Digging Deeper: The Pastor's Blog
Below please find thoughts and information from FPCW Senior Pastor Stephen Hamilton Wright If you have comments or questions you would like to submit, please do so by e-mailing Pastor Wright Also, read more of Pastor Wright's thoughts at his public blog on the Wausau Daily Herald online edition "spirit sense"
NEW - Please see my new blog "Wrightthinking" ( opens in new window )
Friday, February 5
Guest Entry--Gary and Marsha Alexander reporting from St. Lucia
Today is a wind down, pack up and get ready to leave day. Some
people did go to Donnatar to install some water barrels to make it
possible to water their garden, while others went to do a teaching
project. Later this afternoon we have been invited to the home of
St. Omer, one of our St. Lucian Good News members. At 5:30 PM we
will go to Coburil, the retreat center and hotel high on a hill
overlooking the city and the harbor. There we will have our
traditional pizza and wine dinner. Then it will be home to bed for
an early departure tomorrow morning. Most of us will leave on an
8:20 AM flight while others will be transported to Vieux Fort on the
southern end of the island for an afternoon departure. The Weavers
will leave Sunday and spend a few days in Puerto Rico on the way
home.
Our time here has flown by quickly once again. I believe all of us
have had a rewarding experience and will take many good memories
back home with us.
Thursday, February 4
Guest Entry--Gary and Marsha Alexander reporting from St. Lucia
Today is a shorter work day because of the house blessing and the
farewell party for the St. Lucians in the evening. A large group
went to the Boys Training Center, a facility for teenagers who have
gotten into trouble. It is similar to the Lincoln Hills facility we
have north of Wausau. Bob Weaver and I and several of our women went
to the St. Lucy Home, a nursing home. Bob and I completed a couple
of smaller building projects (stair railing and cabinet doors),
while the ladies sang songs and played bingo with the residents.
Mary Henry took another group on her island tour.
We had a late lunch and then went to bless our last house. The
recipient is a lady who lost her house and many of her possessions
in a fire. Her grand daughter is living with her. The house is
located on a level lot so it was easier to build on than many of the
others we have had. While we were at the house blessing, the lady
living next door got our attention. She had a baseball cap from the
2510 Restaurant in Wausau and a business card from Pat Baumer, the
owner. Apparently Pat was here many years ago (maybe 25) and had
given her the cap and card.
After the blessing a few went swimming while others got in some last
minute shopping. We went down to the lower level of the facility for
our farewell party with all of the St. Lucians we have worked with
over the past two weeks. We had a good turnout, well over 100 people
in total counting the 25 of us. A short prayer service was held
followed by a game show. The audience was divided into two teams who
competed to answer questions, most of which had to do with facts
about St. Lucia and Good News. Everyone seemed to enjoy it with the
"Green" team winning over the "Red" by a few points. Then it was ice
cream time for everyone. Two large containers of ice cream were
devoured in record time. Later after our guests had departed we
enjoyed a pasta salad, popcorn and wine which ended a very busy day.
Wednesday, February 3
Guest Entry--Gary and Marsha Alexander reporting from St. Lucia
A large group went to the prison. Other groups went to Donnatar and
Monche School. Monche is where our family sponsored a house on the
school grounds several years ago which is used as a counseling
center. Marsha and I went to Monche with two other ladies. We did a
story and craft project with three groups of second graders. They
were very well behaved and polite. The counseling center now is
being used primarily as a base of operations for the special needs
teacher since the sister who is the counselor is busy putting
together a parenting class. The building itself looks to be in
pretty good shape yet after five years of use. The principal
provided us with a wish list of things for the 2011 shipment. The
school will celebrate 50 years of operation on January 1, 2011.
At Donnatar and the St. Lucy home several small work projects were
identified. At Donnatar they have a nice garden. To help with the
water needs, some rain gutters will be installed to allow the
collection of rainwater. Some repair projects were identified at St.
Lucy.
Tuesday, February 2
Guest Entry--Gary and Marsha Alexander reporting from St. Lucia
Several groups went out again today to St. Joseph's, the Marion Home
(including the pre-school and nursery), Upton Gardens and the
Missionaries of Charity. I chose to go the pre-school and nursery.
At the pre-school we did a story and craft project with three year
olds, and then again with four year olds. The nursery only had six
babies, most of whom were sleeping. After lunch we walked up to
Upton Gardens where we did a drum circle, using dowels we had cut
and sanded, and various things we could beat on to make different
kinds of sounds. A couple of the girls were not interested, while
others picked it up enthusiastically.
The builders continued work on House 6. They have the roof on and we
are on schedule to bless it on Thursday afternoon.
The police, according to reports on the internet, have arrested
someone who has confessed to the murder that happened on January
19th. When arrested he had the victim's camera in his possession.
The swimmers got to the beach although we had some showers in the
late PM. After dinner a group went to the Windjammer Resort to see
the Fire Dancers. St. Lucian Donna is a very good limbo dancer!!
Monday, February 1
Guest Entry--Gary and Marsha Alexander reporting from St. Lucia
Tim came and hauled all of the materials to House 6, our last house.
