father John’s Sabbatical Journey
 
 
 
John’s Sabbatical Journey, entry #1:
 
          Tuesday, April 1st. Flying out of Atlanta to Boston and then taking the subway to Cambridge and to the monastery of The Society of St. John the Evangelist, or as it is known to some, SSJE.  This is an order of monks founded in England but which has roots also in the United States and Canada. This is the oldest order of Episcopal monks in North America.
 
    There are about ten to twelve monks who live at this monastery. They have another property, called Emery House located about 40 minutes northeast of Boston, close to New Hampshire in a town called Newburyport, MA.  The monks here have five services daily, beginning with Morning Prayer (6:00 a.m.), Eucharist (7:45 a.m.), Midday Prayers (12:30 p.m.), Evening Prayer (6:00 p.m.) and Compline (8:30 p.m.). I attend four and sometimes all of the services, with my favorite being Compline in the evening. There is something about praying while it is dark outside that is so peaceful.  
 
    There is no talking here at the monastery among the guests and not much at all between the guests and the monks. Though I have been coming for ten years, this time it has been a little more difficult to adjust to the silence and to be silent. I love to read, especially here, so that hasn't been a problem. What is it? Probably the slowing down process. One monk said that though you are resting and slowing down, so that your physical body is adjusting, your soul hasn't caught up yet. Your soul will need some rest too, so pay attention to that. I think monks are wise.
 
    The food. Well, it is different. While the monks eat meat, they don't eat much of it. In fact, I haven't seen any meat since I have been here. Neither chicken or fish as well. Lunch is the main meal. Yesterday we had two Italian dishes and pinto beans with garlic, oatmeal cookies for dessert. Lunch today was seven bean chile and boiled cabbage, banana pudding for dessert. At night for supper there always soup. Two nights ago we had barley soup, last evening was homemade tomato.
 
    If this sounds like a place you would like to experience, let me know. It is a place where I come to be still and feel God's presence. God isn't any closer here than God is anywhere else, it just, at times, feels that way.
 
    Next week I am heading off to Virginia and North Carolina for a few days. Talk to you soon. John
 
 
John's Sabbatical Journey - April 19th, entry #2
    It is Saturday morning the 19th of April. This past week I have been home in Auburn. We are having our kitchen and one bathroom remodeled. Can't imagine every building a house, this is hard enough. Though I am not doing the labor I am consulted every so often for decisions. Nancy is out of town and so my hope is that they are the correct ones. Last week was so great. Went up into Virginia and North Carolina.  Visited our oldest son, Charlie, in Abingdon, Virginia where he is living and filming a documentary on Appalachian music. He said that he hasn't done much filming yet, just trying to get the folks to trust him when he does. We shared the best fried chicken I have ever other than in my own kitchen. Then I moved on to UVa, William and Mary, Duke and UNC.  What a great trip that was! Coming home around Newnan, GA. , it rained sideways and with the constructions on I-85 it was a real challenge. Someone was praying because the trip was a safe on.     
    I leave tomorrow for Ireland and Spain. Ireland to be a tourist and Spain to be a pilgrim. Packing for these two very different trips has very much been a challenge.  Nancy is coming to Ireland on May 1 and will bring my backpack for the pilgrimage in Spain, but it has to be ready for the trip before I leave in the morning.   So there is a suitcase full of sweaters for the mid-50's degree weather in Ireland along with a sports jacket and tie. And then there is a backpack with two pair of everything, hiking boots and a poncho. 
    So, yes, tomorrow is the day. Early shuttle to ATL and then a four hour wait before a flight to JFK. Another four hour wait and then a flight to Shannon. Pick up a rental car and begin that leg of the journey. We will play golf for ten days and then our clergy group either goes home or meets up with a spouse. We are the latter, tour Ireland for ten days and then fly to Madrid. Nancy will then be flying back home.
    At this point it is difficult to believe that three weeks are already gone. It seems like five days. Thanks so much for this sabbatical. Please keep me in your prayers as I will keep you all in mine.
                                    Yours,   John 
                
 
John's Sabbatical Journey - April 29th, entry #3
 
Dear Friends,
       I just wanted to give all of you a little shout out from my sabbatical, to bring you up to date about where I am now and where I will be going.  Currently, I am involved in a golf competition called the Cranmer Cup playing on the US team of clergy vs. a team from Great Britian and Ireland (GB&I). This is the fifth competition, as it happens every two years. The US team won the first three and GB&I won the last time at Seabrook Island in SC.  This year we are playing at Rosses Point, Sligo County in Ireland. Our team looks as if we will lose again this year as we are now down 71/2 to 4 1/2 but really it is about friendly competition. For instance, last evening the Irish "boys" invited several of us to the local pub and we had lots of laughs.  We are staying at the Yeats Country Hotel, named for the poet who lived in this area and is buried at the local Anglican church.  
    
        We have been traveling for almost ten days. Tomorrow the competition concludes with a banquet where the mayor will be present, so it is quite a big deal. Or at least sort of a big deal. Friday we go back to the airport (Shannon) and drop off many of the players. Some of us have our spouses coming over and this is the case with me. Nancy and I will tour the country for a week with not much of an agenda. One place we are interested in seeing is the Irish horse country which is located in County Claire. One of the members of the Irish team has offered to give us a two bedroom apartment in Dublin, so we will see about that as well. We are also keen (that is how the Brits would say it) on seeing the southeast coast, the Ring of Kerry and the Dingle Peninsula.
 
