A Sabbatical Adventure: Getting From Here to There and Back Again, by Rev. Michael McGee, Feb. 28, 2010

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"A Sabbatical Adventure: Getting From Here to There and Back Again,"

         So, there I was boarding a Greek ferry near of Athens. My son, Galen, and I were leaving early in the morning for the island of Paros, about a three hour journey. As we sailed out of the bustling harbor, the eastern sky began to turn pink over a mountain range, and then suddenly the sun started to rise, sending its long rays across a bright blue sky, the rocky mountainside, then out across a still, turquoise sea until it reached us. For a moment, I feared the ferry would tip over as most of the passengers rushed to that side of the boat to gaze at the spectacular sight and take photos. I watched their faces light up with pleasure, everyone a miniature sunrise greeting the larger one.

         That's one of many memories I have of these past six months I've been on sabbatical. What an adventure it's been! It's impossible to tell you in one Sunday all that I did, all that I learned, and all the ways I've changed. It's all so fresh I'm not even certain myself. But I will be sharing bits and pieces of my adventures during these next few months, so do stay tuned.

         When I say I've been on an adventure, I mean more than it was fun and exciting. A true adventure is an exploration of new lands, ideas, and people. An adventure implies taking risks for the possibility of finding something new about ourselves and the world.

         In the words of Helen Keller, “Life is either a great adventure or nothing.” And I like the way J.R.R. Tolkien put it in “The Hobbit”: ““Remember what Bilbo used to say: It's a dangerous business, Frodo, going out your door. You step onto the road, and if you don't keep your feet, there's no knowing where you might be swept off to.”” I believe that life is the adventure of having a limited time on this earth to find meaning and purpose to our existence. We are not here to simply hang out, to spend our days watching TV or making and spending money or collecting as much stuff as we can. The greatest of all adventures is to grow a soul, which means to open our hearts wide to love, forgiveness, courage, and joy. Am I right?

         I know some of you are asking: how do I rate this time to go off to grow my soul, right? As appreciative as I am of the opportunity, sabbaticals are as much for congregations as ministers. OK, almost as much... Ministers take this time to grow our souls so that we can better help you in growing yours. To fill the spiritual wells of others, we need our own spiritual wells to be overflowing. And to fill our wells, we need adventures that challenge us to learn, to grow, and to deepen our spirituality. And – what a deal! – in return you get back a new minister – or at least one who has been renewed, refreshed, recharged, reinvigorated, and is ready to re-engage in this exciting adventure of Unitarian Universalism.

         I know you folks haven't just been sitting on your duffs the last six months waiting for me to return. As my spys have told me, you've accomplished a great deal. You are not the same people or the same congregation you were when I left. You've grown our church while I was away, and some of you have had significant changes in your personal lives as well: illness, the death of a loved one, a new life or love, a job lost or found. I look forward to hearing about your changes in the days ahead, and I hope you will contact me if you would like to share what has been going on in your life.

         I've changed in a number of ways too. First of all, I'm smarter! Can't you tell? I had four primary goals for my sabbatical, and the first was to renew my adventure of ideas, as Alfred North Whitehead called it. When I'm in the midst of ministry, it's difficult to find the time to keep up with the intellectual currents of the day, so I wanted to broaden my knowledge, insights, and wisdom.

         Besides reading a good number of books – and what a pleasure it is to have the time to read books I love – Terry and I spent a month at our beloved Chautauqua Institution in upstate New York where my IQ, as well as my happiness quotient, seems to go up several points every time we visit. Usually we're there for a week or so, but having an entire month of listening to lectures, concerts, worship services, and much more, was like dying and going to heaven.

         I was also the UU Minister of the Week for the UU Fellowship at Chautauqua, which I always enjoy. For their Sunday worship, I brought back to life Rev. Joseph Priestley, an infamous Unitarian politician, scientist, and minister during the American revolution. Thomas Jefferson, another hero of mine, along with some of his compatriots from the Williamsburg Heritage Society, were visiting Chautauqua that week, sharing with us the spirit of revolution in their day. A special thrill for me was to have a conversation with Mr. Jefferson in which we talked about his Unitarian beliefs and his close friendship with Joseph Priestley. I also reminded him of his optimistic claim that no young man of his day would die before becoming a Unitarian. Patrick Henry, who was also present, commented that Mr. Jefferson had a habit of making such hyperbolic statements after visiting the local pub.

         Another goal for me was to travel, and boy did I travel. I've always believed that the adventure of travel is the best education anyone can receive, giving us the chance to learn from a wide diversity of other cultures and perspectives. In the words of Mark Twain, “Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness.”

         I spent a month in Europe seeing places I've never been, including Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, Switzerland, and France. I visited amazing cities, including Amsterdam, a city of bikes, Paris, a city of lights, and Cologne, a cathedral city, and many small towns and villages as well. I also traveled around Greece, exploring the ancient sites of Athens and meandering around the islands of the Aegean Sea. And Terry and I have just returned from New Zealand, where we toured the country and witnessed one of her novels being made into a movie by a German television company; what a thrill that was!

