I thought of you all in church this morning and said a prayer for the people of our parish.
I’ve been working hard at getting ready to travel and to straighten my house. It seems for each thing I check off my list, two get added. My cousin is coming to visit this week and the guest room is unusable at the moment. It’s been the room I use to pile things for my trip. I don’t know about you but whenever I get ready to go on vacation I get in a mad rush to get a lot of things done before I go. That is what this first week of sabbatical has been like.
My dear cat Eva is ill, so my house looks like a combination veterinary hospital with all of her meds and cat food store with the varieties of food here. She eats something one day and not the next. She’s stable right now, but of course I’m worried about leaving her, though I know she will be in great hands.
I’ve spent a lot of time at the zoo. In fact, I’m working seven days out of ten, which could explain why I feel I haven’t gotten the things done I need to get done. I worked the panda cam during the day Saturday. I’m usually there at night when the panda house is closed and I much prefer that.
I’ve been putting my camera lesson to use with my beloved lions. I tried using the monopod but it is harder than it looks so for now I’m sticking with holding my camera. I’m getting some great pictures!
Saturday I had the very great privilege of blessing the newborn daughter of a friend. Three generations of the family were there to welcome this little girl! It was wonderful!
This evening a group of friends are taking me out to dinner to celebrate the start of my adventures.
I’ve written before how I need Sabbath rest and I’ve also written how our culture has taught us that staying busy is the preferred way of being. I’m finding taking Sabbath difficult to do, even when I have the time. Even now I will tell you that I have more things to do than time to do them. We are so indoctrinated into our culture of busyness. It will be very interesting to see how I learn to take Sabbath time and what that Sabbath time looks like.
I enjoyed the books my committee suggested on Sabbath (Sabbath in the Suburbs by Maryann McKibben Dana and Sabbath: Finding Rest, Renewal and Delight in our Busy Lives by Wayne Muller). I hope you will pick up one of them and explore what Sabbath time looks like for you. We can compare notes when I return! (Look under Parish Book Club on this website for more on the books.)
In faith, Ann
Looking Out Seeing Within 