The Next Phase of the Journey

Tah Dah! I made it to Canada. Having left Newington at 8:29 EDT on Sunday morning, Jesus and I arrived at our house on PEI at midnight ADT somewhat worse for wear. Instead of driving up to Houlton, Maine, like I did last year, I went through Calais, Maine/St. Stephen, New Brunswick, and managed to get lost at every possible opportunity to make a wrong turn. Very frustrating, but I managed to extricate myself each time, sometimes with a little help from Tom via the cell phone. Tom and the dogs were happy to see me even though it was very late. It has rained most of today, and over half of my drive yesterday was in the rain. The sun has to come out again, right? I've spent a rather lazy day recuperating from the drive. I'm hoping we can spend some time walking on the boardwalk around Charlottetown Harbor one of these days. I'll write some more toward the end of the week. We all send our love to everyone.

An Ending and Yet Not The End

This was the last day of class, and following some sharing and discussion we had a special lunch. Two of the men in our class decided that they wanted to buy pizza and salad. So they did, and the rest of us brought drinks and desserts. It was a fine meal. Jesus really liked those chocolate chip cookies and brownies. Yum, yum! At the end of class we were asked to divide into four groups and each one was to make a presentation of one of the main words associated with our discussion of quantum spirituality: wholeness, relationship, revelation and transformation. I asked to be part of the relationship group because I had an idea about using dance as a means of relating. Together we decided to represent the giving of energy to connect everything so that peace and justice could be brought to the world. So the other five people were a rock, a tree, the sun, a turtle and a person, and I was the Energy/Spirit that danced around the room bringing them energy that lead to relationship. It was such fun! We eventually, one by one, brought the rest of the class into the circle where we all held hands around the earth. I thought all of the presentations were interesting. One of our members played the harp for us during the quiet time that preceded the presentations. What a blessings that was. I will miss those folks. Our discussions this week were amazing. I'm so grateful that I got to participate in this class. I thank my church for allowing me the time and space to do it.

Some Thoughts About Blogging and Connection

When it was first suggested that I do a blog for my sabbatical, I was resistant to the idea. I'm not comfortable writing, and the idea of writing something almost every day was quite daunting or repugnant. But, strangely enough, I'm now happy I agreed to do this. First of all, it is helping me to process the ideas that have been presented and discussed in class. But also, I'm discovering that the acts of writing and picture-taking keep me connected to my friends and family. This is proving to be a life-giving experience for me, for even if no one were to ever read this blog, you all are in my heart and mind as I construct my postings. I imagine that I'm speaking directly to each of you.

I'm feeling particularly connected to the people in the parish this week because of two events that occurred last Sunday. One was the giving of the Jesus doll to me following the 10:00 o'clock worship that I wrote about on Monday. The other is something that happened during the 8:00 o'clock service. Just as we were getting ready to process out, one of the folks suggested that everyone raise their hands in blessing, and they sent me forth with their blessing for the journey. Both of these happenings served to remind me of the love that we share and just how blessed I am. Thank you, Grace.

Day Three of Paradoxology

I decided to let Jesus play hooky from class today. So after breakfast I set him up in my recliner for the day and headed off to school.

We spent the first hour discussing our insights into what we have been learning and some of the questions that have been stirred up. Then our professor presented the idea that everything is sacred. We cannot divide the cosmos up into sacred and non-sacred if everything comes from the sacred Creator and is connected to everything else. We are immersed in the sacred every second of every day.

We shifted into how the sacred is revealed to us. Many Christians say that the Bible is the primary revelation of the sacred, but really Jesus is the primary revelation of the sacred. Once we encounter the sacred, our own experiences become the primary revelations. One of my classmates said that she thought what Jesus did was to recognize his divinity and then try to show and tell us that we too have divinity in us. We too are divine/sacred like the rest of creation.

The big blue ball (the earth) that has now appeared here twice is the center piece of our class. I try to sit in a different chair each day so I can get a different perspective of the class and of my classmates. The different positions also offer me different perspectives of the world. I suspect that my travels later this summer will also offer me different perspectives and insights on the world.

I hope you notice that I'm studying hard.

Quantum Reality?

According to some of the theories of quantum reality, there is no reality, except maybe that which each of us observes. My mind won't/can't go there. The theory that speaks to me most clearly states, in part, that in spite of its obvious partitions and boundaries, the world in actuality is a seamless and inseparable whole. As we held our class discussions today several thoughts came to me - not particularly new or ground breaking. However, I feel that this class is affirming of some of my understanding of the cosmos.

