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It’s 2:18 p.m. on Sunday, July 13th. The Reds are playing the Brewers. Denise and the dog are catching a nap. I’m getting ready to grill chicken tonight. Looks like it might rain.
Tomorrow, my eight weeks of sabbatical are over.
Tomorrow I’ll check my voice mail for the first time in eight weeks. I hate voice […]

Technically my sabbatical isn’t over for another week, and I won’t be working for several more weeks, but I am eager to start writing some of my reflections on this time in my life.
On the last day of Cornerstone, as I finished my last seminar on “Transparency and Vulnerability In Community,” a woman was waiting […]

I’m on the campus of Wheaton College in Wheaton, Illinois at the Ravi Zacharias Summer Institute. Outstanding conference. I am especially enjoying the teaching of Dr. Chris Mitchell doing an overview of the entire Bible.
Our sessions have all been in the massive Billy Graham Center. Part of this building is a Graham Museum, which is […]

I got a letter yesterday that asked how my chaplaincy training was going, which was a nice thing to ask, except I’m not in chaplaincy training or any other kind of training. I added this to my collection of communications telling me that I am resigning my job, joining the Roman Catholic Church and so […]

Home is an interesting concept.
I have a “home” in western Kentucky, but I feel like a stranger there. I enjoyed visiting this week, but I really am like a man from another time and place.
I have a “home” in eastern Kentucky, but it’s very fragile. A few bumps in the road and difficulties, and I’m […]

I’m completing my first week of sabbatical here in lovely Louisville, Kentucky. I want to thank all of you who made suggestions of things to do. I’ve visited many places that you recommended.
I’ve stayed at the Legacy Center on the Campus of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. Accommodations are outstanding. Great bookstore, coffee shop, cafeteria, […]

Sabbatical begins a week from tomorrow. Here are some of my goals. (Goals will vary from week to week depending on where I am. Some weeks- like my week at Wheaton- most of my time is scheduled.)
1. Prayer from Celebrating Common Prayer in the morning and the evening.
2. Extended Scripture reading with meditation and notes, […]

Sabbatical begins in 9 days. I’ll be spending May 19-23 in Louisville (and some more time later in the summer.)
I know most of Louisville pretty well, but I’m always looking for something new and different to do.
Do you know of anything unusual in Louisville I should check out? Coffee shops (with or without wireless)? Good […]

I’m back home from sabbatical orientation and my three days with Eugene Peterson. Thank you Louisville Institute for your investment in my life and your incredible graciousness for these three days.
Last night, Peterson talked about his own sabbatical experiences, which took place 23 years into his pastorate. He took off an entire year, wrote 3.5 […]

It’s am amazing privilege to spent this time with the man who has been a spiritual director in absentia to so many of us. Based on what I’m hearing in this sessions, Peterson’s next two books should be real expressions of his heart. No one anywhere has a more encouraging message on the possibilities within […]

UPDATED: I’m sortof liveblogging the Eugene Peterson/David Wood sessions.
My first step in my sabbatical is a three day orientation here on the campus of the Louisville Presbyterian Seminary. Denise and I are staying in Laws Lodge and we will be hearing Eugene Peterson later tonight.
This is all a very different world for me than my […]