You know the feeling. It’s time for a vacation or at least some different scenery. It’s time to access where we are and where we are headed but we are simply too exhausted to expend the energy and – besides – there’s laundry to do.
I’m just back from a week of vacation and then then ten days of study leave, and I needed it like nobody’s business. On the last day of vacation on our way to Dublin for time with my clergy group, HH and I visited the Imperial War Museum in London. This is not my usual thing, but The Holocaust Galleries drew us in for both historic and current reasons.
On our way out, we saw a section of the Berlin Wall pictured above which was painted by Jurgen Grosse (aka Indiano) and it occurred to me that every one of us needs to change our lives in some ways. We list resolutions that fall away. We listen to podcasts that coach us into altering our routines.
But what builds resilience for the long haul of life requires stepping away – taking a vacation, a sabbatical, a period of study leave. This is one of many reasons that my denomination requires both study leave and sabbatical – to reset and re-discern how we are living our lives.
Too many of my colleagues use both study leave and sabbatical to continue the slog: write a book, outline future sermons, catch up on emails. This is not replenishing behavior.
What I’m not saying: that there is no learning allowed during time away.
What I am saying: time away gives us the space to learn things we’ve not considered.
I learned too much over the last ten days to share it all in one post, but in a nutshell I learned/was reminded that:
- Every SS member had to swear an oath to Hitler that they would give their lives for him. (The Holocaust Galleries)
- The peace center Corrymeela in Ballycastle was so named because it meant “hills of harmony” until someone with better linguistic chops noted that it actually means “crossroads of lumpy places.” (Better.)
- Most church conflict involves indirect actors taking over the story so what we are fighting about isn’t even real. (Seriously – this is life-changing for those of us who do mediation.)
- The rocks on the Giant’s Causeway look like someone cut basalt into hexagonal shapes and stacked them into columns. There are only two other places on earth with that kind of geological formation and they are all connected to each other underwater. (Cool.)
- “Conversion is the key to peacemaking,” said the global treasure Padriag O’Tuoma (where we sat in his flat and fan-girled.) More about this later.
- “Our job as pastors is to teach God’s people how to be good neighbors,” said Bill Shaw, Executive Director of The Duncairn Center in Belfast.
- A country (and its leaders) who confess past injustice are not “woke” or “agitative.” They are peacemakers. David Cameron in 2010 to the House of Commons confessing that the events known as Bloody Sunday in Belfast when British troops killed 14 unarmed protesters who had been accused of being terrorists: Mr Speaker, I am deeply patriotic. I never want to believe anything bad about our country. But the conclusions of this report are absolutely clear. There is no doubt. There is nothing equivocal. There are no ambiguities. What happened on Bloody Sunday was both unjustified and unjustifiable. It was wrong. (Take note patriots.)
- Derry Girls makes more sense to me now.
Also – the lens of an iPhone is better than the human eye when capturing the Northern Lights.
We can change our lives but it involves stepping out of our usual routines. And this builds resilience my friends. It’s almost summer. Take some time to change your life.
Image of a graffitied section of the Berlin Wall painted by East German artist Jurgen Grosse/Indiano (1989-1990) at the Imperial War Museum in London.