Endings & Beginnings

Well, it is really here – the last day of my sabbatical. It has been an amazing three months of travel and rest and connecting with special people. I can’t say that I’m ready for it to be over, but I do feel a sense of hopeful expectation about what’s next. Just as we in the church move from Holy Week – observing the end of the disciples’ journey with Jesus on earth – to Easter, when we celebrate new life and the work of continuing Jesus’ ministry in new ways, I am reminded that in what feels like an ending, there is also a beginning. An opportunity for new things to spring up. It helps that it really does feel like spring. The azaleas in my yard have little buds just starting to appear.

I can’t yet fully articulate what I learned or how I changed over the past twelve weeks and thousands of miles. Not all of it was easy or comfortable. In fact, some moments were truly painful – like that icy slide down the side of a ski slope where several trees left their marks on my legs, and being forced to listen to really conservative theology I strongly disagreed with, for three days straight. Other moments were precious and holy – like climbing to the top of a waterfall with my dearest friend; singing with Montagnard children in the small village church in Vietnam; and seeing what strong, beautiful women my sweet Sri Lankan little sisters have grown into. At this point, I can say that I am more fully aware of how good my life is – not in comparison to the lives of others I met, but because I am lucky enough to live a life that has connected me to so many others whose lives are so different from my own; because my life has been so full of rich experiences and relationships. I feel rich. Grateful. Full.

My hope is that even as I go back to a busy schedule and the demands of “ordinary” life, I will continue to find ways to fill up my spirit again. That I will keep pouring myself out doing what I love, but also let myself be filled by what renews and energizes me. I hope that for all of you, too, that you will discover what makes you feel full of life, to share it generously with others, and then to know when to rest and play and take it all in again.