The site is fairly level, a rarity here, but the foundation supports
(corner pillars) were not properly located so adjustments were
necessary. Much progress was made despite this problem. All of the
walls were erected so we are well on the way to completion. The
dedication is planned for Thursday afternoon.
Other groups went to the Marshon School, the Marion Home, Upton
Gardens, Missionaries of Charity and the Children's Home. At the
Children's Home Bob and I completed our remaining tasks and actually
were able to load up the remaining materials and come back early.
The other groups got back at 3:45, and some of the people got to the
beach for a swim.
After dinner and our nightly meeting, Sam and Linda Scaffidi treated
us to some music that was composed and sung by their daughter who is
a singer/songwrite in Nashville. We then went to the "Stress Off"
bar which is owned by Herman ("Humdog"), another St. Lucian who we
have known for several years. He also runs a tour service for groups
on the island. At the "Stress Off" we were treated to live music
played by a couple of St. Lucians who Terry had heard earlier at the
Eastwinds Resort. She asked them to come and play for all of us.
Most of their music was American songs that we could sing along
with. One of the St. Lucians, St. Omer, is quite a dancer so several
of the ladies got to dance with him. In a brief conversation with
Herman he told me that he now has two tour buses and is busy taking
people on tours from the cruise ships and the hotels. He also has
two apartments that he rents to visitors. He asked that we send his
greetings to the Kirbys in La Crosse who have had a long time
relationship with him.
At our meeting the people who went to Marshon School reported that
at an afternoon assembly the students and teachers thanked them for
everything Good News had done for them. They presented the people
with some gifts as well as certificates of appreciation.
Some of the ladies heard on the radio today that a tourist (29 year
old female) was killed at Pigeon Point on January 19th. We do not
know any details, apparently the authorities are not talking a lot
about it as they search for the killer. Something like this is quite
rare. We have never had any concern as we move about during the day
to various places. Hopefully in the coming days we will learn more
about what actually transpired.
Sunday, January 31
Guest Entry--Gary and Marsha Alexander reporting from St. Lucia
Today was the sailboat (catamaran) ride down the west coast to a
very fancy resort where we get to spend time swimming, snorkeling,
sunbathing or just relaxing. They also have good ice cream!! The
trip to and from on the boat is always fun with lots of food, drink,
music and conversation with members of the group and the St. Lucians
who come with us. A rather cool day with some rain going and coming
but otherwise very pleasant for us. The St. Lucians thought it was
cold!!
The day ended with a light supper and our nightly meeting to get
things organized for the coming week. Some of the people opted to go
out for pizza.
Saturday, January 30
Guest Entry--Gary and Marsha Alexander reporting from St. Lucia
A day of rest, but also a chance to do something different. A
large group went on the shopping and safari ride. They saw and went
under a waterfall, did not go in the hot sulfer spring, got rained
on, had an excellent lunch and drove all the way to Soufriere. They
did not return until nearly 5 PM. Another group went out on their
own to shop and see the sights, while a handful decided to stay in
and just chill out.
After dinner, we went to mass in Gros Islet which is not far from
the hotel we were at last evening. The church has excellent music
(band and choir). The colored glass window in the church was painted
by one of our Good News members on a previous trip (Shirley Gajewski
from Merrill). Several people there inquired about Peggy and Chuck.
Friday, January 29
Guest Entry--Gary and Marsha Alexander reporting from St. Lucia
Today brought the completion of the shelving project at the
Children's Home and the completion of House 5.
Later in the afternoon House 4 and 5 were both blessed. "Paba"
(Father Anthony) lead us through the litany. The recipent of House 4
(a very pleasant lady with three children) was very appreciative and
completely overwhelmed by the gift. She could not thank us enough
with many hugs and lots of tears. She gave us a gift of fruit and
bananas in return. House 4 was sponsored by Judy Cherwinka from
Wausau who is a long time supporter of Good News. The recipent of
house 5 was quite reserved and stoic (the complete opposite) but did
offer us a very sincere "thank you".
After dinner twenty of us went to hear the steel band play at the
hotel. On the way we stopped for delicious ice cream at "Elena's".
Hiliary's brother is a member of the band and is quite animated when
he really gets going. Many Europeans and Canadians vacation in St.
Lucia and some of them were there is to see the band perform.
Thursday, January 28
Guest Entry--Gary and Marsha Alexander reporting from St. Lucia
Today brought more progress at House 5 which is relatively close to
where we are staying. The recipient is a man with a wife and three
children. He works here but his family is some distance away, so he
has to ride the bus to work. His employer has given him permission
to have the house put up on land right across the street from his
workplace. He will move his family here and be able to walk to work,
saving him much time and money.
His employer, as part of his business, runs safari tours. He is so
pleased with Good News and the work being done to build the house
for his employee, that he has offered to take any Good News member
who wants to go on a shopping and safari tour on Saturday at no cost
to us, a very generous offer indeed.
At the Children's Home we (St. Lucians Hiliary and Bois, Bob Weaver
and I) started a project involving the installation of shelving in
the building where they store most of their non-perishable food
supplies and other items. It was quite a mess with no organization
of the items thus making it difficult to find anything very easily.
