Message from Pastor Karyn for Aug 2023
Embracing the Wilderness. This is the “theme” of my sabbatical this year. I am so thankful for this time away to spend intentional time in the “wilderness” (literal and figurative) to more deeply connect to my self and my passions so that I can navigate the next five years with integrity, joy and strength.
Here is what I wrote to Vision and Leadership in my proposal in early 2022:
We have spent time this Lent (and even before) talking about the wilderness as a place to grow. Pastor Stanton said in a sermon recently, “the wilderness is where blissful ignorance goes to die.” These past two years have been a wilderness of their own, and I have learned a lot about myself and the world around me. I certainly feel like some of my own blissful ignorance died there. However, it wasn’t intentional, I didn’t go into the pandemic with a plan and tools in place. Instead, the pandemic happened to me, and I was just grabbing at whatever tools were at hand to deal with each new thing that came up. I am deeply thankful that I have a bag full of amazing tools and serve a faith community that walked with each other through this. I would now like to try the wilderness with some intention. This looks like going to some of the incredible wilderness space we have in our country to soak up the beauty and peace that they offer and to deepen my knowledge of those who have gone before me, especially the people who fought for civil rights, be it for women or people of color.. Interspersed with these things will be visits with family and friends, conversation with coaches and spiritual directors and daily time for reflection.
This sabbatical, I will be staying stateside, visiting just about every corner of our country. I am looking forward to spending time in Alaska with my best friend (I have never been) and in Upstate New York with my parents. In between, I will be traveling by train to see cousins and siblings, stopping at important historical landmarks like Manzanar (a Japanese internment camp) and the Cesar Chavez National Landmark in Central California, the Rosie the Riveter National Park in San Francisco and Olvera Street in Los Angeles, which I haven’t been to since I was in fourth grade. The trains I will be traveling on go through some of the most wild and beautiful places in our country, and I can’t wait!
After spending time in the West, I will load up my car and travel to the south, where I will spend a month making my way along the Civil Rights Trail. I will be following the route and suggestions of Deborah D Douglas in her book “U.S. Civil Rights Trail”. This book has been very helpful and informative as I have made plans. I will start in Charleston, go as far west as Little Rock and finish up in Washington DC, where my parents will meet me. While the focus of this time is on the Civil Rights Movement, I will be sure to pay particular attention to the women who participated and who continue the work today. Once done with the trail, I will drive along the Harriet Tubman Byway, visit important Women’s Rights movement landmarks, hang out in Hartford, Connecticut, for a few days doing some family research, go to Boston and learn about more incredible women and finally land in Ithaca where we will continue our family research and visit Seneca Falls. By then it will be time to come home and slowly re-enter life again.
I am so grateful that I serve a congregation that makes these kinds of things possible. Thank you for your generosity and your kindness in allowing me three months away. I look forward to when I come back and we can share stories of what God has been up to while we were apart. Again, thank you, and may your fall be filled with love and rest and good work.