        It has been an interesting time here and I have had lots of time to think and pray. Sabbath time allows, at least for me, a time for a different kind of prayer, with much more time for introspection and questioning.  I have to say that while I love to travel, Auburn has a deep place in my heart. This is one discovery. Being with so many people makes me aware of the need to be alone as well. And being in a different culture makes me appreciate the wide diversity, the wide, wide diversity of God's creation.    After a week more in Ireland I travel to Madrid where I will begin the walk on the Camino de Santiago. It is my hope that I get to write from some internet cafe over there on the walk, much like I am doing now.  
 
Again, I keep you in my prayers and I ask you to keep me in yours.
Blessings,  
John
John's Sabbatical Journey - May 9, entry #4 Dear Friends, I am writing the following from an Internet Cafe in Ennis, Ireland at 11:30 in the morning (or in the words of the Irish "half eleven"). It is amazing to me that the world is so small, that is, that I can type this and press send and Ellen will have it in a few minutes.
 Last week 14 American Priests from the Episcopal Church competed against the GB&I team (Great Britain and Ireland) at a place called Rosses Point, near Sligo, Ireland, which is north and west in Ireland. After a day of practice the American team quickly fell behind and trailed GB&I by 14 1/2 to 9 1/2. This meant that on the last day of competition, in the 14 singles matches we needed to win 10 points to get the Cramner Cup trophy back to the USA. The final tally was 19 -19 so that the GB & I team retained the trophy. It was great fun though, especially the banquet on the last evening. The Irish know how to throw a party and they didn't disappoint. The next day we took the team back to Shannon and Nancy arrived for the week. It is almost over. Tomorrow she goes to Shannon, JFK and then finally to ATL. I fly to Madrid for the pilgrimage and meet my friend Phillip Petree. We will then take the train out of Madrid on Saturday morning for northern Spain. 
 A couple of stories so far from our last week. On Saturday as we were going through Limerick we hit a traffic jam of major proportions. In order to get out of it we turned around and went back another way but in doing ran up on a curb and some of the underpinnings of the front wheel came loose. It was rubbing on the front tire and we couldn't proceed. I pulled into a neighborhood and went knocking on doors for assistance. A man was walking his dog and when asked to help he took us to his home and after working on the car for an hour we were on our way. Billy even gave us a tool to take with us. There have been no more problems with the car but it reminded me that it is when we get through some adversity that we grow. Also, it is what we remember. That same night we met the folks at the table sitting next to us. After some conversation, we found out they knew a lot about thoroughbred racing and that Aileen had spent a week in Lexington. (We were now in the horse country of Ireland.) We talked for two hours and when they left they invited us to tea the next day. We found out that they owned race horses themselves and part of going to tea was touring their small horse farm as well as the race course in Kildare. 
 Tomorrow, Nancy flies home and I can't wait to be there myself in about ten days. But for now, some more of the world which I have never seen. I miss you all. Keep me in your prayers as you are in mine.
 Yours, John
John’s Sabbatical Journey - May 28, entry #5 Dear Friends, It's great to be home! Or, "there's no place like home." Or both. Arriving in Boston last Monday the sabbatical that you all have given me is now two-thirds over with just a month to go. The last week was spent just getting myself back in the swing of life in Auburn. The week before that was spent hiking 160 kilometers (a little over 100 miles) in six days. We began our pilgrimage in Ocebrero, Spain, a tiny village located about 4,500 feet above sea level. This small village was where we spent our first night before leaving on the pilgrimage of St. James. The Camino de Santiago is a pilgrimage undertaken by Christians since the ninth century. One may do this either by walking, bicycling or horseback. We did see four people on horses, about twenty-five on bikes, and the rest walking. My friend, myself and another walking companion averaged about 20 miles a day with our twenty-five pound backpacks. It was both one of the most difficult and also one of the most rewarding experiences I have ever had. Even though running four miles a day prepared my body for this, nothing really prepared my feet for it. There were times when I just didn't think I could continue and that was really discouraging. But we both pushed through those difficult spots and walked into Santiago a week ago last Friday, presented ourselves at the "pilgrims’ office" and then went to the mass held for the pilgrims at the Cathedral in Santiago.
 I will write more later about the walk itself with some detail, but a typical day was as follows: arise at six o'clock in the morning to prepare for the day. After a little something for breakfast, we headed out about 6:45 a.m. and usually walked until mid-morning. Around nine or ten we stopped for some "cafe solo" and "tostado" which means espresso coffee with toast and jam. We used this as a rest stop and then walked through until lunch. After that we would walk until mid-afternoon, another break and walk until five o’clock or so. Once we arrived at the hostel, we would shower, rest and then go to dinner. Often our nap would last until seven or eight, but that was fine since in Spain people don't eat dinner until at least eight o'clock. After dinner, we would head off for bed usually around ten and then get up and do it all over again.
 One of the most fascinating parts of the pilgrimage was meeting people from all over the world. This included people from Norway, Brazil, Italy, Germany, Spain (of course), France, and Australia. We met only two Americans in the week that we were on the pilgrimage. I took many pictures and you can find those on our web site. I will attempt to write more later. Yours, John http://www.holytrinitychurch.infoshapeimage_6_link_0