The first day of week #2 and I find myself at Bradley awaiting a flight to Asheville, N for a meeting for PRMI that was rescheduled from early May. Not what I’d prefer to do, but felt the need to see the process through. Last week was great! A day at the beach with Andy, dinner with some good friends we do not get to see often enough, a weekend in the Adirondack Mountains with Megan, Eric & Andy. Hiked up Owls Head, a small mountain near Melissa’s parents summer home. Andy proudly walked the whole way up carrying his back pack – and made it about 3/4 of the way down before he needed to be carried. He walked at least a mile – which with his short legs is probably equivalent to me doing 3. A real trooper!

The highpoint of the week was the opportunity to spend several days at Weston Priory, a monastic community in the Benedictine tradition. As the sabbatical time drew near, I realized that although I had put a great deal of effort in making arrangements and plans to prepare the Calvary congregation, I had not taken time to prepare myself for what God desired to do during this time. My visit to Weston Priory was to be a period of quiet and reflection to open myself to God’s work.

I came to the retreat with a list of questions to be answered and specific guidance I felt I needed. Very little of that happened. Instead, I sensed Jesus’ invitation to simply enter into the worship of the community and to listen. The life of the community is formed around times (or hours) of worship & prayer. Morning prayer at 5am (yes, I did get up), afternoon prayer followed by dinner, evening prayer, a light supper, and Compline (night prayer) before retiring. As I entered into this rhythm, I was impressed by the power of a community ordered by worship. Some of the brothers have been part of the community 20, 30, 40 years or more. I thought about how many thousands of times they have chanted, sung and read the daily liturgy. I’m sure that it sometimes becomes rote, but watching and listening, it was obvious that the Word and Spirit of God had deeply penetrated their lives through a tradition that goes back 1200 years. What a contrast to much of contemporary Christianity which thrives on, even demands, the new and the novel. Could it be that we are so looking for the “new thing” that we never are rooted in anything?

Two thoughts flowed from this. First, although not many are called to a monastic way of life, I began to ponder: “What might it look like for Calvary to become a community formed by worship & prayer?” Is there some way in which worship could be more than a “pick me up” to get us through the week, but a means by which our lives and life together is formed and ordered. Not sure what that would look like, but there’s something to consider. Second, the Lord spoke about the importance of being rooted. The psalmist describes one who delights and meditates on the Word of God as “like a tree planted by streams of water.” I have a real sense that God would have both me and Calvary Church use this sabbatical time to become more deeply rooted in an appreciation of God greatness, truth and call. Pray that we all can see the ways in which God is calling and enabling us to be more rooted in Him.