The building materials we needed were transported there by Tim, a
St. Lucian with a large truck. He is a very reliable person who we
use to transport all of the materials to our building sites. We took
everything out of the storage building and then began building
shelves. The staff went through the items and got them organized.
They stayed until 8 PM working on that. We got shelves done on two
sides and they started putting stuff back in an organized way. We
will finish the project tomorrow.
Another group of people went with Mary Henry, a St. Lucian nurse,
who runs her own nursing service business. We have know her for a
long time. She took the group to many places and they saw many
things. Her tours are always very educational and informative.
Another group went back to the Monshan School. Things there were
better organized and less chaotic than on the previous visit.
One of the people in the group is a counselor. She has established a
relationship at the St. Joseph's Girls school and is going back with
others to offer individual counseling to the girls. This seems to be
something that is needed since there is only one counselor on staff
for some 200 girls.
Wednesday, January 27
Guest Entry--Gary and Marsha Alexander reporting from St. Lucia
I should tell you some more about the facility we are saying at.
The Archdiocesan Pastoral Center (APC) has several buildings as part
of the complex. In past years we have stayed on the lower part in
two different housing arrangements (the "Hilton" and the "Super 8").
This year, for several reasons, we are staying in the upper part
which used to be a seminary. It is a great place with more space
including some rooms with private bathrooms and would you
believe, AC units. There is plenty of storage space and an outside
area to do the wood cutting and painting.
Our group leaders, Terry and Ruth Van Zeeland (mother and daughter)
are doing a great job. Originally Terry was to return home after
spending two weeks with group one and one week with group two
helping Peggy MacCarthy run the show. However, because of Peggy's
need to return home early she agreed to stay on another week. Ruth
spent two weeks on St. Vincent as the group leader there, and then
agreed to come over to St. Lucia to spend another week helping her
mother.
The efforts they put in daily to arrange all of the visits and
transportation can be overwhelming sometimes and most times is not
visible nor appreciated. But their upbeat attitudes, sincerity and
devotion to the organization allows them to perform all of the
details in a very competent way. Ruth will be going home on
Saturday.
Wednesday was more building and more visits. Several us went to
house #4 to finish up last minute details and to paint the inside.
Several people went to the prison to visit both male and female
prisoners. The men started with three decks of cards (one
disappeared in about five minutes). During the visit, apparently
because of some difficulties between different groups of inmates,
the first group was locked down and replaced by a smaller group of
older men. At the end all of the decks of cards were left with them,
they are very valuable to them obviously. Another group went to
Montchard (sp?) School to be with the three lowest grades (K, 1, 2).
This school is in a very poor area near downtown Castries. Rather a
chaotic situation apparently, but they are going back again tomorrow
to be with three upper grades.
We had our nightly meeting early so we could go to the Beach
Facility for our traditional fish or chicken dinner with all of the
trimmings (including American french fries which were very popular).
There was time for a walk on the beach and then most everyone came
back early (we are definitely getting older!!).
Internet was down most of the day but came back up after we reported
the problem to people at APC.
Tuesday, January 26
Guest Entry--Gary and Marsha Alexander reporting from St. Lucia
Another day with multiple activities going on. House #4 is
nearly complete with only some last minute details to complete. All
of the wood for house #5 has been cut and painted and is ready for
transport tomorrow to the building site. A group went to St. Joseph
school where they were able to do some worthwhile projects. St.
Joseph's is a rather elite girls school where the better students
go. Another group went to Donnatar, an institution for mentally
challenged people of many ages. Bob Weaver, Hiliary and I went to
the Children's Home where Bob redid the second shower. We also
checked out our next project which will involve redoing the inside
of their storage building with shelving to allow a better use of the
available space. We already have most of the necessary materials. We
plan to start the project on Thursday.
Finally, the best news of the day arrived via a phone call from
second son Jordan telling us that our third grandchild, a girl, had
been born in Columbia, MO. She came in at eight pounds three ounces
and twenty and one half inches. Mother Julie and daughter, Brooklyn
Bowen, are both doing fine. What a great way to end the day!!
Monday, January 25
Guest Entry--Gary and Marsha Alexander reporting from St. Lucia
The first St. Lucia group finished their three houses, plus were
able to get all of the wood cut for the fourth house (our first).
Bob and Ethel Brown (who have a home here) were then able to get the
pieces all painted before we arrived. This made it possible for the
builders to haul everything out to the site this morning and begin
assembling it. Another group stayed here and cut and painted
everything for our second house. Other groups went to the Upton
Girls Home, the Marion Home (nursing home), the Sisters of Charity
(Mother Teresa's order) and the Children's Home. At the Children's
Home Bob Weaver (a plumber by trade from Merrill) and I discovered
that both of their showers were not working properly. There are two
building that comprise the facility and these two showers are in the
new building which was erected in 2000-2001. So they have had a lot
of use.
