Catching up!

To those who are checking in on a regular basis, thank you for your patience. I had wanted to post an entry at the close of last week, and now another week has come and gone. This is not to say that things have been so nearly full that I had no real time to write, but it does feel that way. In addition to regular days set aside for reading and meeting with my sabbatical tutor, Jerome Berryman, I put together a computer from separately purchased components. That was (and remains) quite an experience.

Last week I read Os Guinness’s The Call and a study of elite influence within the Evangelical movement titled Faith in the Halls of Power by D. Michael Lindsay (now serving as president of my alma mater, Gordon College).

From Os, I appreciated the distinction between a general call upon all people to a life lived in relation to God in and through the Son and Holy Spirit, and the more particular and individual callings that apply to persons made in God’s image but who are gifted in particular ways with particular attributes, yearnings, passions, and abilities.

Over the weekend, then, was a lot of preparation for the sabbatical clergy retreat that I developed. Specifically, we invited Dr. Steven Garber and the Rev. Bill Haley of the Washington Institute for Faith, Vocation and Culture, whose credo is that vocation is integral, not incidental, to the missio Dei. Along with Steven, Bill and me, we were joined by seven of my clergy colleagues for a two day retreat near Granby.

I hope to write a more substantive article about the discussion points from the retreat, but the week ahead will be equally full … With a trip to New York and Boston, followed by a sabbatical-themed trip to McLean, Virginia.

Stay tuned, and many thanks for everyone’s support, encouragement, and prayers!