A Multi-Day Sabbath
For the past couple of weeks, I have been on a break. Not a Ross & Rachel break, but days of rest. It feels like I've been going non-stop for so long, I don't know what to do with time off. So I have been a couch potato. I've been going through what stuff I want to take back to Michigan when I go back for about a month to spend with my Mom, y'know the stuff I dragged out to G'burg, but haven't used in 2 years. I had been looking at taking back some books, especially ones I knew I wouldn't use in the Garden on internship, but decided to put those into storage here in G'burg. But I've spent time flipping through some, especially some that I bought pre-Seminary when I was trying to deepen my understanding of exactly what I am doing. And I've realized there are as many takes on the role and nature of God, salvation and the relationship between humanity and the Divine as there are people willing to put their thoughts to paper. Sometimes, many times, the God I have learned about through my life, and especially the last two years, does not resemble the God that is in those pages. So I've taken this time to just relax and rest. I feel like a steak fresh off the grill (I've been watching a lot of the Food Network) that is resting before you carve it.
Before this break, I've been through 2 years of seminary, a summer of CPE, the loss of my father, multiple hospitalizations of my mother, leaving my job, moving 3 states away from friends and family, alienating a lot of them with my choices to come here and to stay here, and making a whole new group of framily out here in Pennsylvania. I'm not saying this to gain pity or sympathy, because my situation is not dissimilar to that of many others going through this ordeal. Same story, different details.
After this break, I'll spend a year on intership, further away from my family, friends and new framily. Then, about a year from now, I'll say goodbye to the framily I'll develop there and come back to The LTS. I'll have another year of courses, evaluations by the faculty and my candidacy committee and then the Draft. From there, it's synod assignments, call committees and (hopefully) ordination. One of the seniors, early in the year, told me this process is a two year sprint followed by a three year triathalon. (Internship, Senior Year, 1st Call) This time before internship, this May-August (or less for others) is the only break. So, I'm taking advantage of it. I spent some time here in G'burg, didn't do as much touristy stuff as I wanted, but I got to see some stuff I've wanted to see. Now I'll go back to Michigan for a while to be with my Mom, visit the friends and family who are still talking to me (and vice versa) and relax before I come back to G'burg to pack and move to the Garden.
We're supposed to rest every 7 days, but as religous leaders, it's tough to take Sundays off because that's one of our big work days. So the seminary encourages us to be intentional about taking time off when we are in the parish (but not so much while we are at the seminary.) That's what I've been doing ... taking those Sabbath's I've been storing up for a while.
I don't really have a point to all of this, other than to say that taking time off, just to relax, is a good thing. I guess that's why we're commanded to do it.
Before this break, I've been through 2 years of seminary, a summer of CPE, the loss of my father, multiple hospitalizations of my mother, leaving my job, moving 3 states away from friends and family, alienating a lot of them with my choices to come here and to stay here, and making a whole new group of framily out here in Pennsylvania. I'm not saying this to gain pity or sympathy, because my situation is not dissimilar to that of many others going through this ordeal. Same story, different details.
After this break, I'll spend a year on intership, further away from my family, friends and new framily. Then, about a year from now, I'll say goodbye to the framily I'll develop there and come back to The LTS. I'll have another year of courses, evaluations by the faculty and my candidacy committee and then the Draft. From there, it's synod assignments, call committees and (hopefully) ordination. One of the seniors, early in the year, told me this process is a two year sprint followed by a three year triathalon. (Internship, Senior Year, 1st Call) This time before internship, this May-August (or less for others) is the only break. So, I'm taking advantage of it. I spent some time here in G'burg, didn't do as much touristy stuff as I wanted, but I got to see some stuff I've wanted to see. Now I'll go back to Michigan for a while to be with my Mom, visit the friends and family who are still talking to me (and vice versa) and relax before I come back to G'burg to pack and move to the Garden.
We're supposed to rest every 7 days, but as religous leaders, it's tough to take Sundays off because that's one of our big work days. So the seminary encourages us to be intentional about taking time off when we are in the parish (but not so much while we are at the seminary.) That's what I've been doing ... taking those Sabbath's I've been storing up for a while.
I don't really have a point to all of this, other than to say that taking time off, just to relax, is a good thing. I guess that's why we're commanded to do it.
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