We found a store that fortunately had all of the plumbing things we
needed. Bob was able to replace all of the fittings (after cutting a
hole in the shower enclosure) and we got it operational just before
the kids returned from school. Tomorrow we will need to do the same
to the second one.
After dinner we had our meeting to plan everything for tomorrow.
Could not get on the internet until later in the evening when I was
able to find out that the Badgers beat Penn State in overtime.
We have several St. Lucians working with us again including St.
Omer, Bernard, Hiliary and Marcia plus Delphia and Donna who just
joined the group. Good News built Donna's mother a house thireen
years ago. Two others who are helping are Bois (who is the wood
carver several people have bought from), and Regi.
A lady from Toronto, Canada joined us today at the Children's Home
for a bit. She apparently has a condo over the hill from us at the
East Winds resort.
Sunday, January 24
Guest Entry--Gary and Marsha Alexander reporting from St. Lucia
After breakfast and some unpacking, we headed out for the
Cathedral in downtown Castries for Mass. The place was absolutely
packed. Father Anthony (Paba), who is also in charge of the facility
we stay at, conducted the service. Lots of school children who were
involved in parts of the service. Good News was recognized and given
an ovation by the congregation. We had an opportunity to meet up
with Noella, the local St. Lucian Good News coordinator and her
daughter Sydney.
After the service we returned for lunch and an initial
organizational meeting. We have several veterans members in the
group, but also several people for whom this is their initial trip
to St. Lucia. The remainder of the day was spent doing various
tasks, resting, swimming and finally watching the NFL playoff games.
Not a lot of interest in the first game, but of course intense
interest in the second one involving the Vikings and New Orleans. It
was somewhat of a mixed group in that there were some Favre fans,
but also a few who felt otherwise.
Most of us were tired from the long travel and went to bed before
the game was finished.
ONE WEEK LEFT September 21, 2009
A week to go before sabbatical ends, and I will be ready to be
back at work. I have not accomplished nearly as much as I had hoped,
but that actually is part of the purpose. The word sabbatical after
all is from the same root as sabbath, the point of which is to rest
and enjoy what is. I have done this. I have also discovered and used
about a dozen new recipes, mostly for barbequed stuff, which was
part of the plan, and I've got my garage workshop pretty well ready
for some serious projects later in the fall.
I also have a new guitar teacher, Bill Gironda, and a new acoustic
guitar, a sweet (and economical!) Jay Turser instrument you can see
on my Facebook page.
In terms of brain stuff: I've written about 65 pages of a book about
figuring out what you really believe when the old answers don't work
anymore, and I have momentum to carry that project through this week
and back into my office days. Along the way, I've read or re-read a
bunch of books (Discipleship Project coordinator, are you
counting?)--A History of God by Karen Armstrong; God: a Biography,
by Jack Miles; John Calvin: Reformer for the 21st Century by William
Stacy Johnson; Nothing to Be Frightened Of, by Julian Barnes; parts
of God's Problem, by Bart Ehrman; big parts of The Religious
Experience of Mankind, by Ninian Smart (2nd edition, and I've
ordered the most recent 5th edition which no longer has "Mankind" in
the title and has new and revised sections--an excellent reference
that our library should have!); part of The Complete Book of
Witchcraft by Raymond Buckland; the first part of Naming the
Whirlwind, an old classic by Langdon Gilkey; the last two books in
the Harry Potter series, and now the novel Driftless (by Rhodes?)
set in Words, Wisconsin. As always, I've still got other things
lined up on my shelves, and just today I ordered new commentaries on
Mark, which is the lectionary gospel until Advent and the curriculum
for the middle school class at church.
See you next week, if I don't get back to writing here before then.
THE PHYSICAL SABBATICAL September 12, 2009
I've been thinking about the sabbatical experience. Because I
needed surgery on a torn meniscus in my left knee right in the
middle of this time, (right knee was last year), I have played far
less golf than I hoped, and less even than in a normal summer--a
grand total of six holes! In the next two weeks, I might get more in
during the next two weeks, but now I am very focused on writing.
Knee recovery is going great, by the way--walking at least three
miles every day with very little pain.
Relaxing news: I have worn shorts most or all of the day on all but
a few days, and that's been good; not a single tie has left my
closet; and I've worn socks fewer than 3/4 of the days, and then
only to keep from getting blisters from walking or working on the
woodpile. Yesterday and today I spent much time working in the
garage, reorganizing to build shelves for better wood and supply
storage, and that's good, because the next big project coming up
(after sabbatical) is expanding our deck for choir picnics and our
son Dylan's wedding next June.
WORTHWHILE WORSHIP? September 9, 2009
During the first nine weeks of my sabbatical, I've attended
worship about 10 times in about a half dozen different settings. I'm
sorry to say I'm disappointed in what I've found, although not
altogether surprised. I like to believe we do better at FPCW.
