Today it would have started

Right now, I would have been settling myself into a seat on the Pennsylvanian train in Lewistown, PA, on my trip to New York.  Tomorrow I'd have an early flight to London, then an overnight to Tel Aviv.
Starting 15 weeks of exploring the history of Christianity from Jesus to the Evangelical/Lutheran, Reformed and Congregational Churches which emigrated to America was going to start.
Instead, I am at home, watching my granddaughter while my daughter works, watching the Festival of Homiletics when the internet has enough bandwidth to support it.
I was sad about this for a long time, but I think I knew I was over it when I started thinking about how to take sabbath this year (since I have not been on vacation since last August, figuring I would have a very nice rest starting now.)
I'm still canceling reservations, but I'm beginning to think about rescheduling for next year, and re-planning with some new insights.    I will be taking this sabbatical, eventually.    But now, it seems, I need to take care of right now for a little bit.

So, what is the next step on the journey? Please help me and respond!

I was listening to Rick Steves this weekend (yeah, I know) and he did an episode, for the 15th anniversary of the show, on pilgrimage and spiritual pilgrimage.   You can find his May 2, 2020 show here.

Listening to his show yesterday morning and afternoon made me think a lot about where I am and what I am doing with the time.

I'm still going on my Sabbatical.   It will be a 2021 sabbatical, most likely, not a 2020 one (though I am still waiting to see what happens with my Iona Retreat).   I'll write the Lilly Endowment as soon as the Iona Community determines what they are doing.   But it will be different.  Travel, when I leave next April, May, June, July or August (time still TBD) will be different and probably more expensive than it is now.   The opportunity to interact with locals will likely be something I need to be more intentional about.   I have eight or nine countries to be concerned about the travel policies of, and my own country's advice to think about.    It will be after the presidential election, which could very much change the whole situation in the US, and the conception of the US outside our country.   Israeli politics could impact the Israeli-Palestinian situation for good or ill (right now it looks like for ill, but that can

But many things will not change.  The Holy Land will still be where Jesus walked and was born and lived and died.  Macedonia will still be one of the places Paul traveled and founded churches, the Sistine Chapel will still be in the Vatican, and the Catacombs will still have the art and graves of some of the earliest Christians.  Assisi will still honor Francis.  Wittenberg will still be where Luther taught, Geneva and Zurich where Calvin and Zwingli took the reformation further, and Scrooby Hall where the Puritans gathered.   Iona will still be a holy island even if I am not attending a retreat on it.  Refugees will still need someone to support them all over the world (maybe even more so!)

But Rick's show reminded me that pilgrimage is not about the location, but about the heart.   You can take a pilgrimage and not leave your yard, this weekend's show identified.   The journey is spiritual, not physical.    I will still take the physical journey, but the journey my soul is on, is as important as the journey my feet will take.

So my challenge, for the next 11-15 months, is to find not the destination, but the journey to my sabbatical.   Find the next challenge and the next steps to deepen the interaction with and planning for, this journey and this sabbatical.    Some of the things that I have thought of include:

• Learning more about the early Catholic notaries I am going to travel to.   For example, rereading a biography of Francis of Assisi and some of his writings, and reading more about St. Benedict, as I'd identified Subiaco as a location to visit. 
• Spending time backpacking, and maybe switch my Jesus Trail experience to a camping experience.  Or not, but spending more time with my pack on my back. 
• Continuing the contemplative spiritual practice I started in Lent to help find quiet for God to speak to me in. 
• Reworking my itinerary to use the recommendations that Rick Steves' made to me, in the 2021 version of my sabbatical.  
• Getting serious about brushing up on my German. 

What else?  What am I not even thinking about?   What are spiritual paths that might deepen my journey?   What can you, my readers suggest to make the 2021 sabbatical a better pilgrimage, a better walk with God, than the 2020 pilgrimage would have been?   Please comment, here and/or on Facebook. 

Cancelling and grief

The day I was waiting for came last week.  British Airways sent me an email that my flight has been canceled.   This started the process of cancelling my many, many bookings for the 2020 Sabbatical.   I went through most of the bookings on Booking.com yesterday, and sent emails out for a few more.  This afternoon I'll tackle the hostels, which is most of my bookings.

So far, so good.  British Airways, though it took a while to get through to them, was very straightforward about issuing a refund.   Two of the "non cancelable" hotels in Israel very quickly promised a refund (none of these has hit my credit card yet, so I still have to watch for that.)

