Index of Rev. Grey's Columns

Thank you so much for a wonderful celebration as we marked the beginning of Sabbatical time. With all the preparations in place, we wished each other sabbatical times of inspiration and creativity, and the good wishes of so many of you filled my heart!

A colleague once told me that it took him a month before he felt really on sabbatical. I thought, well, it won't be that way for me. But it does take some time. For the first week I awoke at the usual early time thinking of various aspects of church life. I consciously had to remind myself -- let it go, this is not what sabbatical is about. After that I have begun to relax a little, and sometimes even wake up with nothing whatsoever on my mind!

Not that I have given up church. Preparing for a McCormick course on Christian pluralism, I attended a Presbyterian Church and a Catholic church. But their services start at 11!

I've got lots of time for reading! And, I'm making quiet time for meditation/reflection, time for "listening inside", an important part of sabbatical. I have also enjoyed some time with family or friends, along with the mundane tasks of living. When the January weather was pleasant, I went outside a little. When it was too cold I looked out the window at the bare trees.

While I am letting go of active ministry for a time, I am still a part of this world marked by both grief and gladness. You and I remain woven into the interdependent web of life, touched by the world's joys and its sorrows.

Since we took the January 2 offering for victims of the tsunami we are learning how great the suffering is. My nephew Dan's home at an ashram in India was flooded but mercifully not destroyed, nor were any in the ashram lost or hurt. They are working tirelessly there on the relief efforts. I am sending him email encouragement and making a small donation to the ashram.

In January I've talked with Rev. Millie as she continues her recovery. And learning that Denyse Harris, our office assistant, bears the sorrow of her sister's death, I hold her in thought and prayer.

February is almost here. Now it's time to pack up and go to another place, that city on the east coast where my daughter and granddaughter live. Wherever we are, may our winter months be filled with enough warmth, sparked by indoor heat and also by the fire of thought, the passion of inspiration and courage, and the love of dear ones.

Until next month, with love, in faith,

Nina