Building a Labyrinth

 

There is a spot in my yard where an old broken down shed used to sit, and I’m turning it into a labyrinth.  I love a labyrinth; I walked the one at the recent Keystone Conference clergy convocation twice.  It’s an ancient contemplative prayer practice that lets you move, which I do better than sitting around.   

Join me here as I prepare and build my labyrinth; photo above is the plan.  And if you’re ever in the State College area, come walk it!

Yes! I'm going to the Holy Land in 2024!

 I will finally finish my pilgrimage next spring when I join Karoline Lewis,  the Marbury E. Anderson Chair in Biblical Preaching at Luther Seminary, St. Paul, MN, on an 11 day Pilgrimage trip to the Holy Land.   Most likely, I will add on an extra week, so that I can do the Jesus Trail (an abbreviated version that is offered that lets you walk the first and last legs) and some other locations. 

The trip starts next April, and while I have already put down a deposit, I need to talk to my Church council about it as well.  

Karoline Lewis' trip will go some places I would not have (the Dead Sea area, Masada)  but it hits a lot of the areas, the extra time will give me the chance to get to some of the other places I had planned to visit (Caeseria Maritima, possibly Nablus, including the Samaritan sites and Jacob's well) and linger a bit more in Jerusalem.    It will also arrange some of the things I was having some challenge figuring out - a boat ride on the Sea of Galilee, a visit to the Temple Mount.    And I'll be with a brilliant New Testament Scholar, whose teaching I have enjoyed in the past.    

I am very excited

The Holy Land

 The only disappointment of my 2021 Sabbatical was being unable to go to Israel. Well I am glad to share that I am looking into joining a group going to Israel led by Lutheran New Testament Scholar Rev. Dr. Karoline Lewis in April, 2024.    My husband encourages me to go for it!   Details aren't clear yet, since I'm discussing with the company the possibility of an extra week there in order to also do a tour of the Jesus trail, as there is one leaving Nazareth 3 days after the regular tour ends.    I'll be sure to post here when I know what is up. 

Reporting back!

 I spent four Mondays doing online presentations sharing my travels - and I thought I'd share the videos.   They are also accessible via my church's website, bvfof.org, but they may not continue to be after midyear.   The permanent links are:

• Scotland: Isolation, Highlands and Holy Isle.  
• Italy: The Great Church and the Saints
• Switzerland:Germany - through Wittenberg, and Erfrut and Eisleben. 
• Greece:  Paul and John, a lagniappe, and the ancient world. 

Scotland: Isolation, Highlands and the Holy Isle

 I'm presenting my sabbatical, with photos and talking my way through.  Join me in Scotland, for isolation in Juniper Green, chasing down the Scottish Reformation in Edinburgh and Iona, Hiking at Urquhart Castle, Culloden Battlefield, and Fort William, and spend a week on retreat with the Wild Goose Worship Group on Iona!  

https://vimeo.com/669647664

Remembering: Video - Band Concert, St. Andrews Scotland

 I am working my way through my photos, journal, blog, etc., and gathering some of the video and photos I took, to share with folks things that I didn't show during the actual Sabbatical. I'll post some little tidbits here as I'm working on my presentations, and I'll post some photo albums after I do the presentations.   Then, lastly, I'll share thoughts about specific experiences and where I go forward once I've done all that other stuff. 

Today: I happened upon a band concert in St. Andrews Scotland, on my second afternoon there, just before meeting my friends for dinner.    Here is a video excerpt from it.   I also have ten songs that I recorded video of.  This is a little bit of "O God, Our Help in Ages Past."  This is the Clackmannan District  Brass.  (https://www.clackmannanbrass.co.uk/)

 

 

 

Join me for my reporting on my sabbatical!

This winter I'll be hosting eight evenings (four online, four in person, if the Covid situation allows and you live within appropriate distance of Rebersburg, PA) to report back on my Sabbatical.   

Come along with me.  Part travelogue, part spiritual journey, you can share in my travels, all the changes, the discoveries and epiphanies, the stresses and disappointments.   

In Person on Friday evenings at 7:00 

If canceled because of Covid, we will reschedule in the Spring. Masking and distancing required.  

• January 21: Scotland: Isolation, Highlands and the Holy Isle.

• February 4: Italy and Switzerland: The Great Church, the Saints, and the Swiss Reformation.

• February 18: Germany, Family, Refugees, and Luther Land.

• March 4: Greece: A Lagniappe, Journeys with Paul, and the Orthodox Church.

Zoom on Mondays (recordings available after)

• January 24: Scotland: Isolation, Highlands and the Holy Isle.

• February 7: Italy and Switzerland: The Great Church, the Saints, and the Swiss Reformation.

• February 21: Germany, Family, Refugees, and Luther Land.

• March 7: Greece: A Lagniappe, Journeys with Paul, and the Orthodox Church.

For Zoom information, please email julie@bvfof.org.  Zoom capability provided via the Penn Central Conference of the United Church of Christ.