Midpoint Musings

Sorry it's been so long since the last post. I could give you excuses, but basically, life moves faster on the road than I thought.

Yes, we are back in the US, after our course side-tracked a little and we ended up in London rather than Geneva---more on that another day. Father's Day was transit back from Paris to Chicago, with Lisa's kind boyfriend greeting us (and her!) at the airport, a drive back through Milwaukee, and what a wonderful feeling at about 10:00 p.m. to turn into River Drive.

I will NEED the next two months to put thoughts together after these last four weeks, but for right now, I'm off to a Pastor Theologian event. It's hard to believe we've made it to the midpoint of this sabbatical journey. While on the flight home, I found myself pondering John Brigg's very thoughtful comment on the nature of community, and surrender, and it provided quite a meditation point for me. How hard is it, in this world in which SELF is the center of the universe (do you recall George Carlin's bit on how we went from Life magazine to People to Self?) to talk about our core meanings arising when we give UP ourselves, and surrender to the most basic unit of human being not being ME, but WE. It reminded me of how much I miss John and Suzanne as a part of our congregation's life!

So, there WILL be more postings--I PROMISE--on the rest of the trip. There's more to say about hospitality and Lisa's wonderful host family, the combination of religion and power, seen from the Papal residence in Avignon, and how narrative structures our existence while skipping from mass at St. Martin's in the Field to the British Library to track 8 3/4 at the train station in London and wet walks to the zoo where Harry Potter freed the snake (or whatever it was that Harry Potter did at the London Zoo!) But right now I've got to get my bearings a little, sort out some of the financial stuff, and ENJOY being HOME!

Thanks to all of you for tracking this journey--and know from what's been said above that I TRULY enjoy your comments and feedback.

Chuck