         One of the most memorable places I visited was the Anne Frank Museum in Amsterdam, located in the factory where she and her family hid from the Nazis for two years before she was discovered and executed. How many of you have been there? To see the tiny rooms and to hear again her tragic story moved me to tears. And to glimpse her courageous spirit was inspirational beyond words. “How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world,” she wrote. I wish she could see how her diary has become one of the most influential pieces of literature around the world.

         A third goal of mine was to nurture my family connections, which for me was an adventure of love. Ministry is not a profession conducive to spending a lot of time with family, so this was an opportunity to strengthen my ties with the people I most love in the world. I spent time with our four children and their families in Cleveland, Charlottesville, and Asheville. And I traveled to Florida to visit my three siblings and their families. I re-discovered how important family is to me, how they nurture me, challenge me, and sometimes drive me crazy.

         An event I will never forget took place during the Thanksgiving holiday which Terry and I spent with my extended family near Gainesville, Florida. It was a joy to be with my siblings again, but we especially wanted to support our sister-in-law, Lee, who has advanced cancer, knowing that this might be our last chance to see her. The day before our Thanksgiving feast, Lee made a special request: she wanted to be married! She and my brother Pat have lived together for over twenty years, an old married couple in all of our eyes. But she wanted a ceremony, a commitment, and a celebration, and all of us – including Pat – were only too happy to oblige. So in twenty-four hours the Lewis and McGee families scrambled around to find flowers, a wedding cake, and a ring. Their dog, Gonzo, made the perfect ring bearer, a niece was thrilled to be the flower girl, and there was no problem finding a minister.

         Just as the sun was setting over the small lake where they live, Lee's father escorted her out of the house to the tune of her favorite song, “Desperado,” by the Eagles, with the flower girl spreading rose pedals before her. No bride could have been more beautiful. Pat stood beside me with a big grin on his face as Lee slowly made her way with the help of a walker. Smiles and tears were abundant. Halfway through the ceremony a family of three sandhill cranes flew across the lake into the sunset, calling out their blessings. Afterwards twenty-one of us had a grand Thanksgiving feast, giving thanks for the love in our lives and the precious time we have together. It was a Thanksgiving and a wedding to remember.

         My fourth goal was to deepen my spirituality. I believe that living a spiritual life is the grandest of all adventures. You can travel around the world, but if you have not journeyed into your deepest self and explored the geography of your soul, you have gone nowhere. The joy for me was to have the time to spend on my spiritual practices and to reflect on my life and on the mystery of life itself. We all need the time to step back from the busyness of life so that we can appreciate the beauty around us and reflect on the spiritual challenges of forgiveness, grief, justice, and happiness.

         From that depth of reflection we then grow our connections to each other and the world. One of the connections I rediscovered was to nature, this glorious world around me that nurtures my spirit and enlivens my imagination. In Greece, I sailed the sea and wandered across majestic mountains. On Sanibel Island in southern Florida, I stalked the herons, osprey, and eagles, I followed the tortoises and alligators, and I hiked, biked, and kayaked through the unique landscape of waterways and swamps. In New Zealand I traveled along a rugged coastline where seals, penguins, and dolphins frolicked. And in Arlington, Virginia I experienced a side of nature that wasn't so inspirational, as I dug out of two blizzards!

         I thank you again for giving me this time to take an adventure of ideas, an adventure of traveling, an adventure of love, and an adventure of the spirit. In return I would like to give you the same opportunity to take a sabbatical adventure, not to Europe or New Zealand unfortunately, but to the Unitarian Universalist Church of Arlington. This is an adventure that gives you the opportunity to learn from the greatest teachers in history, to travel to places like New Orleans and Guatemala to help change the world, to open your hearts in compassion and love for those closest to you and on the other side of the planet, and to experience a spirituality that will help you find a deeper purpose and meaning in life.

         May this adventure be in the spirit of these words by Annie Besant, "Never forget that life can only be nobly inspired and rightly lived if you take it bravely and gallantly, as a splendid adventure in which you are setting out into an unknown country, to face many a danger, to meet many a joy, to find many a comrade, to win and lose many a battle." May we take this challenging and joyous adventure together. So may it be.

         Embracing Meditation:

         Spirit of Life, Source of Love,

         We hold in our hearts those in Chile who are struggling to survive yesterday's earthquake, as well as those in Haiti who still suffer so greatly from deprivation and grief. May our eyes always be open to the pain of others, and may we be willing to help heal and give hope to those who need it. May we also take a time out every now and then when life is overwhelming and we don’t see a way out.

         Help us to realize that if we don’t take “little Sabbaths” of fallow time when we can watch the grass grow, sit on a hillside, or stare out the window daydreaming, there is a deeper intelligence that will not come forth. May we learn to slow down our racing rhythm, and pause to get in touch with a slower and deeper cadence that moves within us, a beat that is in pace with Life itself. Let us take a little Sabbath now as we open our minds and hearts to the place of quiet, to the silent prayer for the healing of pain, and the soft, gentle coming of love. Amen.

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We Welcome Back Rev. Michael

Clerestory Choir Sings: "This is a Promise"

Part 1: A Sabbatical Adventure

Part 2: A Sabbatical Adventure

Native American Offertory

Benediction-Native American Music Postlude