.

After lunch, Kay took a nap and I did some church work on the September newsletter and the Sunday School class I will teach on my return Sunday.  I always teach the first lesson of a new quarter to give an overview of the material ahead.  We will be using lessons for the Season of Creation, the four Sundays before St. Francis of Assisi Day (October 6).  For year C, the theme in creation is Oceans.

Later, Kay went back to Ingles, the grocery store I can’t keep her out of.  I finished reading web-empowered ministry connecting with people through websites, social media, and more.  It’s amazing how dated these books are even if they are just three years old!  Still, I am learning a lot of fundamentals that are important no matter the technological advances.

For our after supper walk, I found a park in Black Mountain that would provide some new scenery and maybe less steep hills.  It was right next to I-40 but had trails into the woods by the Montreat College campus athletic fields and along a rocky river with a disc (Frisbee) golf course.  A large group had to hold their shot until we passed by.  The clear sky near sunset reminded me to check for passes of the International Space Station.  There was a very bright pass coming in an hour.  I set an alarm in the app and we went back to our apartment.

The alarm went off one minute before the scheduled over flight and we went out in the dark wondering about bears that may be in the edge of the woods.  The ISS passed over the open sky just above us.  It was moonless and clear and after our eyes adjusted to the darkness I found some familiar constellations.

While writing this blog before bedtime, we got a FaceTime call from Russ and Holly in Oregon.  She was bouncing and demonstrated her crawling.  We are always thrilled to share our faces.

Bonhoeffer will have to wait for early morning.  It’s 9:30, past my new bedtime and I have other rituals to perform.

Day 28-5, Sunday, August 25

Day 28-5, Sunday, August 25

Okay, I have started a count-down for days remaining in my sabbatical.  We leave Christmount for home on Friday.  After a stop over to see Kay’s son, David and family in Greenville, SC, we will be home late Friday night.  It is not an unpleasant count down with kicking and screaming.  We have achieved many of the things we wanted to do.  We will continue to be fully present here.   And we will begin to sets some personal goals to return to our normal lives.  The timing seems good from Day 23.

The Stillspeaking devotion for today and our daily prayer at Guyton Christian Church beginning this week made real connections with the calling that God continues on our lives and our experience at the movie yesterday. 

Kenneth Samuel was talking about his own calling in the devotional.  As a young seminarian he heard a lecture by Howard Thurman and wanted an autograph by the author on his book, Jesus of the Disinherited.”  Samuel said he looked at me and wrote in my book, “You know the path.  Walk it.”  That’s the answer we’ve been getting too!  How about you?

Each Sunday at Guyton Christian Church we have a new prayer that we encourage everyone to pray at 12:30 pm or some other convenient time each day.  The prayer that begins today is:  O God, your will is broader than our best traditions.  Your mercy runs deeper than our finest sympathies.  Speak your Word to set us free fro attitudes that cripple, habits that are hurtful, and arguments that divide.  May we see others through the eyes of Christ and may others see the divine spark within us.  Amen.  That  really speaks to us about what we saw at The Butler. Yesterday at the movies.

We went to worship at First Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in Black Mountain, less than two miles from the gate at Christmount.  We really appreciated the worship and the fellowship of the faithful.  I saw an acquaintance of old there worshiping with his wife.  I first met Pablo Stone as a Kentucky Disciple representative at meetings of the Commission on Religion in Appalachia (CORA).  We had an immediate connection through Berea, KY, where his father and I had both served First Christian Church there.  The Stones and another couple are in the habit of eating out after worship.  They invited us and we joined them at a wonderful Bed and Breakfast, The Madison Inn that is open as a restaurant on certain days including Sunday brunch.  Kay had her favorite, shrimp and grits with fried green tomatoes.  It turns out we have more connections.  Pablo’s father also served Perryville Christian Church, my first congregation while in seminary at Lexington, KY.  And both of the Stones are originally from Arkansas as am I.  It was a wonderful time together at table.

I sorted and filed the last box of loose papers while Kay took a nap.  I also read up on securing my computer with additional passwords, firewall and other features.

After supper, we took a walk uphill for a ways.  There are about 90 privately owned homes in the hills above the Christmount campus.  The properties were originally part of the Christmount property and continue to have covenants with the retreat center.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer (DB) continues to talk about community.  We may sometimes have mountain top experiences of Christian community but they remain nothing beyond a gracious extra to the daily bread of our community in faith.  That’s good news for folks coming down from the mountains and back to a life once thought to be routine.  Because of what God has done for all of us, we are bound together in community by faith, not by experience.