Angled Light

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The winter’s solstice is coming soon. I have heard people complain lately about the dark season. I am aware that there are those who suffer from Seasonal Affective Disorder – it’s harder to get out of bed (especially before the sun rises), we feel tired and less enthused about our days. I know of people who go south this time of year just to feel some relief from the darkness; it hasn’t helped that it has been raining so much. Having recognized this, there is one thing I like about the December sky – the angle of light; the sun shines not from about but at an angle. This creates longer shadows and light that is more opaque and muted.

I love Impressionism because of the attention given to light; particularly Claude Monet. Recall his paintings of haystacks – he painted the same haystack numerous times only changing the angle of light. I am also fond of solo pianist, George Winston, particularly his CD entitled December. In a sermon recently I mentioned how I love Handel’s Messiah; solo piano is different. While the choir and orchestra blend many notes creating harmonies that lift and inspire, solo piano is about a succession of notes that includes the spaces between the notes. This stresses contrast – light and darkness, as if each single note was a sliver a light in the darkness. This sense characterizes Advent and Christmas for me.

This can be a SAD season. It is for that reason that I look for the slivers of light, the angled beam that piercingly illuminates; it does not dominate its voice is not loud. Where are those places where in the midst of darkness in our lives that the Spirit of God interjects a flake of wisdom? I often find myself just sitting in silence waiting for these moments. I bemoan the fact that preparing for Christmas dislodges any still time from our lives; preparing for Christmas has become the opposite of what waiting for Jesus was created to be. (Yes, I know I’ve said enough on that.) Yet, I still wish for all to experience the still small voice of this season – the angled light and the contrasted note; echoes of grace. P.Jim

P.S. The Son does not come from above but at an angle.

These photos were taken during the winter of 1982-1983 from around the small house in which I lived in Hokkaido, Japan. Obviously, they are pre-digital and had to be transferred – they are also old and show the effects of slides hanging out in a garage for many years. The colors faded so I converted them to black and white (sometimes black and white expresses light better).

Refiners Fire

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On the The Second Sunday of Advent, we hear readings from Malachi 3:1-4 describing the coming of Jesus as a “refiners fire” and from and Luke 3:1-14, which describes the teachings of John the Baptist. In both scriptures, we are encouraged to prepare actively, not to wait, but to prepare for the Lord’s coming by turning around our lives, giving and sharing with others. We are to look at the world differently and to take care of the poor.

Let My People In

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According to CNN, 31 states have said they do not want to welcome Syrian refugees. Never mind the fact that they don’t have the power to make that decision; it appears that the statements are politically motivated. The rhetoric surrounding the possibility of Syrian refugees entering our country has been vitriolic, Listening to it one would think that half of the refugees coming in are supporters of ISIS. But this is hardly the case.

Sometimes I think that if one shouts the loudest in America today people will think it’s the truth. We easily mix up what entertains us with what realties are; politicians summarily repeat untruths as if it didn’t matter. Recently I read that a fact checking organization determined that three candidates for president are lying over 60% of the time – I will let you guess who they are. And what many politicians, including the governors of 31 states have been doing is shouting a lot – and fear mongering. The truth is the refugees that would come into America are not those who are streaming into Europe; rather they would come from refugee camps in Jordan where they have been for a couple of years. They have been thoroughly vetted. The truth is, the terrorists who attacked Paris spoke in French; even now the danger of terrorism is more likely to come from the Molenbeeck neighborhood in Brussels than from Syrian refugees. In our country as well, a Planned Parenthood clinic is attacked resulting in three deaths, motivated, it seems, by fear mongering ire about a propaganda film. Who should we be afraid of? Yes, there is a chance that a refugee from Syria would instigate an act of terrorism. But the chance is relatively small in comparison with the rhetoric. Personally, regarding the safety of people in America I’m still far more concerned about lax gun laws.

