Mothering Sunday

So yesterday was Mother's Day over here in the UK. Instead of being a fixed date as it is in the US, here Mothering Sunday happens on the fourth Sunday of Lent. According to the BBC:

Mothering Sunday is the fourth Sunday of Lent. Although it's often called "Mother's Day" it has no connection with the American festival of that name.Traditionally, it was a day when children, mainly daughters, who had gone to work as domestic servants were given a day off to visit their mother and family. Today it is a day when children give presents, flowers, and home made cards to their mothers.

History of Mothering Sunday:
Most Sundays in the year churchgoers in England worship at their nearest parish or "daughter church". Centuries ago it was considered important for people to return to their home or "mother" church once a year. So each year in the middle of Lent, everyone would visit their "mother" church, or the main church or Cathedral of the area. Inevitably the return to the "mother" church became an occasion for family reunions when children who were working away returned home. (It was quite common in those days for children to leave home for work once they were ten years old.) And most historians think that it was the return to the "Mother" church which led to the tradition of children, particularly those working as domestic servants, or as apprentices, being given the day off to visit their mother and family. As they walked along the country lanes, children would pick wild flowers or violets to take to church or give to their mother as a small gift.

So yesterday, in church, at the end of the service, we handed out daffodils to all the women in the church. I actually had two kids in attendence (ages about 7 and 3....kids are quite rare at St. Faiths) and they helped me pass them out. We had a ball! Everybody left with a big smile on their face. It was grand!

So, Happy Mother's Day!

Ordination and Calling

It's a strange thing to work for years toward a goal and upon arriving, you realize it's nothing like you thought it would be. That's how I feel sometimes. It's almost surreal to realize that I have arrived to the place where I am doing what I will be doing for the rest of my life. I'm not sure I like it. Part of the problem lies in the fact that ministry in the UK looks nothing like ministry in the US. The other part of the problem lies in the shock of entering life outside of academia. I wonder if my classmates from Duke would express the same sentiment when I say that it seems that we spent so much time theorizing and idealizing the church...talking about what we should do instead of what we could do. And in reality, I know there is value at looking at the ideal so that we have something to aim toward. It's just that I feel so inadequate and unprepared to do whatever it is I'm supposed to do (which I wish somebody would just give me a syllabus for life so I could get on with checking things off...).

All this leads up to saying I had an interview with the Oversight Committee today. It's basically the English version of the Board of Ordained Ministry, only way less intimidating. I must admit some nervousness going into the interviews today. Some of you will remember the disaster that was my commissioning interviews. I had some not-so-pleasant flashbacks as I approached the day's activities. Thanks be to God it was completely painless. I had already filled out the forms ahead of time, they asked me questions I could answer, and were genuinely concerned with how things were going for me and I didn't feel at all like I was being judged. This all could largely stem from the fact that they have little to no influence on my future in ministry beyond the next 16 months or so. Regardless, it was almost a pleasant experience in comparison to last year's debacle. When I left the meeting, I wanted to ask, "Is that it?"

Otherwise, things continue to carry on. I'm learning more and more every day and hopefully by the end of my time in ministry (about 40 years from now), I'll have figured something out. I just returned from a much needed holiday to the midlands and parts of the northeast. We went to a probationers retreat in the midlands for the first part of the week--it was ok. The food was good. It wasn't all that I had hoped it would be. Ministers over here are simply different. They don't require a Masters degree for ministry and one can be ordained with very little education over here. Coming from a very academic setting and a church that places at least some value on educated clergy, it's an interesting experience to engage in theological conversation with probationers who are still in the midst of their training (study). The week ended up largely having two purposes--1. allowing the probationers to gripe about how hard it is to be a minister and 2. allowing probationers to tell one another what great ministers they are. The low point of the week had to be on the first morning when they invited a retired Anglican priest in to tell us the benefits of cooking for one's spouse. That led to an interesting discussion from the single folks in the crowd. When he ran out of things to talk about, he was then invited to talk about retirement--to a room full of people in their first or second year of ministry! In any case, I did get some reflection time in and that felt good.

Following the retreat, I headed north to York (via Lincoln...I had some time to kill) and had a lovely time. I stayed with a minister who lives near the city centre, which was convenient. I spent all day Friday just walking around the city and taking it in. On Saturday, I visited an old house and a ruined Abbey. It rained or snowed the whole weekend I was there, but otherwise, I enjoyed it. On Sunday, I attended a sung Eucharist service in York Minster. That was pretty cool, too. Plus, my host is a Duke alum and was kind enough to surrender his computer for a couple of hours so I could listen to the Blue Devils win the ACC tourney!

So here I am, back at it. Mom and Dad will be here in less than a month, followed by Steve's visit...woo hoo! Plus, I'm going back to Portugal soon, which I'm also looking forward to. Oh, and Easter's coming up as well. I hope you are keeping well. Drop me a line if you get the chance, I'd love to hear from you (except Ronald...I hear from you enough...:) )

Oh, and Go Duke!!

It can't be March!

Discipline has never been one of my strong suits. I often start off with good intentions, but I quickly go astray. Perhaps the season of Lent isn't such a bad idea after all...

For some reason, though, I can't seem to get geared up for Lent this year. I'm so exhausted from February that I'm having difficulty summoning the energy to engage in the intellectual and spiritual rigors of the season. Don't get me wrong, I've learned a lot in February. Some positive things, others negative. At the moment, I struggle to find life balance. Why is it that ministers seem to wear their busy-ness with such pride? 'Look how busy I am! I must be important!' When I first started out, I felt quite guilty when I wasn't overly busy. Why is there such an expectation among both the laity and the clergy? I'd like to change this, but I'm not sure how. I think this is a cultural phenomenon, too. People don't seem to be happy unless they are bouncing off to one thing or another at every waking moment. Makes me wonder, what are we running from?

I think part of my problem with Lent this year is that I feel a spiritual emptiness. There's a lack of serious theological reflection in my life...something that hasn't been missing for the last three years while I studied at Duke. Going back to the busy-ness of clergy, we seldom set aside the time to engage in things theological. When I sit down to read something, I feel guilty because it isn't overtly productive. Yes, I know it has its value, but not with immediate fruit--as a visit or sermon prep or something else might bring.

Well, hopefully I'll take a step back to fullness this next week. I'm off tomorrow on a 3.5 day retreat in Derby followed by a few days in York. I'm looking forward to the rejuvenation that I hope will come with some time away from the circuit and intentional time built into each day for spiritual matters.

Oh, and on a lighter note...here's the car I've been driving the past two weeks. It's a semi-automatic...and oh so ugly! Jenny's car is in the shop and she's too young to rent a car, so she's been driving mine and I've been driving this. I've taken a few trips to the country (sweet sunroof!) which explains the slightly dusty exterior.