I normally reflect on the weekly collect, but today, I am just not… there. So I will ramble.
Well, for two weeks straight, now, we’ve been back to our home church, and it was beautiful, comfortable, a little sad and utterly strange.
My last Sunday as co-leader of worship, about a year ago (!), was the first Sunday for the new priest (I guess not so new now), so when we left, it was truly a time of shifting gears for the church. And now, as we come, we are here as visitors, “missionaries back for vacation”. My former co-leader has made some changes, and yet much has not changed at all. One of my favorite people is no longer on the worship team, and no one has replaced me on guitar, so it just sounds… different…
I dunno: it’s just an odd, odd experience to be visiting a place that has moved on. I’m glad they’ve moved on – as have we – but there’s just no way to avoid the weirdness of that experience.
We’re between homes (I’ve told people that, far from feeling like we don’t have any home, we actually feel like we have two!), and we have one more year to go in our “Bolivia adventure”. It’s valuable to be on this journey, and it’s totally worth it. But, quite frankly, part of me looks forward to coming back, deciding we’re gonna be in one place for a decade (our daughter starts Kindergarten in a year, and we don’t want her moving from school to school).
Told ya I was just rambling today.
June 29, 2008 at 5:21 pm
Rambling is good sometimes, Tom; but I would say that, being something of a rambler with words myself.
I think I can understand a little how you feel about going back to somewhere that has moved on so much. You kind of lose your connection with things, and it takes a while to realize what it is that’s different sometimes. It is good, though, to be back in that home Church for a while; and I’m sure the people are thrilled to have you with them for a bit.
Very wise to make the decision not to move around too much once your daughter starts Kindergarten. It’s good for them to experience some stability at that age.