I am also concerned about what it communicates to the world when out of misplaced fear we say we don’t want you. In the meantime, France is welcoming more refugees from Syria – that says we do not see this as a religious or cultural problem but a problem of fundamentalism and extremism. What do we, not only as Americans but as Christians want to say to the world? Protecting ourselves is most important? We don’t trust Muslims? After 9-11 we had an incredible opportunity to open our arms and hearts to the world – the world was with us, but what did we do? We invaded Iraq, one of the biggest foreign policy blunders in American history. Who are we? What face do we want to show the world? That we are afraid and are prejudice? What does the Bible say about how we deal with strangers and even enemies? I think God would be saying, Let My People In.

Finally, at this time in the same city that was attacked by terrorists, Paris another summit is taking place to deal with climate change. (When I was home for Thanksgiving looking again at my father’s books I saw one entitled Climate Change printed in 1989.) The reality is, climate change is much more threatening than Syrian refugees. Who are we as Christians and what do we want to say to the world? P.Jim

Non-Assertive Evangelism

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I assume we all know the story of the assistant coach, Joe Kennedy who, after every Bremerton High School football game, walked out to the 50 yard line and knelt to pray. Much has been made of the fact that Kennedy didn’t ask anyone to join him; he didn’t recruit anyone, he was just fallowing his passions. I wish following one’s passions was enough of a reason to do something but it isn’t. Passions always need to be tempered by reason. I don’t know Kennedy’s intentions, but I do think that in spite of what he meant or didn’t mean by praying, it was seen and interpreted as an assertive act. Anything that is that public and visible is not just a matter of a person’s feelings. Steve Largent (the famous Seahawk) wrote an article in The Seattle Times defending the coach, sharing that in his life, coaches like Joe Kennedy, became father figures for him and were instrumental in forming him. There was nothing in Largent’s article I couldn’t agree with, but after reading it, I said to myself, “but what does that have to do with the 50-yard line?” Largent and I suspect most people seem to miss this point.

For all of our claim to be biblical, I couldn’t help but wonder why there has been not mention of what Jesus says in Matthew, in the Sermon on the Mount, as an introduction to the Lord’s Prayer: “…do not be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, so that they may be seen by others…” What could be a more central and public place today than a football field? On such a stage, Coach Kennedy’s act can be nothing but a public declaration of faith implying that he is faithful. It doesn’t help that the spirit of the venue is competitive either. People will easily experience his act not as devotional, but as declarative and competitive. This greases the stereotype that many unchurched people have that Christians are self-righteous and pushy. Again, Kennedy probably didn’t feel these things, but a little thought could have helped him to see, I hope, that in spite of his passions, sincere as they may be, what he communicated was not the passion he intended. It is almost an invitation for someone else who disagrees with him to take the stage – and along came the Satanists. Ironically it was the Satanists who benefited the most from all of this. Personally I would rather they get as little publicity as possible. Whether we like it or not, the law of the land is equal opportunity for religions to speech and evangelizing. If a school has a bible study, a Buddhist group must be welcome to do so too. Well, we don’t mind the Buddhists so much but what about the Scientologists? It’s a sticky wicket that I think is best left alone. How would Steve Largent feel about a Satanist coach?

I don’t like the stereotype of Christians being self-righteous and assertive. When I am on a plane or in a new crowd and I introduce myself as a pastor, I can feel the response – either they are enthusiastic to know that I’m not like all the bad folk in the world or that I am one of those judgmental Christians who will try to convert them. That’s when I order a beer and send them into a quandary. One of our jobs is to enlighten people in a predominantly unchurched world that Christians are not full or ourselves and ready to judge them. I believe that we evangelize best in the context of relationships. We first work on a relationship, finding out people’s stories and sharing our own, and as we share our story our faith is a part of it – not an abstract set of beliefs but a growing, changing, living sometimes struggling part of the story of our lives – vulnerable, imperfect and reticent to judge anyone. At the General Conference before the last one, we added the word “witness” to the membership vows for joining the church. I agree with that and want to live that out. I just don’t think the 50 yard line is the place. P.Jim

No Single Thing

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I want to reiterate something I have said in worship most recently in the wake of the terrorist attacks in Paris, and that is there is no single cause. I think it is a part of our nature to want there to be a single reason, not just in the case of tragedies like terrorism, but in most things. When we go to the doctor, we want to know the ‘cause’ when the reality is our bodies are complex. If someone smokes, we can say that is a major factor in someone getting cancer, but it isn’t the only cause; and not everyone who smokes gets cancer. If we could isolate a single reason for something then we believe we would have more control over it. But alas, that is impossible and then frustrating.

