What Does This Blog's Title Mean?
The theme of my sabbatical and the title of this blog is "Stranger, Pilgrim, Guest." A priest spends a lot of time being The Host (also, a nice play of words on the Host, or the bread of the Eucharist).
I serve as the host of Sundays (and glad to!) of worship, of funerals, of weddings, of meetings, of almost all aspects of church life. But it can get a little tiring. And so, my sabbatical is a time for me to sit on the "other side" of the pew and be a visitor. Or a stranger, a guest, and a pilgrim.
I'll visit places where no one knows me, where people know and love me, and places I'm seeking to know God better.
Also, I call this a "Benedictine Sabbatical." In Benedictine monastic life, lived according to the Rule of Benedict (written in about 640 AD), hospitality is central to a Christian life. At the same time, there is an assumption that we are always encountering life and God for the first time - that we should see things with open eyes and an open heart. The Rule of Benedict has informed my faith life for many years and I want both to deepen my relationship with its history and complexity (Italian historic sites, monastery stay) and to live in the flesh its call to see things anew and to experience hospitality as a visitor... in these three ways:
A Stranger...
on an Amtrak trip, cross-country
at Sunday Eucharists in San Francisco, Seattle, Madison WI, Jerusalem, and Rome.
in California, Washington State, Italy, Israel, and Jordan
A Guest...
of my aunt and uncle in Oakland
of friends in Seattle
of many different churches!
of Holy Wisdom Monastery
of St. George's College in Jerusalem
of some Bedouin in the Negev Desert
of Casa San Giuseppe, the convent guest house where we'll stay in Rome
A Pilgrim...
at Yosemite National Park and Muir Woods
at inspiring Episcopal churches like St. Gregory of Nyssa, Grace Cathedral SF, St. Mark's Cathedral, Seattle
at the monastery where I'm an oblate, testing life in a hermitage for four weeks (or being bored out of my mind?)
in Jerusalem and wilderness places in Jordan and eastern Israel, where Christian monasticism has ancient roots
in Rome: the ancient places, the Vatican, San Egidio, and places of St. Benedict - his hermit cave at Subiaco and his monastery at Monte Cassino
in places we can eat amazing food! (fresh Pacific fish, real falafel, gelato, pasta...)