Worship content in general has been between fair and pretty good,
although sometimes the attempt to make things fit thematically
ventured into music and liturgy that was trite and forced. Preaching
has shown a wide range, not quite half of it being pretty good, and
some being a complete waste of effort. The trouble is that you
wouldn't necessarily notice unless you were really thinking about
it, but here's what happens: cute stories and memorable
illustrations in sermons often take the place of clever gags in
television commercials, which leave you remembering the commercial
but not the product. Ironically, a high proportion of this pabulum
seems to float up to larger congregations. I was in one not long ago
that had a noticeably good crowd for a late summer weekend, with
lots of young couples and families, pastors roaming the sanctuary
and shaking hands before worship, obviously popular; and what
everyone will remember from the day, if they remember anything, are
three things--a baptism; a children's message that inadvertently and
thoughtlessly shamed the listening patterns of children and their
parents with stereotyped responses; and leaders pronouncing an
Aramaic word from Scripture at least four different ways, so that
what they were trying to explain ended up lost in the confusion of
their failure to say well what they wanted others to listen to. And
yet, this is one of the faster growing congregations in the area.
What's the message? As long as you're friendly, and pull funny
stuff, the church will do well? I hope that's not what we think or
try to do. For my part, I'll sure be listening harder as one who has
sat in the pews for a few weeks in a row.
ABOUT LIVING August 26,
2009
A couple of months ago, as I was preparing for this sabbatical
time, our executive presbyter Dr. Lucy Rupe suggested that for many
people, such time ends up being focused primarily on what living is
about: food, family, rest, and all the other things BESIDES earning
a living that have to do with just living well. I imagine it's like
retirement, in a way--there is still much to do, much that is very
important. The latest is a wedding to plan for my oldest son and his
fiancee, scheduled tentatively for next June. We do communicate
about other things, but that subject takes up a bigger and bigger
percentage of the communication space. Nothing wrong with that, by
the way!
FINDING A RHYTHM August
25, 2009
Halfway through sabbatical a week ago today, and with a knee
seriously on the mend from meniscus surgery almost two weeks ago,
I'm finally finding a rhythm. There has been no golf, though I
actually hope that might happen next week, with a cart. But I have
helped get an old car shaped up for our second son to take off to
college--mostly Bondo, painting, and miscellaneous fix-ups; I've got
a workbench ready to do some minor creative projects, not as much as
I had hoped, but still some; and I've done LOTS of reading, though
again, of course, not as much as I had hoped. A couple of things
have been on my shelf for years, and have proved worthy reads at
last: Karen Armstrong's A History of God and Langdon Gilkey's Naming
the Whirlwind among them. Others I am revisiting, and no doubt
understanding and valuing more deeply than on those first frantic
academic readings, getting ready for exams and papers--the current
one is Ninian Smart's The Religious Experience of Mankind, an
excellent and comprehensive anthropological and historical analysis
stretching back (speculatively) to prehistory and covering major
expressions on every continent from their beginnings. Smart and
Armstrong both stress the reality more recently noted by Phyllis
Tickle in The Great Emergence that the so-called "Axial Age" from
about 800-300 B.C.E. was hugely important, as it saw the real
formulated beginning of three major religious strands still
prominent today: Judaism, which led to Christianity and Islam,
Buddhism in India, which has traveled far in many forms and
influenced many, and the school of Confucius in China. The full
story is much more complicated, but it starts there. The rest of
this week, and beyond, I hope to be focused on some serious writing.
HOLDEN CHRONICLE Day 6-July
31-departure
Up to finish packing before breakfast, and swap linens from the
laundry—S.O.P. for leaving Holden Village, to help staff ready for
next guests. We all met at breakfast with oatmeal, toast, and fresh
apricots. After breakfast, I hauled my suitcase down to the luggage
dock before heading to Julia’s last session on Philippians. Steve
was there too, while Larry wandered around taking last pictures,
including documentation of how main street area especially looks
now, before the mine remediation project.
The rest of the morning was spent reading, resting, musing, more
picture taking, and generally just hanging out. Lunch was quinoa
minestrone soup, spinach and tomato salad, cornbread, and of course
fresh fruit! Afterward, I spent more time on the Ark, just sitting
and talking, and helped a Unitarian teenager making copper jewelry
figure out a faster and safer way to strip insulation off leftover
electrical wire for her projects.
The bus ride down to the dock was faster than the ride up by a bit.
It certainly felt less labored! Also much cooler today than ride up
on Monday. The Lady of the Lake II was right on time. With the upper
deck crowded, we found a table on the lower level, so of course
played a few hands of hearts. Steve is now leading by a substantial
margin; barely half the points Larry has for the week, and I’m
closer to Larry than to Steve.
En route, we made a rapid 90 degree turn to port, because the pilot
saw someone ashore signaling him. A small boat had a dead battery,
and LL II was not equipped to jump it, but we went downlake to the
next neighbors to ask for help. They had no cables, but were going
to tow the other boat out to where someone else could help. Next
stop was to pull in and lower the bow ramp to take on passengers,
and that cabin did have a boat with cables, and happy to go back and
help. Interesting community.
The wind started picking up about halfway down, then far downlake,
it suddenly warmed up noticeably, about the same time that we
started picking up jet skis and a few larger boats playing in the
wake. We arrived at the dock right on time, aired out the car for
cooling off, and got on the way to Seattle.
