Sabbatical Update From Rev. Lee

Dear good people,

I am hoping you are all well! In brief encounters around town, I’ve seen or heard about you doing your thing. On 9/11, the North Parish bell was ringing in the background while I offered a prayer at Fire Station II. I heard about Community Action Team members cutting flowers in an industrial park lot for bouquets for a fundraiser to address hunger (UU ingenuity!) My policeman neighbor told me y’all had to handle a bit of a disruption recently during a Sunday service. It is good to hear you are doing “all the things” and handling the surprises so well. There is so much more that I will look forward to hearing all about, as y’all navigate this season of autumn, school classes, elections, fossil fuel flooding disasters, fall fairs, “tree of the day” practices, and the taste of crisp juicy apples.

September has been a busy month for me in sabbatical land. In fact, my sabbatical eyes may have been bigger than my sabbatical stomach! I began taking two online classes through the Doctor of Ministry in Social Justice program at Meadville-Lombard Theological school and attended (online) a 3 day D. Min. retreat and an orientation with my cohort. I went on a week-long UU pilgrimage trip along the “Rob Roy Way” in Scotland, walking 10 to 12 miles a day (thankfully on relatively flat ground) with a group that was made up primarily of members of our sister congregation in Providence, RI. I attended the 2 day Convocation on eco-theology/eco-church with the BTS Center in Maine and will begin attending monthly sessions of both an eco-preacher group and an eco-chaplaincy group offered by BTS. My feet have recovered from the walking but my head is spinning a bit!

I’m grateful to the leadership, to Sabbatical Minister Li Kynvi, and the staff who are no doubt working hard and inhabiting creativity, and to all of you for making new connections. I’ll keep lighting my sabbatical chalice if you keep lighting yours!

With gratitude for your presence with each other, for the good work you do, and the spirit of life and love moving in the world,

Rev. Lee

Rev. Lee with roommate/walking partner Jen Thomas, a UU Membership Coordinator from Portland, OR. Photos from the morning of an early day in the trip and late afternoon at the very end of the path (under the arch.)

P.S. I am amazed to report that we did not have rain- never mind horizonal rain- while hiking in Scotland. And in other amazing news, at the BTS Center Convocation in Maine I not only got to stand next to the featured preacher- and one of my personal heroines- the Rev. Mariama White-Hammond, I got to pretend to be a hammerhead shark and a dolphin in a skit with her! How my cup overflows!

 

 

 

Rev. Lee with roommate/walking partner Jen Thomas, a UU Membership Coordinator from Portland, OR. Photos from the morning of an early day in the trip and late afternoon at the very end of the path (under the arch.)

 

Rev. Lee with roommate/walking partner Jen Thomas, a UU Membership Coordinator from Portland, OR. Photos from the morning of an early day in the trip and late afternoon at the very end of the path (under the arch.)