Getting Ready

Today I begin a time of sabbatical rest and renewal. Yesterday, the send off and today the beginning of what I anticipate to be holy time, holy time that welcomes the Holy Spirit in the form of stranger, a new friend, a pilgrim, a seeker, an insight, or an unexpected surprise.

As my day began, it began with the more ordinary things of life. I had some notes to write, a trip to the cleaners to drop off my robes and stoles so that even my clerical robes and stoles will be renewed and refreshed for my ultimate return to my work and vocation. There was also a final trip to the travel agent to organize and clarify the mundane things that will facilitate a meaningful experience. Such things as plane tickets, hotel accommodations, and a final check on a trip to Athens. Although ordinary and seemingly secular, these matters are essential in this time of preparation. This is breathing time, a time to empty mind and body so that I may be more receptive to the Spirit's leanings.

Along the ordinary path of Monday morning, I noticed two bags of potting soil, two empty pots, a bag of pea gravel, and several gasping plants eager to anchor themselves in something more than a plastic container, pressing against their anxious roots in search of water, nutrients and room to spread out so that the world can see their beauty. I accommodated the call to be a co-creator with God and planted my tender plants. And so it is on this first day of my sabbatical, a time to see the possibilities.

I planted the planters today and they look nice against the front of our house. The plants have not adjusted completely to this new experience, but they're ready to take root and open up to God's prevenient care, each flower, each leaf is prepared to receive drops of rain and sunshine so that they may be receptive to the God's Holy Spirit that feeds them.

I guess in one sense that's where I am, getting ready to receive holy food. Like the new plants in a planter, the conditions are in place, and soon I will be in the midst of God's holy space and waiting to receive whatever it is that God would want me to see and hear. Such is my first day of my Sabbatical, and so I babble on, but not without purpose. No, just as a way to get ready for God's new chapter in my life. Where it will lead me, I do not know, but I'm planted and ready to receive, so that I might bloom to the glory of God.