Those who know clergy members know that it’s richly rewarding work in some ways, and soul-draining in others. Pastors have the privilege of being with people in the most incredible moments of life (birth, death, marriage, baptisms, divorce, surgery, etc). We get to share the most exhilarating and most painful parts of life with the people we serve, and it is truly an honor to do so. That’s what drew me back to pastoral ministry after an 11-year administrative position.

But over time, sharing those highs and lows begins to feel like a yoke that’s not always easy to bear. Combine that with endless church meetings and 24/7 on-call hours, and the minutia of ministry begins to overshadow the joy. The best of work situations recognizes the stress (and sometimes pain) that pastors carry on behalf of others, and supports the biblical idea of finding sabbath rest. God rested after six days of creation. Creation needs rest, too. And in rest, we honor the Creator. Winter becomes spring by the grace of God.

So I’m planning a scheduled sabbatical. A couple months of rest and renewal will, I believe, carry me back to daily ministry with enthusiasm and energy that sometimes lags today. There’s a national foundation that provides funding for clergy sabbatical rest, and I’m working through that application with church leaders because the church will benefit from this process too.

The grant suggests we approach this with a question, “what makes your heart sing?”, a question that urges me to spend some time thinking about life priorities. The idea is to focus sabbatical time and energy in activities that delight the spirit. Those things help create rest, because doing what we love isn’t work, it’s restorative.

So what makes my heart sing? Three things, primarily. Spending time with my adult children. Travel. Photography. And I’m mulling over ways to use all three lifesongs for sabbatical rest.

I’m considering some travel with my kids. And then another trip, on my own, that would allow me to develop new photography skills while traveling in a foreign country with a master teacher. All three goals met. Yet it’s not so easy to arrange when life is so fluid.

It’s all still in planning stages, but I hope soon to present my plan to church leaders for their blessing. And after the sabbatical months, planned for 2013, I look forward to opportunities for sharing my learning and new energy with the congregation I love. I hope, should my heart sing, that the church will pick up the song.

I find the work of Hong Yi amazing. The Shanghai-based artist uses coffee cups to create portraits that are both true and beautiful. She’s a beautiful  young woman whose blog also shows her creating art with a basketball, with sunflower seeds, and with chili paste on a plate.

I believe that every day is a gift from God, and I’m happy to share some part of my life journey with you.

In India, I saw people with cell phones all across the country, in huge cities and in rural villages.  Cell phones are relatively cheap to purchase and operate in India, and there are over 12 major service providers.  I’m not sure if it’s the competition that keeps things cheap, but, whatever the reason, it makes for an affordable means of contact for millions there, even the poor. Still, the data is stunning:

48 million people worldwide have cell phones but no electricity, often charging their phones with car batteries.

Created by: MBA Online

During my weeks in India, food became something to think about several times each day. As a traveler, you don’t always know where your next meal will come from, or what it will contain. There’s an element of surprise to it, and more than a little trust involved. There was certainly no lack of food for us and, despite more walking, I came home two pounds heavier than when I left. Food was given generously and graciously with a lot of attention to our Western tastes.

In homes and in restaurants in India, there’s an intentionality about food; real planning is involved.  Meals there consisted of smaller portions, but more dishes.  It wasn’t uncommon for 10-12 items to be placed on the table for each meal: salads, a variety of breads, curries, fruits, rice, sauces, vegetables, and potatoes…and that’s just for lunch.  Breakfast and dinner had similar quantities and varieties of items.

Food is eaten with the hands in India, as it is in many places. That’s more than a little disconcerting to us who are used to forks and knives. Meats are pre-cut into bite-sized pieces, often covered in gravy–some spicy, some not–to be mixed with rice by one’s fingers. There’s a lot of movement on the Indian plate with diners constantly mixing and moving items around with their hands. I tried their method and used my fingers for a couple of meals, but I was rather sloppy and it was clear that I’m much more comfortable with steel utensils to deliver the goodies to my mouth. But there’s something basic about using one’s hands. Somehow the experience ties a person to the food they are eating. Dinner is more organic, not in the sense of being “pesticide-free”, but in the experience of eating with one’s whole body.  The hands and eyes experience the temperature and the texture of the food before the tongue ever tastes it. There’s a sense of integrity about it all.

There’s much less manufactured food, too, as most dishes are from scratch ingredients and fresh produce. We had pineapple right out of the garden; papaya and mango, tomatoes and guava from the back yard. There were more varieties of banana than I could count, and figs and pomegranates and coconuts everywhere. Chicken and lamb often come from one’s own village.