HOLDEN CHRONICLE Day 5-July 30
After a pleasant, steady rain through much of the night, the morning
arrived cloudy and cool—perfect for Larry and Steve to hike to
Holden Lake starting at about 7:20 after breakfast of some kind of
hot grain cereal and fruit. Pretty good. I risked the gentle walk
past the miners’ village to the labyrinth, listening to the
increasing thunder and watching dark clouds all the way, hoping our
hikers wouldn’t get trapped in bad weather. Then I sat in today’s
installment of Bible study on Philippians. After that, I got some
writing done before breakfast.
Lunch was “hunger awareness” with only baked potatoes and various
spices for toppings, plus fruit, but that was actually just right
for me today. It would probably be right many days. The peaches and
apricots have ripened nicely from yesterday.
After lunch I did more writing, with ice on the knee, and a break to
wave the bus off. About three pages today—yay! Plus some reading
outdoors. After Steve and Larry got back, we had our last
conversation with Dorothy, talking among other things about the
long-term sustainability of practices, and how practice differs from
discipline. This meshed nicely with Julia’s presentation of
Philippians 3 this morning, talking about how repeated behaviors and
attitudes that Paul advocates continue to transform character.
Right now it’s a little down time, with a bit more ice, until
jambalaya and cornbread supper. Then vespers, a presentation on
plans for remediation for the copper mine, then time for reflection.
After vespers we actually headed to a presentation on plans for the
copper mine remediation project. I had to leave before it started,
because of a severe pain flare-up. I got more ice and alternated
between that and getting my knee in the Jacuzzi, where I encountered
the three teenagers who had been announced as not back from hiking
yet at vespers. Turned out they were only about half an hour late,
an accomplishment since they had gone past trail’s end and climbed
almost to the top of one of the crests on Copper Peak. I caught the
end of the mine presentation, and Steve and Larry who heard the
whole thing were really impressed. New mining company wants to
cooperate with Holden to do a spectacular fix, including new hydro,
wastewater treatment, paving Main Street, and other infrastructure.
Win-win-win situation.
HOLDEN CHRONICLE Day 4-July 29
Morning feels like a long time ago. I first woke around 5 a.m., then
got back to sleep until after 6.
The three of us met at 7:15 to hear Dorothy’s short “eye-opener”
presentation about how technology shapes us. It’s not a new subject,
but important to think about because technology of all kinds (not
only computers—heating, transportation and other things, too)
continues to develop rapidly. We continued our conversation with her
over breakfast, delving more into how communities are shaped,
embodied intelligence, and other things. Menu was lovely thick
oatmeal with craisins and walnuts. There were rumors of forest
fires, not too close, from lightning last evening.
After breakfast, we heard Julia Fogg on Philippians again. She might
be wrong about thinking that some of Paul’s letters as we have them
have always been this way, not collated from multiples. Besides
that, though, she is painting a picture of Paul as radically
inclusive and communitarian.
Later in the morning, we headed up Ten Mile Creek Falls trail, with
Larry and Steve planning to go on to Monkey Bear Falls. It was a
gentle trail to the first falls, about a mile round trip, which I
thought I handled pretty easily at a leisurely pace, almost on hour
including photo and rest stops. They did go on, and I turned back.
Larry and Steve are planning a much longer hike tomorrow morning, up
to Holden Lake, and I am not.
Late afternoon we all went to hear Krentzmann’s next installment,
this time about welcoming others into community. I had to leave
because of the heat, but Larry and Steve heard an amazing story of
inclusion in Cincinnati. Clouds and a very light sprinkle cooled
things down nicely. Dinner was outdoor grilled brats and hotdogs
with fried onions, sauerkraut, purple cabbage coleslaw, and local
peaches. Unfortunately the peaches were a day or two from ripe, but
still had good flavor. Thunder started during dinner.
After supper: hearts. Steve continues to trail. Then vespers led as
usual on Wednesday by the musicians, led this week by Bob Stolch
from St. Olaf. Pretty good. Rain for awhile during vespers, enough
to make everything wet, at least. Then ice cream—mine was
boysenberry sorbet. Thick clouds came down especially on the
mountain to the north, and filled the valley in front of it
impressively. Now this, and bed. Light rain, continuing thunder.
HOLDEN CHRONICLE Day 3-Tuesday July 28
Well, the stars were great, even with security lights here and
there. Milky Way was clearly visible, a couple of satellites and
high-flying planes, too. But I was too tired to wait for Northern
Lights. Might try tonight.
Started this morning with reading on The Ark before breakfast. 7:30
a.m. daily wake up chimes, played live, started today with “Morning
Has Broken” followed immediately by the theme from Harry Potter.
Nice conjunction. At breaklfast, over blueberry pancakes, I met
soon-to-be 8 Emily from Seattle, who wondered how long I had liked
blueberries. Since I can’t remember not liking blueberries, she
suggested that maybe that is why my eyes are blue—that, along with a
lot of other chatter. Her mom confirmed that she has no trouble
making friends.
