Watching the Great Awakening

I am glad that my last two years of teaching at Union are spent living here.  Being a resident of a college campus is hope-filled.  It is quiet here, large here, housing several thousand young people, and young people are unique creatures.  They are trying so hard to be their freed self and the process is deeply, autobiographically nostalgic.  When, after only 18 years of living, one is suddenly freed from all their supervising overlords the resulting choices of freedom can be refreshingly amusing.  From clothing choices, grooming, and the way you walk, talk and look to how you conduct yourself in all manner of life situations; absolute freedom means you are faced with unlimited choices and often leads to radically creative results.  Humanity, at the college level, is wildly unique and continually entertaining.  Freedom will soon enough be bridled with the wear and tear of responsibility but it is a grand thing to watch others having, what will be, one of the greatest awakenings of freedom experiences they will ever have.   

Change Your Drumbeat

America and Americans are becoming less kind.  This unkindness seems to be spreading rapidly.  In the past, if you were going to be unkind you had to be present with those you wanted to be unkind with.  However, today unkindness is carried along in media and devices at an alarming rate.  By this, I mean that media develops antagonistic ideas between us and then spreads those rapidly across our population and creates a certain level of hostility in us.  As our media and devices have become more prevalent in culture so does this unkindness.  It is like we have become a totalitarian culture leading rapidly to fascism, not as a political movement but as a cultural one.  When I was younger peace and freedom were the basic drum beat of culture.  Today it seems to be you must be perfectly aligned with me.  What makes this so unsettling is if you are not aligned then it is not only okay to be unkind to you but necessary to the point of empowered mandates of unkindness.     

I long to be free and be free indeed.  Thank God that’s still possible.  

My Letter of Intent to GO!!!

I left our dorm yesterday having written my retirement letter to turn in to the administration.  As I was doing it I told Betty I was somewhat depressed over the matter.  “Do you not want to retire?”  she asked.  “No!  I love my job, the essence of it, the making of art, and teaching others the love of learning how to make it.  I just don’t know why I should quit something I love.”  I had a troubled spirit.  But the task was at hand and I wrote the letter, tucked it in my briefcase, and got ready to go on our morning ritual walk around the campus.  As we walked out the door the sky soared above and burst forth with light of crystal light blue, the quad stretched out before me in brilliant emerald green and I longed to go, to be free to go.  In that moment God’s peace was mine, the peace of going, going forth freely to go.   To go see, to go explore, to be free to freely go.  And so the year of getting to the starting gate of going has begun and I have penned “My Letter of Intent to Go!!!” 

The Letter

I must write my letter of intent to retire.  It is before me to do.  I struggle to do it because it is my public declaration to quit, to stop, to lay down what I have strived at for 32 years, and on a specific day…walk away.  I am not deluded, I will still be busy and find plenty to do but the official teaching in the Academy of Higher Learning will be closed.  I will most miss the silent halls of early morning, late nights, and long breaks.  Those silent halls allowed me the time to know them as brimming with visionary possibilities, the place dreams were given the greatest chance to come true.  When one walks in those places the power of possibilities is Divinely overwhelming.  To walk away from that will be difficult.       

The Family Circus Comes to Town

My lover is turning 70 tomorrow.  We’ve had a month-long celebration.  Yesterday we surprised her with all our family, 19 and three dogs showing up for a big party. It was all knees, elbows, swimsuits, and food.  We are a partying family, any reason to jump and holler and we are all in.  We are also a crying, praying, and affirming family, every time we get together we find time to become more deeply woven together.  We build altars, tell favorite memories, lift one another up, tightening the ties that bind.  This morning the lover and I woke up alone with one dog.  Time moves on, tent pegs move out but under the big top it is she and me alone but the circus is still 19—the family circus still comes under the big top.   

42 Hours and Home

It is a quiet morning, early and the island's just coming into the sun.  We are vagabonds, my lover and I, wanderers on the earth.  It was one of the many great things she was that attracted me to her in the beginning.  Whether in Appalachia or Greece, we piddle, look around the bend, find a trail or make one.  We are explorers finding our way into adventure.  “The earth is the Lords and the fullness thereof”; we are looking for the fullness.  He does not disappoint, placing it around every bend.  In His fullness we find Him.  

We now must return from our wandering.  It is Sunday morning, we will build an altar, worship together and then begin the long trip home.  Over the mountain on our scooter, a long ferry ride to the mainland, long train to the airport hotel, 11-hour flight to Philadelphia, 2-hour flight to Knoxville, an hour drive to Fair Haven...in 40 some odd hours we will be there.   

Our Altar

we are off

on the plane in Athens

Our welcome home party.  If was so wonderful 
to see them.  

How Great Thou Art

I am road weary this morning, “out on the road for (15)days…” Bob Seger.  We leave Milos today; scooter, ferry, train airport hotel to get us in a position to leave for home tomorrow.  Awoke early after a fitful sleep, never sleep well when traveling deadlines loom.  Sitting with good coffee and Ancient of Days reading His Ancient Word.  I glance up and see the reflection of the sun topping the mountain.  “Peace like a river floods my soul.”  I begin to sing “…when I see the star(s)…how great Thou art.  How great Thou art.”  Who is this Almighty God who loves us so much that He shares one of His stars with us?  How great Thou art.  Yes!!!  God, kind God, how great Thou art. 

On occasion, we would actually pajama hike.

The reflection that caused this writing.