Pulled into Nazareth...

We pulled into Pittsfield (aka Nazareth) late this afternoon, but I'm not "feelin' bout a half past dead."  Just rested and renewed.  This was a sweet and gentle time away - the last two plus days without phone or Internet connection at Dianne's family cottage - and it was just quiet, total darkness at night and the gentle beauty of Lake Ontario.  What a great way to bring this time away to a close...
And now it is back to reality: in the last 24 hours my dad was hospitalized and my son-in-law's dear grandmother passed from this life into the next.  Who knows what else has happened in my church community while we were away?  Life is always a mixture of sorrow and celebration, a time to be born and a time to die, yes?  And we've been celebrating the grace of God in our lives for the past two weeks (Dianne's 50th, my 60th and 30 years of doing ministry) so it is only fitting that now we get the chance to spread some of the love and compassion around to others who are hurting.

So we're back in the groove (well, moving in that direction.)  We picked up our old dog, Casey, who was a little bewildered at seeing us at first, but soon burned through his fog to give us a smile and some love - after all, he's 15+ years old so it is only right to give him a little space.  Our house felt like it embraced us gently, too when we started to unload even the garden herbs and tomatoes appeared healthy and well.  So now I need to revise my worship notes for Sunday, set up the sound system at church for our "spirituality of jazz" worship and get to work (next week) on our Christian formation project.   

And let's not forget the Canadian authors I want to read this summer:
+ Steven Galloway: The Cellist of Sarajevo
+ H.V. Nelles: A Little History of Canada
+ Sinclair Ross: As for Me and My House
+ John Ralston Saul: A Fair Country - Telling Truths About Canada
+ Scott Fotheringham:  The Rest is Silence
+ John Farrow: City of Ice

I want/need to start shaping a sabbatical project with church leaders and my musician friends re: a spirituality of jazz, too. So U think the wise one was right when she sang:  "To everything there is a season... turn, turn, turn." Or maybe it was, "Take a load off, Annie!"  At any rate, I am so very glad to be back home.