Off the Hook

This Sunday will be my first one off since I started at CEC. N is giving the first of two masters’ recitals this Sunday in Connecticut, and R and I are flying out there to hear him. It will be especially crazy for R. At the moment she is in NYC for a campus chaplains’ conference. She’ll fly to Des Moines on Thursday, where I’ll pick her up so she can give two presentations on General Convention at our diocesan convention (and officiate at a Jazz Evensong Friday evening). Then we’ll leave for New Haven before convention ends, return to Des Moines on Monday, and finally drive home via Iowa City. That’s why I think of Sunday as being “off” rather than a vacation. We always seem to pack a lot in!

I’m grateful that I have a well-seasoned deacon and a priest of nearly fifty years’ duration to fill in for me while I’m gone. They became a well-oiled team in the interregnum before I came on board. I’m also grateful that I had the opportunity at St. Peter’s to fill in during Lynne's three month sabbatical. Otherwise I might be unaccustomed to the constant flow of work and feel desperate for a break. Instead I am looking forward to the freshness that comes from returning to a familiar place after being away. I hadn’t thought about it until just now, but my long tenure at St. Ambrose was also preceded by a year as a sabbatical replacement. In both cases, teaching and preaching, the initial stint gave me the self-confidence to launch into a long-term position. At least I hope my current position will be long-term!

So those of you who are looking for lectionary reflections will have to wait a week. Uncharacteristically, I have nothing to say!