Last day

Hard to believe that I have been here eight days and my mini sabbatical is coming to an end. Tomorrow I pack up and leave for Door County where I will spend time with Joanne and David Skidmore, long time friends. Joanne and I were in seminary together, 25 years ago this September. Then I head home on Friday. 

This last day has been restful. As usual I lounged in the morning sun, the cool breeze, with a cup of coffee and some reading. I have been a coach with Faithwalking for the last ten weeks, and today was the final coaching session. So I read the materials and prepared a little mediation that connected the materials to the concerns that my mentees are working on in their lives - issues of self-differentiation as women in the world today. I was particularly focused on Jan Richardson’s book, In the Sanctuary of Women, and her reflections on the story of Eve. Eve - who’s hunger and desire led her to the tree and to the fruit of knowledge. She ate because she was hungry.  This, Jan said, was not the original sin, but the original hunger. The sin came later when, given a little knowledge but no real life experience she hid from God when he came looking for her. Real knowledge, real wisdom comes with experience and the capacity to take responsibility for one’s actions. I wonder what God would have done if, when God called out, Eve had said, “Here I am.” And when God said, “Who ate...” She had said, “I did.” Instead he blamed, and she blamed. This is infantile behavior, but it is part of the process that humans move through when growing in maturity,  Faithwalking focuses on maturity, self awareness, accountability, self-differentiation. 

After reading for awhile I took a long walk along the lakeshore. Here is how it looked this morning:

When I returned to the apartment I made lunch, and joined the zoom call for coaching. After that I read then packed a bit. I meditated, and then the skies darkened and a storm blew in. The air became cool and refreshing. I spent the rest of the afternoon reading and knitting, and packing up a bit more. Tokki, the funny bunny, mr. Tokki-okie as I call him, spent a lot of time out and about today. I have grown quite fond of him and will miss him. I am sure, though, that he is ready to go back home and be with his family. I think he has missed them a lot. (Of course I am assuming that I can “read” bunny feelings, which I cannot). 

Here is that funny bunny Mr. Tokki-okie....

At the moment he is racing through the apartment then sitting in his favorite spot just inside the kitchen door.

I’ve eaten well this week, all food I brought with, and really just about enough too. I’ve exercised. I’ve rested. I’ve read and painted and spent time remembering how to draw, using YouTube videos. I’ve tried to knit but I’ve screwed up the sock multiple times and may have to rip it out, although frankly the mess-ups are hard to see. The flame patterned scarf is coming along just fine. I’ve listened to curated music on Spotify, piano and Neil Young mixes, and classical and more. I bought a Bose Bluetooth speaker at the beginning of the pandemic quarantine and it has proven itself a worthy expense. I’ve watched four movies: Judy, Hamilton, BookShop, and Finding Your Feet (the last two British films). 

So that’s it. A lovely week, in a beautiful place.