Post Trip Musings

Well, I've been in a funk, so I haven't written anything. And I've left out some of the good parts of my trip. My sermon went well in my sponsoring parish. I've decided I don't like preaching for seminarians. They have a whole different expectation than normal people in the pew. At the 8:00 service I was just a little tentative with the sermon, but at the 10:15 I preached the hell out of it, if I do say so myself. Unfortunately my church is having a difficult time at the moment, so there was a lot of stress during my visit. But I did have lots of yummy crab, and it was great catching up with everyone.

I left Norfolk and spent the evening with my good friend Robin. We had hours of talking and catching up. I've already written about the Peaks of Otter and the noisy neighbors. The mountains were beautiful. If I hadn't been so exhausted by then, I would have enjoyed it more. I went on a lengthy hike straight up a mountain and was disappointed to find no view at the top. As I hiked along, miserable and aching from the strenuous climb, I started composing a post about how much I hate the line about the journey being the important thing and not the destination. The journey up that mountain had nothing fun about it. It was too steep for me, and the only thing that kept me going was the thought of the reward of a view at the top. I even sat down and cried halfway up the mountain and told God that the mountain felt like seminary and I wasn't sure why I was attempting either one of them. When I had climbed for an hour and 45 minutes, I started back down. Just before getting to what I thought was the edge of the top, I clambered over some rocks, and holding on for dear life, I was able to look down at the magnificent view below. I took some pictures that I'll post whenever I finish the roll. (Still using an old-fashioned camera.) It was a great view, even if it was scary to hang onto rocks while looking. When I heard thunder, though, I decided it was time to head back down.

That night I stayed in Charlottesville with my friend, Katherine. We had a great time, and I slept well for the first night on the trip. The next day found me driving through some blinding rain to Berea, KY to visit seminarian friend, Janey. We had a great dinner and toured the Berea campus. By that time I could hardly walk because of the muscles I had pulled during the mountain climb. We laughed a lot as I hobbled around.

Although my trip exhausted me and seems to have taken reserves I didn't know I had without replenishing them, it was great to reconnect with old friends and to visit with people from the church that has raised me up to this ministry. It's so easy to forget what I'm doing here, but it was nice to be reminded of that supportive community back home.