When students were shot and killed at Umpqua Community College in Roseburg, Oregon, I mentioned three factors that I believe encourages such events: mental illness, guns and emotional health of boys in America. Another reason we try to find a single reason is so that we can say what is not involved. If we say that the cause is mental illness, then we can also say guns are not a part of the increase in violent events. This is simply a rationalization. And it would be equally wrong to claim that guns are the sole cause.

Regarding the recent events in Paris, as well as in Beirut and Baghdad, my fear is we will rush to blame religion, and more specifically Islam. This can lead to generalized prejudice and a disregard of other factors, particularly any that might implicate us. Serendipitously, I found a new book by Karen Armstrong in the library entitled, Fields of Blood: Religion and the History of Violence. Armstrong has written many books on religion; she is considered an expert in the field. The thesis of her book is that religion is not the (sole) cause of the kind of violence we see around us. As an historian she makes her argument by looking at the past, but the purpose of her claim is to refute people who disparage religion as innately violent. (Bill Maher please read this book.) I offer these quotations as examples of what she says:

Many view religion…as a byword for irrationality, to be the ultimate cause (of violence). One of the most prominent is Richard Dawkins, who has argued that “only religious faith is a strong enough force to motivate such utter madness in otherwise sane and decent people.” This dangerous oversimplification springs from a misunderstanding of both religion and terrorism. It is, of course, a familiar enough expression of the secularist bias of modernity, which has cast “religion” as a violent, unreasonable force that must be excluded from the politics of civilized nations. Somehow if fails to consider that all the world’s great religions traditions share as one of their most essential tenets the imperative of treating others as one would wish to be treated oneself. This, of course, is not to deny that religion has often been implicated in terrorist atrocities, but it is far to easy to make it a scapegoat rather than trying to see what is really going on thin the world.

As an inspiration for terrorism, however, nationalism has been far more productive than religion. Terrorism experts agree that the denial of a people’s right to national self-determination and the occupation of its homeland by foreign forces has historically been the most powerful recruiting agent of terrorist organizations.

It is not as if everyone who is Muslim tends toward being violent. It is, rather, about people who have been hurt, who’ve watched people they love killed, who are angry about what has happened to their people and they frame their violent rhetoric religiously because that is who they are. Christians could do the same – and have; secularists are not innately righteous either.

At the recent annual dinner for Faith Action Network an imam from the Tri-cities was given an award for Interreligious relations. I did not covet him having to speak in the wake of what happened in Paris. He was clear that in his mind as well ISIS is evil; he said anyone who kills another is not doing so by following God.. I was thankful for his words. See you in worship. P.Jim

How Is Your Heart Today?

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John Wesley lived smack dab in the middle of the Age of Reason. Isaac Newton (1642-1726) had just explained the nature of reality, or so it was assumed. We have to imagine what it was like to be exposed to Newtonian physics in which reality was run by succinct laws and rules, such that we could figure it out with our minds. As a result the growing consensus in academic circles was that we can know everything using our reason alone, including God. (Consider this in contrast to Martin Luther who said sole fid, by faith alone; for these scientists it was by reason alone.) In the midst of his culture Wesley spoke of the heart. Remember the question the early Methodists asked of each other? How is your heart today? Wesley felt that religion should be more than something we think about but also something we feel and experience.