Bible study on Philippians with Julia Fogg, Presbyterian New
Testament professor from California Lutheran Seminary, took the
first part of the morning. The second half of the morning, the 3 of
us scattered to different pursuits—Larry to a class on Britten’s
Requiem, Steve to walk, and me to see if someone would teach me to
throw a pot—but that turns out to be too complicated to learn in one
session, so that will wait for home. Instead I bought a water bottle
(hydration!), took a short walk by the river and covered bridge, and
took pictures of a doe and fawn with black tips on their tails (mule
deer) grazing right by the road just at the edge of the main
compound.
Lunch was leftovers: eggplant parmesan, cheese pizza, good salad,
soup. Then meeting Dorothy for walking pilgrimage around the
grounds. That was tough on my knee and I had to skip a couple of
stops, use extra ice and rest later in the day. But worthwhile. The
heat doesn’t help, either. Then the three of us talked more with her
over ice cream and the present and future state of church and
churches. Next came Jody Kretzmann talking about community
organizing principles; then we scattered for some reading for me and
Steve and walking for Larry. I finished the Barnes book. Dinner was
outdoors, yummy spinach lasagna and heirloom garden tomatoes.
After dinner, vespers, then a discussion led by Kretzmer about
Obama’s performance so far. Reviews from the group were pretty
positive, though some worried that pragmatism might compromise away
the essential vision. That went long, then ice cream, brief
thunderstorm, hearts, and off to this and bed. Or maybe finish Order
of the Phoenix.
HOLDEN CHRONICLE Day 2-Monday
July 27-arriving
We all slept well indeed. I started waking about 5 a.m., but
continued to rest until close to 6:00, when I showered to get out of
the way of others. Then I read Barnes on the porch until coffee was
ready at 7:00. Nice breakfast of pancakes and fruit prepared by the
Holden staff.
By 9:00, we were on the way to the ferry, Lady of the Lake II, on
board and underway by 9:50. 100’ twin diesel steel vessel built
early in the 60s, right at the lake, to replace earlier wooden ones.
She’s designed with a bow with a long reach and a front end
gangplank, to get right up close to certain landing points without
docking facilities. That’s helped by the fact that the lake is very
deep—1486’—with sides that fall off rapidly. If you count all the
way to the lake bottom, 386’ below sea level, it’s the deepest gorge
in North America, with a range of 8,000’ mountains flanking either
side. Beautiful lake, beautiful weather, nice trip, some reading but
mostly standing on nice breezy deck. This was followed by a half
hour school bus ride to cover 11 miles climbing 2100’, most of that
in the first 2 miles. Then, Holden Village. A wonderful facility,
surrounded closely by 8,000 footers, with snow still visible up top
in large patches. I don’t think these are the glaciers, but those
are close, too.
After lunch of soup and salad, we had orientation, then our first
conversation with Dorothy Bass, talking about what we’re going to
talk about. More with her tomorrow, along with plenty of other
opportunities. Then I went and iced my knee while S and L listened
to a talk about nanoscience.
Before dinner, I was able to make a half hour walk with them on an
easy, beautiful trail, with a bit of hill but not bad, and very
level. The heat was worse than the climb, 90 or more. Dinner was a
very acceptable veggie stir fry with some egg for protein.
Sometime today we heard Joe Bock try to lead a discussion on the
difference between Christian and Muslim fundamentalism. We got so
bogged down in terminology that it was unfortunately forgettable. In
fact, I didn’t add this paragraph until Friday, and we can’t ever
remember for sure what time this presentation was.
Worship with the whole community was led by Presbyterian preacher
Julia Fogg, a Biblical studies instructor at Pacific Lutheran.
Interesting reflection about treasure in cracked pots, major
illustration of the marble-faced Beneke manuscript museum in New
Haven. A little overdrawn, perhaps, but interesting and appropriate.
I also have found compelling the presence of large baptismal basins
by the main entries to the two primary worship spaces. Reading
Rowling, they put me in mind of Dumbledore’s pensieve, as well as
making me think about just soaking my head for Christian reasons.
Once baptized, always baptized, right?
Hopeful about Northern Lights tonight, with the incredibly clear
sky.
HOLDEN CHRONICLE Day 1-Sunday July 26 2009-travel
The whole adventure is affected by the fact that I have been
diagnosed with a torn medial meniscus, this time in the left knee,
with surgery scheduled for August 12.
Awake at 4:15 a.m. Central Daylight Time to catch a 6:10 a.m. flight
out of Central Wisconsin Airport. Flying on United, both flight
segments were on time and uneventful. A wheelchair was waiting for
me at the gate at O’Hare, to get me actually a fairly short distance
to the 757 bound for Seattle. That one encountered just a little
turbulence along the way. I read in both Julian Barnes’ Nothing to
Be Afraid of and Rowling’s Harry Potter and the Order of the
Phoenix. Also watched part of the inflight movie Monsters vs. Aliens
which I want to watch in full with the rest of the family. After
landing, I hobbled off to the airport tram, which took me quite
close to the rental car counters to meet Larry and Steve, my fellow
travelers.