I wonder what this radical connectedness within the quantum universe might mean for us and our understanding of the Divine and how we encounter the Divine. As I pondered this I realized that I want to do things in my position of rector that bring our community together and foster relationship on a deeper level. I want to acknowledge and enhance our oneness (not sameness). I'm not particularly interested in enforcing creeds or looking for ways to define the Holy. But I do want to open up channels to the Holy. I am interested in providing an atmosphere where we can experience the presence of the Divine.

I also want to encourage people to ask questions about God and to share our Theophanies: experiences of the Sacred in our lives.

Jesus was always connecting with others and sharing his experience of the Holy. He reminded us that the presence of God is all around us and in all of us.

So I think this means that I need to be more open and vocal about my own experiences of the Sacred.

I guess you can see that this class has me thinking. It's exciting and exhausting. I'm going to go put my feet up for a few minutes. Peace.

The Odyssey Begins

Wow! The first day of class. What an exciting time. Yesterday, following the 10 AM worship service, the congregation decided that I should take our parish's Jesus doll on sabbatical with me. So this morning with Jesus securely seated-belted in, I pulled out of my driveway at 8:33 on my way to Hartford Seminary. As you can see from the pictures, Jesus spent the day with me as we learned a bit about and discussed a smattering of quantum physics. The way I can best explain the quantum universe is that it is the sub-atomic, invisible world that is unpredictable and uncertain and more chaotic than we think, yet is more connected than we can imagine. Chaotic, yet connected, a paradox.

So, if the world, at a very foundational level is both unpredictable and chaotic but also profoundly connected, what does that say about the Creator that we have tried to predict, domesticate, define and confine in little word boxes? Can we really do that to God? Can we do that to ourselves? Can it be that some of the randomness and unpredictability in our own live is not so random or chaotic? This class is surely providing food for thought and prayer. There's more to come later this week.

First Day of Class Pictures

The Big Picture

In the Episcopal Church a PDL ("Professional Development Leave") has three components: intellectual renewal, spiritual renewal, and family/relationship renewal. For the first component I have enrolled in a course at Hartford Seminary -- Paradoxology: Spirituality in a Quantum Universe taught by Miriam Therese Winter. The course description is intriguing: "How do we live in a world of chaos, where everything is in flux, and still remain rooted in that which is everlasting? When we are attuned to the song of the universe, when cosmic rhythms resonate within us, shaping who we are and are becoming, we are saint in the making, mystic on the move, experiencing more often and in many more ways the synchronous presence of God-with-us in our everyday lives."

After the courser I will join Tom on Prince Edward Island. On July 7 we will take a bus from Charlottetown to Halifax, Nova Scotia where we will board a Canada Air flight to Heathrow Airport outside of London. We have a couple of days to wend our way to Iona, a small Scottish island (1 mile wide by 3.5 miles long) a mile offshore from Mull. We will live in community at Iona Abbey for a week. Although the island may have been occupied earlier, Saint Columba, exiled from his native Ireland, came to the island in 563 with twelve of his companions. They established a monastery. Iona missionaries spread out through Scotland and northern England. There is some evidence that the Book of Kells may have been produced wholly or in part on Iona. Viking raids on the island took their toll and in 849 the monastery was abandoned. In 1202 Benedictine nuns established a convent on the island, and built the present day abbey in 1203. In 1938 an ecumenical church community was formed at the Abbey, a community committed to seeking new ways of living Jesus Gospel in today's world. Unlike retreat centers I have experienced in the States, at Iona will immerse us in community life:" Guests and staff of the community share all aspects of life - meals, daily worship, programme activities, chores and social events in a place which allows them to feel safe in exploring issues that challenge or concern them and to have space to reflect on their lives."

After our Iona week we will return to the mainland, hire a car and tour the Scottish Highlands, wending our way south to visit sites such as Canterbury, Winchester Cathedral, Stonehenge, Cornwall, as well as London sites. We still have a lot of planning to do getting that part of the trip organized. It's always difficult when visiting a foreign country the first time to know how long it takes to get from place to place. August 11 we will board our return flight back to Nova Scotia. Tom and I will potter around Prince Edward Island, camping, sailing, hiking, reading, eating, and relaxing together. We will head south for home the week of August 23!