Sabbatical Thus Far

This is my initial report on the development of my 2012 sabbatical. It is going well.

The sabbatical began with a couple of Christmas holiday days here in Austin with our daughter, her husband, Sean, Becca’s brother and the two of us. We had a wonderful two days of talking and playing games and cooking together.

The following day Becca’s brother, Marshall, and I began a drive to Florida in a 10-year-old pickup truck with 175,000 miles on it. We made it as far as Beaumont before we lost power and spend the rest of the afternoon in a car dealership having the truck worked on. There were mechanical issues that made it unwise to continue our trip to Florida, so we turned around and headed back to Austin where we arrived late that same night. The next morning we set out again in a different car to Florida and made the trip there in two days.

In Florida we were joined by our children, Becca, and my extended family over the few days around New Year's day. It was magnificent. Such a pleasure to be with the family in a celebratory mood. A special note was how the generation of our children were bonding at the supper table and the game table. We dubbed them the “twentysomethings“. They enjoyed each other so much.
Afterwards I stayed in Florida for several days with my mother. My mother had several matters she wanted to talk over with me and wanted me to join her in a trip to her lawyer in order to talk about her financial situation. I cannot remember if there ever was a time in my adult life when just my mother and I were together for such sustained conversations. It was very rich for her and for me.

One of the highlights was attending First Christian Church in Ocala where I grew up and where I was baptized and ordained. The congregation has changed a great deal since I was a part of it. Many new members and many of the folks that I knew have either moved away or passed on. Still, worshiping in that sanctuary brought back many important memories, convictions, decisions. That sanctuary and the people who claim it as their worship home were as central as any place on earth to my life trajectory since.

Returning to Texas by myself I spent one evening with my sister, Becky, in New Orleans. Again, I cannot remember a time in my adult life when Becky and I have had such a sustained conversation – just the two of us. I have been blessed with such a fine family and recognize that I am and have been taking it so for granted. Such opportunities remind me to handle time with due care.
Returning to Austin I spent a couple of days driving both northeast of town and west of Austin with guidebooks in hand. Again, the wonderful history of this part of the state is something that I'm appreciating. I'm looking forward to a day with Charles Clinger to explore Southeast of Austin.

Completing the focus on travel, there are three more aspects that I anticipate in the remainder of the sabbatical. First, Becca and I will be taking a weekend trip up to Lincoln, Nebraska to visit with our daughter and son-in-law. Odds are that will be one of the last few activities of the sabbatical coming late in March.
Next up on the travel itinerary is a trip with an old college friend to the Texas Gulf Coast south of Corpus Christi. Becca will join me for that weekend journey, possibly as early as this weekend.

Finally, and most ambitiously, the same college friend, David, and I will be aiming to drive to Zion National Park in southern Utah. There are plenty of sites to see along the way there and back and the timeline for that journey is not at all clear. I would assume that we will be at least two weeks on the road. I have several guidebooks and histories of the Southwest to bring with us on that journey. This should truly be a highlight.

Sabbatical has been very different from what I had anticipated. I worked hard at listening to what it is that brings true rest and refreshment, and in doing so I have made some changes from my initial plans.

Foremost, is a conscious decision to move away from the computer. In fact, the recording of this blog entry will represent more time spent in front of the computer than the rest of my weeks put together. I'm not looking at e-mail. I'm not following any social network. I'm keeping research of any sort to an absolute and minium. For I have discovered that being away from the computer enhances the detachment from the workaday world that the sabbatical is all about. If there is particular content online that I want to listen to, such as lectures or Scripture reading, I have quickly copied them onto my iPhone and listen to them on the iPhone or in the car as I drive. A great learning is how much the computer is identified with so many different elements of my role as pastor. Simply being away from the computer facilitates the Sabbath spirit.

So I am doing lots of reading in old fashioned books and some magazines...mostly books that I had not planned on reading! Xeriscaping, plants, rainwater harvesting, composting... and some that I'd have expected: Joseph Campbell, Barbara Brown Taylor (An Altar in the World), Wayne Teasdale ( The Mystic Heart). Though you might find it amusing to consider, I'm intending to get some electric guitar lessons in the weeks ahead, too!

I've a few cabbage plants to put in the garden with (most exciting!) my first leeks, ever. The garden can be a sabbatical site with whatever time allotted it.

Speaking of food....I had hoped to spend some time learning about nutrition and modifying my eating habits. I've had some success in this. I found a website at the USDA that helps one calculate food intake and compares it with a healthy diet for someone my age, size and activity level. After recording my eating habits for several days I discovered that I have been eating far too much protein, eating far too little fiber, and most importantly, have had a sodium intake so high that it is no wonder my blood pressure is near to a level that would require medication. I have consciously made changes in all of these areas and not only note that it is healthier but actually am feeling some positive changes.

Along the same line has been an attention to physical activity. The sabbatical has afforded me more opportunities to be physically engaged with different sorts of activities from what is normal for me. I have been doing some landscaping work in the front yard, repairing the deck in the backyard, hauling new garden soil into the garden and a pile of mulch to use their later. I am running but not as much as I would have thought, and probably not as much as I need to be. But I have been concerned about damage to my knees and hips if I continued to run at the rate that I was at the middle of last year. I had hoped to develop some regular less demanding physical activity but have only walked and hiked on a few occasions, have not bicycled at all yet, but still with the added activity around the house and probably in fairly good shape.

Compared to the plans that I laid out for the sabbatical there have been several major changes. First, I decided at the last minute to join in with the group at University Christian Church who is reading through the Bible in 90 days. The idea is simply to become familiar with the Scriptures in their entirety, but for me it is become much more than that. In addition to simply reading through the Bible each day I am digging into the footnotes at the bottom of the page, into the maps at the back of my Bible, looking up the comparative texts elsewhere in the Scriptures and generally having one wonderful an enormous Bible study unfold before me. There is some strength in knowing that their other members at church who are reading along where I am. The whole process is so much more satisfying than I might have guessed. Tthere are special learnings that this process has provided me that make it well worth the investment of many hours each week. Once I start traveling on the highway I’m a little concerned about how I will be able to keep up, but by then I suspect this will be such a good habit that I will carry on.

Another area that has been a surprise is that with time to attend to car issues, I have dived headlong into repairing the truck. I purchased a diagnostic meter and have successfully diagnosed and repaired the mass air flow sensor. I would've had no idea what that even was until recently, but am thoroughly enjoying digging around under the hood making adjustments, changing filters, identifying parts. As a teen and in my early 20s cars and car repair were satisfying engagements. I'm surprised but pleased to find that they still are.

Though I never had it stated in my plans for the sabbatical, I had hoped to be digitizing my sermons, prayers, articles, and etc. that have accumulated in paper form over the last 30 years. I am not going to do that. It would require being at the computer much more than feels appropriate. That'll have to be done another time.

It's all going splendidly. I've tried to pay attention to that which best expresses the spirit of the Sabbath and being true to that is paying off in a very satisfying time.