Off to downtown Seattle and the Public Market. They left me at the
entrance to the parking ramp to save some steps, and I started
hobbling in the direction of the restaurant I thought was our
destination. Three cell phone calls from Larry later, we determined
that I was half a block the wrong direction, and that at most
intersections near the Seattle waterfront, it is possible to walk
downhill in two directions. Fairly pedestrian friendly, but not for
people with knee pain. I survived the hobble to the Pike Place Pub
and Grill, for a smoked salmon sandwich. Crabcakes for Steve and
Larry. Tough decision right next to the Sound! Then we toured the
pedestrian Public Market for awhile, picking up Mt. Rainier
cherries, and sampling 18 yr old balsamic vinegar and chocolate
linguine. The linguine might be the basis for a dessert pasta with
raspberry and cream sauce.
Left town about 2:30 to head up through the Cascade Range, through
Cle Elum, along the Columbia River including a stretch of US-2 near
Wenatchee, and on to the Holden Village B & B near Fields Point on
Lake Chelan. Lots of apple, pear and other orchards along the way;
Wenatchee is fruit country. And lots of discussion about the forms
of faith or the lack of it, and definitions of God and sin.
17 miles into Lake Chelan for dinner—sort of a western
Charlevoix—for riverview dining with a fettuccini with a spicy Cajun
chicken sauce. Good, but the sauce was too runny from too much
cream!
Back at the B & B, as dark fell, Steve and I were very ready for
sleep. At 10 p.m. PDT, he had been awake for 22 hours, after a short
night’s sleep, and I for 20. So we turned in, and expected to sleep
well.
AWAY FROM IT ALL
It's an interesting experience these days to be completely out
of cell phone range for almost a week, and without convenient
internet connections for even longer. And, I might add, not a bad
experience! But I promised to keep in touch some, so here is the
saga of the fourth week of my sabbatical, posted in installments
over the next few days. Stay tuned. To get the whole picture, I
suggest you get out an atlas or search on the internet for Lake
Chelan or Chelan Falls, Washington, then follow the lake northwest
to a place called Lucerne, about 2/3 of the way up on the western
side. Holden Village is 11 miles just about due west from there, at
an elevation of 3200', surrounded by mountains from well over 8000'
to over 9000.' Very dramatic, beautiful, and remote, and a good
experience. I liked it better than travelling by airline these days.
WEEK 2 REVIEW July
20, 2009
I had great hopes of posting at least
every other day about my sabbatical, but sabbatical is about rest,
among other things. And two and a half weeks in, I am learning why
retired folks say they are as busy as they ever were! Of course, an
aching knee does not help--appointment with orthopedist is coming up
this week. But in the meantime, I have read parts of Jack Miles'
God: a Biography, bought a table saw, attempted to outsmart the
raccoons who like to empty my birdfeeders, and went to worship in
Stevens Point.
Imagining Calvin
July 14, 2009
The book I read last week, for life abundant, ed. Bass and Dykstra,
discussed the concepts of pastoral imagination and ecclesial
imagination, along with pastoral and ecclesial trust. The last
Sunday before reading the book, and the last before sabbatical, also
was the Sunday before the 500th anniversary of John Calvin’s
birth—so two staff members had conspired to produce a whole bunch of
cardboard Calvin masks. After the Gospel reading, just before the
sermon, several dozen worshippers silently held these up in front of
their faces. I couldn’t help noticing, and of course had to make a
few comments about the occasion we had not really planned to
celebrate. Nothing against it, just hadn’t done it. Then we got on
with the sermon. But reading the book, it occurred to me that this
little incident suggested a great deal of imagination as well as a
great deal of trust, on both sides of the pulpit. The worshippers
trusted me to take it in good humor, and deal with it appropriately;
and that could only happen because of the level of trust I’ve shown
for congregation and staff, even while not always agreeing. That
trust is what allows imagination to develop all around the room.
Calvin would be happy!
SABBATICAL STARTS
July 9, 2009
Sabbatical is underway, and I hope to provide some updates here as
part of my own discipline of thinking about how my time apart is
renewing me for my vocation. Check back now and then; I don’t think
we’re set up for RSS yet.
The first thing I did Monday morning was take my church keys off my
regular key ring. They’re close by, but no since carrying for three
months something I won’t often be using.
Today I finished reading my first book, For Life Abundant, edited by
Dorothy Bass and Craig Dykstra. Church leaders I think would
appreciate especially the first two chapters and chapter 15, which
focuses on intentionally forming congregations as communities of
faith. I’ve also been rereading the Harry Potter series, which I had
started earlier in the summer—right now we’re moving painfully
toward the Yule Ball in Book 4. There are some interesting
conjunctions between the Life Abundant book and the conflict between
Hogwarts and the Ministry of Magic about how learning should take
place.
And I’ve been puttering in the garage, clearing and rearranging my
bench space to get some woodworking projects started. Along the way,
I’m on the lookout for new recipes. That feels like a lot for a
week, especially as I continue to struggle with a knee that’s now
been referred for orthopedic assessment. Oh, well. Stay tuned.
Presbyterian Teaching About Homosexuality
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