Sabbatical

It's beginning to look a lot like Sabbatical time! Tomorrow being June 1 makes it all suddenly very real. It is interesting to note my own reactions as time goes by. Initially I was thrilled to get the time off. Then I went through an anxiety about what am I going to do for 90 days. I must do something important and meaningful with my time to justify being off for that length of time. Like 14 years of dedicated service isn't enough already! Then I began to relax into a more trusting approach to what could transpire if I let Spirit prompt me and see what providence had to offer. Naturally it all fell into place then.

I leave for Kansas City on June 16 to go to the Unity Convention. I am having brunch with Rev. Paul Smith on Monday 17th. I am excited to meet him in person so as to thank him for writing Integral Christianity and Is Your God Big Enough, Close Enough, You Enough? He is really a mystic and a powerful spiritual person and I know my encounter with him will be inspirational and healing for me. My sabbatical begins officially on the evening of June 21st when I fly to Albuquerque, New Mexico. I lived in the Land of Enchantment the second year after I came to the States. So I will be visiting the monastery I lived at in Jemez Springs. On Sunday morning June 23rd I will meet with Flor De Mayo, one of the 13 grandmothers, who I had a very powerful experience with in a workshop at the Parliament of World Religions. This will be a one on one meeting. On Monday June 24th I am meeting Fr. Richard Rohr at his Center in Albuquerque.

Then I go to Christ in the Desert Monastery for a few days out in the middle of nowhere. On the way I hope to stop in Abiqui and visit the Shanti Christo lands and vortex that are associated with The Way of Mastery. After that I head to Sedona to meet up with Bear and Jaap, who did a presentation here at UGC last year. They have promised me a non-touristy tour of the real vortices, which sounds really exiciting. On the way there I might stop off at the Grand Canyon. Then I head home in time for the 4th of July to Grass Valley to enjoy the river and other local relaxation spots for a while. This will end the first stage of my sabbatical time.

I will keep you informed of the next part in a few weeks. In gratitude for this great gift.

Rev. Jerry