I’ve reached that point in travel and time zones, intensified by last week’s illness and subsequent exhaustion followed by a Sunday IV Advent/Christmas Eve, where I no longer really know when I am. On the positive side, seeing Laura, Si, Thomas, and Lydia (in Indy) and Nate (in New Haven) has refreshed my soul and reminded me what splendid adults our next generation have grown into being; and I’ve been sleeping like nobody’s business, often for eight hours or more, which [imaginary] constant readers will recall is highly atypical of me. And violent digestive illness does cut down on the holiday weight gain, though in a very unpleasant way.
Today we leave New Haven and strike out for Mount Desert Island, where we’ll catch up with the Greatest School Teacher in the USA Pippa and her partner and their dog Goose. It’s a long stretch, but Maine must be honoured, and we will see Margaret’s sister Jeanne and their mum, and stay with old-time undergraduate pals Helen and Marc. I’m not sure of the day of the week, and can only guess at the time of day, but that time of life thou mayst in me behold when so many ventures begun early on — family, friends, teaching, ministry — bear fruit and remind me that I could not possibly ask for a more fulfilling, more abundant, more expansive life. With Lou Gehrig and George Bailey, I’m the luckiest, and richest, man in the world. Deo gratias!
And all this, before I even begin my ministry in Abingdon (30 January, 7 PM, plenty of room at St Helen’s)!