The Indian palate is vastly different from the American one. India is the source of many spices, and dishes reflect the richness of those flavors, some familiar and some exotic.  The American diet seems terribly bland and flavorless to Indians, I was told. It seems to me that Indian food is full of opposites: fiery hot curries with a side of cold plain yogurt to reduce the inflammation, tender meats and crisp salads, well-seasoned lentils with plain rice, salty fried breads cooked with biting black pepper, and for a finishing touch, sweet, creamy ice creams and puddings. I tried it all and then some, so I guess I’m lucky I only brought two pounds back with me.

I like the English tradition of afternoon tea in India, with the hot beverage (whether coffee or tea) steeped darkly and mixed with steamed milk and a generous helping of sugar.  There are always cookies (“biscuits” in the English parlance) with tea. Often potato chips or a piece of cake showed up at tea time, too.  I was reluctant at first to have hot tea in the 95-degree heat, but our hosts were convincing that a hot beverage in the afternoon actually helps the body handle the heat better.  There’s mid-morning and mid-afternoon tea.  Evening dinner was often after 8 p.m.  Lunch tended to be the heavier meal.

Getting home, I was desperate to return to my bland daily bread: dinner was a ham sandwich, some overly salty Cheetos and a glass of milk. No sign of any spice anywhere. My tongue needed a break. But damn any diet, my sandwich had both cheese and mayonnaise. I’d been craving dark chocolate and ate most of a bar before I collapsed from jet lag.

The other thing about food that’s on my mind is the inequitable distribution of it. I saw women in India cooking a pot of white rice over coals, throwing a few leaves and chili peppers in the pot for flavor. They were cooking on the hospital grounds for themselves and their patients, and rice and a few veggies were all they had. I watched children eating rice three times a day, the only variation a few lentils thrown in the pot. I saw farmers who struggle to raise enough rice to feed the people of their village. And I throw away more food than I can ever justify.  Supermarkets here look like palaces of gluttony. There’s too much food in my country and my part of the world, and not enough in other parts.

Doesn’t it seem right to share? On getting back to my duties at work, it’s my pleasure and responsibility to guide our congregation to do something about hunger during the Mission:1 program this November. My time in India has prepared me and opened my eyes to some of the realities of food injustice.

Food is something that we all share in common, but is distinct to each of our cultures. The way we produce, distribute and consume food is crucial to our shared future, and the unhealthy imbalance of food scarcity in the developing world and food over-abundance in the developed world is unsustainable for us all.

May God bless us with a spirit of sharing, not because the hungry of India need our handouts, but because we wealthy people have a need and a responsibility to give.  Resources like food are meant for the sustenance of all God’s people.  It’s wrong to keep more than our fair share.

I’m generally not a big believer in the idea of God testing us, but if there is a test, it might be this one: God gives food to sustain us, and when some have enough and more than enough, perhaps its an examination to see if we will selfishly hoard the blessing, or if we will help others be blessed.

When we help others, Jesus told us, we are participating in the kingdom’s work. May we be found faithful with our food.

• ate breakfast crepes filled with freshly grated coconut
• toured two housing rehabilitation projects for victims of the 2004 tsunami (photo left)
• visited a mass grave where hundreds were buried after the tsunami in which 225,000 died
• enjoyed fresh coconut milk and  banana cashew bread made by the rehab villagers who welcomed us by anointing our foreheads with Indian spices and placing on our shoulders ceremonial shawls
• watched women make rope from coconut fiber
• drove through acres of rubber trees, mango groves, coconut palms, and banana trees
• prayed with the residents of an HIV-AIDS home
• were serenaded by students at the community college run by the Sisters of Notre Dame (who also have Chardon, Ohio connections)
• enjoyed modern and folk dancing and singing from a group of nursing and engineering students and shared a meal together with them and our host family.

Tomorrow morning we depart the southern tip of India for a day in Mumbai, more commonly known as Bombay.  I’ve been asked to preach there on Sunday, then we’ll have a final afternoon of touring before departing for home.

• spent time with the 200 children of Family Village Farm orphanage, including beautiful Devi, the girl our church sponsors.
• rode the school bus with the community children who attend the King’s Matriculation School to see their homes and villages, most of which are thatched roof huts
• cut the ribbon for the opening of a new dormitory for a rural nursing school
• received gracious honors from several villages we visited to give support and encouragement to community projects like wells for irrigation
• met a young man with physical challenges who has recently completed his B.A. degree because of a Global Ministries scholarship and who plays on the state cricket team.
• drank coconut water from a green coconut and ate the gel-like “meat” to provide electrolytes to our diet
• visited the Christian Medical College and several rural hospitals made possible by the vision and support of Christians around the world
• preached at the Good Shepherd Church in Chennai on Sunday where the overflow crowd watched on closed circuit television
• ate amazing foods that I can barely describe, much less identify
• saw beauty in some very unexpected places.

I’ll try to post some photos, and next time I get internet access, I’ll give a bit more description. Our group is doing well…it’s been a very demanding trip, and worth every effort.