Try, try again (Late May)

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I pray that by the time you read this, I will have left for my sabbatical: time for a pastor to be away from day to day parish life for spiritual renewal. I had planned to take this sabbatical spring of 2020 with the theme "Create in me a clean heart," from Psalm 51. I hoped to spend my time in play, performing music, praying, and producing (a record and a book.) It was all mapped out, and the day after Ash Wednesday last year, I hit the road with a friend to Gulfport Mississippi to perform the first concert in a series to kick-off my sabbatical. I had already recorded the music, all songs about the Incarnation, Teachings, and Passion of Christ, called "Love One Another." (I didn't make up that title, by the way.) Then we all know what happened in the world mid-March. As I quipped in a new song I wrote that month, "the world got infected: no more handshakes, no more shows..." 

It is with more humility that I approach sabbatical this time around. I don't know how long it will be, but I've made tentative plans for three months. I still hope to do some recording and certainly some writing. I have a few destinations in mind, but I am reminded again and again of the joke: "you know how to make God laugh?...tell him your plans." 

Humility is a gift from God that has led to the transformation of sinners into saints. It's opposite is hubris; hubris brings down the heroes of mythology. I actually believe that when we learn humility, we become more human. Both words are related to the word hummus: of the earth or mud. Remembering that we are created, we are not the Creator. While it is a gift, and a privilege to preside at the Holy Eucharist and to proclaim the Gospel week after week, it can certainly lead to inflation. In the end, I'm just another human with some particular gifts among my community. Stepping away is a reminder that the church is perfectly fine without me, that it is the community of the Holy Spirit, and that as a human, I certainly need some rest. You may need rest, too. I wish more people could find a way to take sabbath time, and perhaps you will be inspired to make it happen. 

At the beginning of my sabbatical, I have the end in mind. I look forward to returning in August renewed, and ready for the next chapter of ministry with Trinity by the Sea. Now, I humbly seek to be open to what the Holy Spirit will work in me and what I might learn in the time away. I look forward to discovering what renewal will take place here at Trinity when we are reunited. If you pray, pray for me, and know that you are in my prayers, too. 

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