And I reworked my itinerary spreadsheets with a "canceled" column, so I can track what I've gotten accomplished and what I have not.  I still have to contact my travel insurance company about the cancellation.

This has all made me very, very sad. The level of anticipation of this wonderful journey, means that watching all that work, and all that planning go away feels like a loss.   I keep trying to remind myself that this will all happen, albeit later, and that I am at first very fortunate to do this, and that the Lilly Endowment will let me reschedule (though at this point I am not sure when for: since probably international travel will not return in full until we have a vaccine.)  I am deeply grateful for the Lilly Endowment's promise to let me delay this until next year, and I suspect next year is what will happen, either in late April (a better month for hiking in Israel) or in July/August.

But I'll have to do all the rebooking (a LOT of work) and wait a full other year.   And I think I need to let myself feel sad about that, even as I am grateful that it is only a delay, not a full cancellation.

Blessings on you all!

A Coronavirus delay

I spoke to the guy in charge at the Lilly Endowment last Friday, but internet in my little rural valley has been terrible the last few days, and I've been busy learning how to do church for my community from home.  (hint: internet doesn't work well.)

They are going to, in this extraordinary situation, let me delay the sabbatical, if necessary, until next year.   The situation raises some issues (for example, I will not be able to just move my travel insurance, because it is for people under 65 and by next May I will be too old for it) but ensures that I really do get to go on my trip.

I haven't yet canceled anything, but will in mid-late April.  Depending on how things look over the next five weeks, I might try to reschedule for August - October.  IF the Iona community decides to hold my retreat and IF Brot und Roses still wants me (both of which happen in August.)    But I think there is a very great likelihood that this virus emergency will continue at least through the entire summer, and into the Fall.  If that happens, I'll be again setting my sights on May, but this time, May 2021.  As Easter is early (April 4) in 2021, I might leave a tad earlier than I'd planned for this year.

So the sabbatical will still happen, just in a delayed timeframe.   The waiting will continue.

I am, this week, deeply grateful to the Lilly Endowment's Clergy Renewal Grant program for the grace to delay as I have to.   I feel blessed.

The Looming Shadow of Corona Virus

Enough people have asked me that I decided it was time to write something in my blog about the Sabbatical and how it might be impacted by the current situation with regard to the Corona Virus.

What will happen?   The short answer is, "I don't know."

Right now I am a bit more than 9 weeks out.   LOTS could happen in nine weeks.   The virus could taper off as warm weather approaches (though most organizations are assuming it will not.)  The pandemic could become so ubiquitous that travel doesn't make a difference.

But basically my thoughts are the following:

If I can go, I will go.   This is a once in a lifetime opportunity, and it runs out at the end of the summer when my granddaughter goes to school and I need to be home for her in the afternoons.   If I am well, and if the countries I plan to travel to let me in, I'll be there.

If I am well:

I am doing everything I can, from frequent hand washing, to washing surfaces, to keeping my distance from people, to stay well.  I will on travel, too.    I ordered antiseptic towelettes to wash off surfaces in hotels and hostels.   I'll carry some masks (I have a few that I bought a few years ago) in case they are needed.   I'm practicing not touching my face and social distancing as part of just being a pastor.    If I become unwell in Israel or Europe, I have travel insurance and will follow up on whatever is recommended.   As I write this, Israel, which has some of the most restrictive rules on incoming travelers,  is requiring self-quarantine for visitors, but as the virus spreads and testing widens, this may be modified.   In any case I will not get on a plane sick, and I will do what I can to prevent my germs getting in other people's space.

If they let me in:

Not sure this will happen.  Right now where I am in Central PA has none of the virus, but that could change any minute.   Some countries (Israel in particular) are being quite strict on travelers, others are not.   Right now, Italy is out (and I had planned close to two weeks there) as well.

Alternatives:

1.   Not travel - not good.  Kind of blows the whole thing out of the water.
2.  Travel, but remain flexible.   Avoid virus hot spots.   Maybe I spend an extra week in the Holy Land, and an extra week in Malta/Switzerland/England if I can't go to Italy.    Maybe I do the Luther Trail instead of the Jesus Trail if I can't go to Israel.    I'm researching alternatives now.  I have noticed that while the CDC is recommending travel restrictions, the WHO is not.  They consider them ineffective except occasionally at the beginning of an outbreak.  It is, I think, an advantage that my travel is largely solitary (and a disadvantage that it relies so heavily on hostels.)

