I’ve got it. The “itch.” “Senioritis.” Attention deficit… SQUIRREL!
Two weeks and we’re on the road for a three-month sabbatical. Well, I’m on sabbatical. My wife, on the other hand, will be fresh off of maternity leave and back to work, 3/4 time for about a month before full-time resumes. She’s stressed, but for totally different reasons than I am. For her, it’s all about the packing and placement of said pack”ages.” For me, it’s all about tying up loose ends. Every time one is tied up, about a million more present themselves.
I am itchy to get on the road and journey with my family…and my God, who I will be praying to on a more than regular basis out of sheer need to arrive at our destinations without conflict. (Fat chance?)
I will also be praying for a little direction. I’m fried on the ministerial inside. I could use some rest and guidance for my pastoral life during these coming months.
An acquaintance of mine writes for the Facebook page called The God Article. I love this page. It’s a progressive Christian page with its foundations clearly in what I would think is religious ‘reasonability.’ Meaning – all is spoken out of love. I like that. Last year, this author left his own North Carolina church for a sabbatical. I anticipated his blog entries religiously… no pun intended… as he intentionally avoided “church.” The blog was published in the Huffington Post.
As he journeyed I felt he may, like others I knew in ministry, leave the church because of its often-cited hypocrisy within its church leadership. While he didn’t leave the church another one of my friends left the church years ago and claims “reason” as his greatest following. Sad thing is… I get it.
It may be the loose canon preacher pretending to “speak for all of Christianity” who’s asinine YouTube videos go viral. It could also be the people within the church who, as American author, friar, priest, contemplative and speaker Brennan Manning once said, “The greatest single cause of atheism in the world today is Christians who acknowledge Jesus with their lips and walk out the door and deny Him by their lifestyle. That is what an unbelieving world simply finds unbelievable.” It seems as if the whole of Christianity, even some who post on The Christian Left (similar to The God Article, I just find they speak with a little less love for others than our Gospels appear to teach) seem more able to open mouth and insert foot than to be effective at creating new (or, for this matter, used) disciples.
Am I going to do the same? Will this sabbatical journey give cause to doubt? Am I going to question my faith or will I … SQUIRREL!?!?
Two weeks from today the journey begins and the questions continue. Prayerfully, mile by mile, God will speak the answers. That is my hope. It’s almost time to scratch that itch or grab some calamine lotion… one or the other will do.
The Journey. Rev. Greg Larsen 