In his book, The Heart of Christianity Marcus Borg elucidates ‘heart’ thus: Like all good metaphors, heart has more than one nuance of meaning. It begin with, it suggests what is most central, ‘core’ and ‘essence.’ If these are to abstract as an organic metaphor heart suggests something alive, pulsating, the source of life. It suggests something deeper than the intellect and the world of ideas…. The deeper level of self. First we have to recognize that ‘heart’ is a metaphor; we are not talking about the organ in our bodies that pumps blood. As a metaphor it is pointing to the deeper part of our selves – that part which connects to God. For John Wesley, it is out of this core that we are to live, and if we do we will be on our way to perfection in love.

When people consider giving money to anything, including the church we usually do so from our rational selves. We consider out finances, and as we do so our gifts to the church are lumped in with all our other debts, bills and investments. It is all very reasonable. What I believe Mike Slaughter is trying to say regarding Heart Giving is that we move away from that rational approach to supporting the church. Giving to the church is not simply another charity – it is an expression of our deepest selves. In one of my former churches there was a man who had lost his spouse and I visited him occasionally. He had been an orphan when he was a child and was raised in a United Methodist orphanage, and because of that experience he was devoted to the UMC. One time when I visited he handed me a check telling me it was his pledge saying, “For all my life I have always paid my pledge to the church first, before I pay any bills because the church is where my heart it.” When he said that I recognized that I did just the opposite – I always started with my bills. Since that time when I right a list of the bills on a piece of paper I put our two pledges first on the list. It’s a kind of spiritual discipline for me to remind me where I want my heart to be. We are finishing our annual Stewardship drive this week and I urge everyone to search your hearts and give generously. P.Jim

Our Charge Conference is early again this year – Thursday, October 15 at 7:00 pm. Everyone is encouraged to attend. What is Charge Conference? It is like our annual meeting – that is what it is called in the Presbyterian Church. However as United Methodists, with our connectional system our “annual meeting” is presided over by our District Superintendent, Reverend Daniel Foster. In this meeting we set the pastor’s salary, receive reports on membership and from the Leadership Selection and Development Committee (Nominations), and thereby elect officers for the coming year, and we answer some annual questions such as, is our insurance paid, did we file with the State for non-profit status, etc. That’s the business. As an annual meeting, however, opportunity is given to share and discuss the state our Church, as well as our Annual Conference. We can ask questions of our District Superintendent. We can ask general questions of ourselves, about where our Church is going and what our priorities are. It can be a good time to share. I (P.Jim) am also planning to show some slides.

Ground Breaking at Ronald UMC. Many of you know over the past few years the folks at Ronald UMC have been working with the city of Shoreline, Compass Housing, and Hopelink to create low income housing next to the Church. The Church sold some land to Compass Housing who will build the housing. The Hopelink food bank will also move into the new facility. The project is called Ronald Commons and the groundbreaking for the construction of the building will be Monday, October 12 at 4:30 pm. Representatives from all the parties invested in the project, as well as our Bishop Grant Hagiya will be in attendance. I wanted all to know about this event and say that anyone would be welcome to attend. P.Jim

We Have a Real Mission

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I am so excited about what is happening at our Church. I feel the presence of the Spirit every time we gather for worship. There is a growing sense of purpose; an increased understanding of who we are and what our mission is. Our Adult Sunday school class is well attended, where we are discussing the book Living the Questions: the Wisdom of Progressive Christianity. In the first chapter of the book the authors, David Felten and Jeff Proctor-Murphy state that faith is not an arriving, but a journey. Our task as Christians isn’t to find answers that are absolutes, but to raise questions, seek conversation, and grow in grace. Traditionally in Methodism “as one practices faith, the evolutionary work of ‘sanctification’ begins and one works toward becoming more whole as life goes on.” (Instead of ‘whole’ Wesley used the word ‘perfection.’) This ‘evolutionary’ perspective on faith is not a common one – it is a part of who we are and a part of what we have to share with the world. The image most unchurched people have of Christianity in America is all the things we are not. Because most churches focus on what is necessary to believe in order to be saved, rather than on growing spiritually, the image of the church is rigid, judgmental, and ironically uncaring. When people who are not familiar with churches hear that I am a pastor they assume I am judgmental of gays and lesbians, think that I think I have all the answers, that I am ready to tell them that if they don’t believe as I do they will go to hell, and that I don’t believe climate change is influenced by human activity. So many people in my experience have said that they did not know a church like ours exists. We have a real mission here. We have the opportunity to share God’s grace and love to people who don’t know that is what Jesus was all about. We have the potential to transform peoples lives. I sincerely believe this and I believe this mission is well worth investing in.