So there it is, my current thoughts.   Things will change, I am sure, so stay tuned.

And pray.

Rick Steves answered my travel question! Personally!

So, you all know Rick Steves is my travel guru, right?

In 1986, as I set out on my very first ever European trip, I was on a tight budget, and my travel guides were Let's Go and Europe Through the Back Door (I also bought Mona Winks, which had many of his guides to European Museums.)  I went for 8 nights, 4 in Paris, 4 in London.   And I started traveling the Rick Steves way.

While I slavishly buy his travel guides, I mostly follow his philosophy.   I've been fortunate to have jobs which afforded me enough frequent flyer miles that I have been able to go to Europe quite a few times since, and I've expanded the philosophy to some back doors I've found myself in other places, and in Europe.  I bet Rick has never been to Solofra, Italy, though he may have been to Merida, Mexico.    He also taught me to talk to people, to interact with the folks around me, and not be led into the touristy restaurant when I can go to the neighborhood restaurant, and have a lot more interaction.

For almost 35 years, following Rick's philosophy has served me well, and when I get old enough that I want someone else to plan my travel and make all the arrangements, his tours will be at the top of my list.   We even own an amazing 6 pieces of Rick Steves' luggage, including some original back door bags (which are too large for carryons now, and we have to check.  But they still sit nicely on our backs!)

Periodically Rick records episodes of his radio shows, usually in several-day blocks, and you can contact them with a question, then they call you to put you on the air.   I had a question, I sent it in, and lo and behold, Rick's organization called me this evening!

At first it was dicey; the phone disconnected and I thought all was lost.  But the second time the call went through, and I got to talk to Steves, tell him about my Sabbatical, ask my question (I'm not going to tell you all what the question was, nor what he suggested; but I will post a link when the program is aired, and you can hear it.)   Not surprisingly he was very supportive of 15 weeks, of plans to visit not only Europe, but Israel and Palestine (which also keeps me under the Schengen limit) and we talked a little about my plans for Germany, and my planned service.

It was a thrill, but it reminded me of something I love about Steves, which has nurtured my love of travel since that first 1986 trip:  I always feel supported by Rick.   Yes, it's a company and an author and he's not with me, and probably won't remember who I am too long (though he did ask me to call back after the Sabbatical) but his books, his shows, his site, even the FB groups related to him, all really support what I want to do, and encourage me to go out a little further on the edge each time I travel.   For me, that is mostly Europe, largely because I have a brother living there, but sometimes is elsewhere.    Because Rick Steves's puts all his energy into teaching us how travel can be affordable, doable, safe and fun, I am free to travel, to experience, and to get to know the world.    Isn't that great?

And yes, I'll no doubt update my itinerary based on his advice.

Finishing up my bookings

The last couple of weeks I've been slowly but surely finalizing my itinerary and making my final bookings.   It helped that my husband and I settled on a plan, we booked a timeshare for a week in the Dolomites, and hope our friends Angelo and Letizia will join us there (in any case we will also visit them for a weekend in Milano).   Then we will be off for England, where I'll explore the history of the English separatists in Scrooby and attend my godchild Aryk's graduation from the University of Keele.  Mark will hang out with friends in London, and I'll spend a couple of nights there, most likely, visiting Wesley chapel and friends in the area.

I also was able, with a commitment to be in England from July 20-25, to finalize plans for Switzerland and Leiden in the Netherlands, and I booked a night in Oban, Scotland the night before I travel to Iona for a retreat.

I also booked Blue Star Ferries to Patmos, paying extra for a bunk, since I'm pretty old (64 😊) and decided I didn't want to try sleeping in an airline-style seat.  

I still have a couple of nights I'm not sure about: the night in Keele when I attend the graduation (that date won't be announced until April) and 2 nights returning to Hamburg from Scotland (which might include a visit with a friend, or might involve overnight trains. )  

So next are museum and rail bookings:   Mostly I have identified my routes and train schedules, but since booking trains means paying for them, I am delaying until later.  Museum tickets appear to be mostly available 3 months out, and there are only a couple that I need: The Vatican Museums and DaVinci's last supper are the major ones I care about.  

But basically I'm done.  I have a place to sleep every night but 4, one of those will resolve in April, and the others will be sleeping on my transportation.  

Next, planning my reading!!