Well, the last of the trip items have arrived--the compression socks recommended by my doctor for the long plane flight arrived yesterday. I'm trying them out today to make sure they are comfortable for me. Things waiting to be packed are carefully set out in a corner of our bedroom.
This time next week, if all goes as planned, Liz R. and I will be packed and ready to head to the C&J bus terminal in Portsmouth to take the bus to NYC. This will be just the first leg of our Big Adventure. Once at the Port Authority, we'll find transport to JFK airport and meet up with the rest of the group--25 fabulous women in all. To say I am excited now would be an understatement.... I just hope and pray that COVID, the weather or the unrest in the West Bank don't unravel these plans...
I've been asked by some what I expect to gain from this pilgrimage. Truthfully, I really don't know--and I think that's OK. In my experience, pilgrimage can lead you in unexpected directions, so it's best to hold any expectations you might have lightly. I do, however, have a question...
Early in Advent this year, "Now what?" started rumbling around in my brain... Just before those 4 weeks began last November, I reached a milestone moment in my life. On the 20th, after more than 16 years as deacon, I retired from active ministry at St. George's in York Harbor, ME. It was a truly wonderful celebration--the people in that parish have been such a blessing to me over the 22 years I have been associated with them.
Now I am officially "retired" from everything. Library work. Chaplaincy. All of it. At the moment, I am still in a leadership role helping our Afghan family get a good start in America, but that's beginning to wind down now.
I am not dead yet, so there must be a new "call" out there. When your vow is to serve Christ, and you take that vow seriously, there's really no such thing as retirement. "Now what?" is a question I will carry with me into this pilgrimage, along with my baggage. I am in my 76th year, and don't have quite the bounce in my step as I used to, but I know I still have something to give...