It’s Stewardship season again – time to talk about money, right? The process of raising funds to support the ministries of the Church is something we cannot avoid – so yes, we will talk about money. But before we do, or at least in the same context, let’s talk about this mission we have to transform people’s lives, our community and in doing so, in some small way, the world. Think of all the young people we touch – in the Preschool, through our Children’s Programs, in the Youth Program. I can tell you for sure that I’ve seen young people experience God and feel moved to be disciples. Consider how transformative it is when we worship together. Our worship isn’t about getting it right, it’s about the presence of the Spirit in our lives. Think of the music we are blessed with – music has the power to heal the soul. Since we became a Reconciling Church by being Reconciling we have attracted numerous people – again, to a church that many don’t know exists. We lift up our missions – Teen Feed and our support of the VOA Food Bank. This is a giving church. And we are a growing church. Do you see all the new people? Yes, it’s Stewardship season again – so let’s celebrate! Let’s celebrate who we are and embrace the mission we have – to touch lives with God’s love and grace, to be about the task of growing spiritually, and reaching out into the world with care.
P. Jim

Thoughts on my Retreat at Mount Angel Abbey

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During my Renewal Leave I spent a number of days on retreat at the Mount Angel Abbey in Oregon.  The Abbey sits on the top of a hill that overlooks the Willamette Valley.  It is a Benedictine monastery; they follow the Rule of St, Benedict which includes following and living the Hours.  That is, worshiping eight times a day, but some monasteries fudge on it a little.  My wife, Paula.
has told me that at the Monastery in the Desert in New Mexico they do them all, including Matins, in the middle of the night.  At Mount Angel Abbey, they practice Lauds at 5:20 am., Prime at 6:30, Mass at 8:00, Sext at noon, Vespers at 5:20 and Compline at 7:30.  The majority of their worship is chanting the Psalms – to the point where after a number of years they have them memorized.  They also stand for nearly the whole service.  Please understand this; they follow this “Rule” everyday for the rest of their lives.  And usually they live the whole of their lives at one monastery, living in the same community.  Apparently they do take vacations; I wonder what they do on their vacations?  Do they go to Disneyland?  But aside from vacations, whatever that means for them, they do the same thing day after day.  I was there for less than a week and in that short time I could feel a change in my heart.

There is little noise on the hilltop:  the bells are the loudest sound heard.  The chanting starts to stay in one’s head after a while.  There are many birds on the hilltop and there is no background music like we have in the grocery store.  Also, the monks and visitors move more slowly – a monk in a hurry is an oxymoron.  Following the Rule, as restricting as it feels, lends a steady gate and gentle pace.  These days it hurts when I walk, but when I’m in my normal life, I still find myself trying to hurry.  How stupid is that?  Up on the hilltop, I naturally slowed down.  Paralleling the slower walking pace my thinking waned as well.  Our hurried pace walking, even more driving, is mirrored in our minds.  We think constantly and relentlessly.  We ruminate, analyzing our days, projecting out into the future:  I need to get the car lubed; who does she think she is talking to me like that; he left his clothes on the floor again – and apparently if one works at Amazon its worse!  When I came down off the hilltop it wasn’t long before Paula called me to fill me in on our lives and it all came back.  Suddenly I was driving over the speed limit again.

