I can't believe I'm blogging--right out here in public!

I can't believe I'm blogging--right out here in public!


Ostensibly, this blog is written to keep friends and family informed about my movement through a sabbatical, and it is my hope that writing it informs me, too. It's easy for me to move through life without reflecting on it and being busy with this or that. But reflection seems to be where the growth really happens, and where the fullness of life really lives.

Lilly Endowment in Indianapolis offers Clergy Renewal Grants to successful applicants, and I'm still pinching myself to check that it's true that I was awarded one. God knows I need some renewing! Thank you, Mr. Lilly, for the support to undertake this sabbatical! And thank you, St. Paul's Church, for granting me the time!

I guess we can't get new unless there is something old that needs rehabbing. I am seeking to make new my relationship with myself as a spiritual seeker who is a caregiver by nature and an ordained cleric by calling. I hope renewal happens by connecting the dots in my life. (Hope you noticed the template I chose for this blog....) The dots seem disparate, but they're not, really. Even if it's only my life that holds them together, they do connect. I hope these next few months will reveal how Scottish Highlands, Sufism, Pelagius, Rumi, Istanbul, Alzheimer's and Christianity fit together.

Glad you are joining me on the journey!