It reminds me of the story of Elijah going to Mt. Horeb fleeing Jezebel and fearing for his life, he meets God on the mountain.  He waits for God, but God wasn’t in the wind, nor in the earthquake, nor in the fire, but in the sheer silence (used to be a still small voice).  It is as if Elijah is slowly letting go of the pressure, the steam, the loud cacophony of life and rests in the calm, and God is there.  Is this a paradigm of an experience we all need?

I believe in our world less noise and a slower pace will allow us to hear God as a still small voice.  Coming down off the hilltop driving to my mother’s, I reflexively turned on the radio (that’s all I have in my car, aren’t you surprised?), but it sounded tinny and I felt annoyed, especially by the incessant commercials on NPR!  I turned it off.  What do we need to turn off?  How can we go to the hilltop/mountain in our lives?  I have a hard time imagining living the life of a monk, but a little of it once in a while is a blessing.

This is a while in the future, I know we are all thinking of the fall, but in January I will be offering a class about Slow Church.  We will read a book by that name by C Christopher Smith and John Pattison.  They talk about the “McDonaldization” of the church:  “The process by which the principles of the fast food restaurant are coming to dominate more and more sectors of American society as well as the rest of the world.”  The values of this McDonaldization are:  efficiency, predictability, calculability (quantifiable results) and control.  Does that sound like the workings of the church today?  Does that sound like the values that run other institutions in our lives?  Did we all read the New York Times article about the working environment at Amazon?  I believe it is these values that starve us spiritually, and I want to do something about it.  The class will last from Epiphany through Lent (it will be our Lenten study too).  Easter is early next year so the class will be from January through March.  I’m really looking forward to it.  P.Jim

Adult Sunday School: Living the Questions

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This fall in Adult Sunday School, we will be reading and discussing a book entitled, Living the Questions: The Wisdom of Progressive Christianity by David Felten and Jeff Proctor-Murphy. Originally Living the Questions was a DVD series (which I own) which was very popular amongst clergy. The authors realized (correctly, I think) that the “wisdom” in the DVD needed to reach a broader audience and therefore created the book. Chapter titles include, Taking the Bible Seriously but not Literally, Thinking Theologically, Evil, Suffering and the God of Love, Practicing Resurrection, The Myth of Redemptive Violence and Honoring Creation. I have no doubt that this book will generate good discussion amongst the wonderful people who have attended our class.

Parenthetically, the book generated controversy in the Phoenix area where David Felten in the pastor of Fountain Hills UMC. Eight neighboring churches organized a six part series challenging the book – the title of the series was “Progressive Christianity: Fact or Fiction,” and the six sessions were: Why Does it Matter that God Doesn’t Change, Why Does it Matter that the Bible is Reliable (inerrant), Why Does it Matter that Jesus is God, Why Does it Matter that Jesus was Born of a Virgin, Why Does it Matter that Jesus was Resurrected, Why Does it Matter that Jesus is the Only Way? One can well imagine what was preached at those sessions – all the more reason for us to become both clear and open about our faith. My hope is that this book will assist us in becoming articulate about how we believe – and what we don’t believe. It will help us in forming our identity, crystallizing our message (as relative as it may be) and giving us the means to be in dialogue with the folks like those in the eight churches in Phoenix.

We meet every Sunday morning beginning September 13 at 10:00 am. I have ordered 17 books – if you would like me to reserve one for you please let me know. Or, you may buy one yourself – for your Kindle. I’m looking forward to sharing with everyone again. P.Jim

P.S. If you would like to read about the controversy in Phoenix go to Patheos.com.

This Fall in Adult Sunday School: Part 2

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This fall in Adult Sunday School, we will be reading and discussing a book entitled, Living the Questions: The Wisdom of Progressive Christianity by David Felten and Jeff Proctor-Murphy. Originally Living the Questions was a DVD series (which I own) which was very popular amongst clergy. The authors realized (correctly, I think) that the “wisdom” in the DVD needed to reach a broader audience and therefore created the book. Chapter titles include, Taking the Bible Seriously but not Literally, Thinking Theologically, Evil, Suffering and the God of Love, Practicing Resurrection, The Myth of Redemptive Violence and Honoring Creation. I have no doubt that this book will generate good discussion amongst the wonderful people who have attended our class.

Parenthetically, the book generated controversy in the Phoenix area where David Felten is the pastor of Fountain Hills UMC. Eight neighboring churches organized a six part series challenging the book – the title of the series was “Progressive Christianity: Fact or Fiction,” and the six sessions were: Why Does it Matter that God Doesn’t Change, Why Does it Matter that the Bible is Reliable (inerrant), Why Does it Matter that Jesus is God, Why Does it Matter that Jesus was Born of a Virgin, Why Does it Matter that Jesus was Resurrected, Why Does it Matter that Jesus is the Only Way? One can well imagine what was preached at those sessions – all the more reason for us to become both clear and open about our faith. My hope is that this book will assist us in becoming articulate about how we believe – and what we don’t believe. It will help us in forming our identity, crystallizing our message (as relative as it may be) and giving us the means to be in dialogue with the folks like those in the eight churches in Phoenix.

We meet every Sunday morning beginning September 13th at 10:00 am. I have ordered 17 books – if you would like me to reserve one for you please let me know. Or, you may buy one yourself – for your Kindle. I’m looking forward to sharing with everyone again. P.Jim

P.S. If you would like to read about the controversy in Phoenix go to Patheos.com.

Every Wednesday morning during the school year a group of really cool people gather to talk – like good Methodists. It really doesn’t take too much to get us to talk either. Last spring we viewed short videos interviewing various theologians and spiritual leaders called Faces on Faith. This fall we will be viewing videos produced by the same people entitled Questions of Faith. Each video will address a question like, What matters the Most? Why hope? What’s God like? etc. Everyone is welcome to come join us, Wednesday mornings, 9:30-11:00 beginning September 16 in Room 13. P.Jim

I will be back in the pulpit (such as is will be outside) this coming Sunday and I am excited! I have missed everyone and I am looking forward to a great fall coming up. There is one thing I dread, however. Can you guess? Everyone will be asking me: How was your vacation/sabbatical/time off, etc? It’s kind of like asking someone, how are you today? And the perfunctory answer is, “fine.” How can I tell you about my renewal leave in such a short time? Just to let you know, my perfunctory answer will be, “good.”

In order to minimize the constant question, I will give you a brief outline of what I did over my weeks on renewal leave. I bought a bike. This may sound fairly irrelevant but since I can no longer run it was a transition to move from foot to wheel. I like to get out – I do not like the stationary bike in our basement. Getting out is a spiritual practice for me. I spent the better part of a week in retreat at Mt. Angel Abbey in Oregon. I visited my mother and sister in Corvallis which was long overdue. While there I attended my fortieth high school reunion. I spent a lot of time learning Power Point and creating slide shows with my photographs – I hope to show some of them in worship. I took a number of pictures too – you can see a few on Facebook. I read at least 15 books, five of which were novels, five of which were re-reads. One of the non-fiction books was Richard Rohr’s Falling Upward, about transitioning to the second half of life. The first half, he says is definitive – that is, one is working on defining oneself. The second half of life is more generative. Instead of asking, who am I? One asks, how can I serve? It is about generating love and beauty. A novel I read is Ghost by Alan Lightman who is a physicist at MIT, I think. His most well known novel is Einstein’s Dreams. Ghost is about a man who loses his job at a bank and the only work he can find is in a mortuary. One day he sees something….. something that is not a part of reality as he knows it. The novel involves scientists from the university, a group called The Second World, and eccentric employees at the mortuary. Interwoven in all of this are questions of what is read, and whether there is an unseen world. Finally, I had some time with each member of my family. I helped Kenneth through driver’s ed. – no small task. I’ve been able to spend time with Aaron who is at home while he is doing his internship at Snohomish County Community Health, and Paula and I spent the better part of a week at Moclips.

I want to thank everyone who giving me the opportunity to do all these things. I feel your love and support and I value it greatly. P.Jim