Witches Rock

Witches Rock Surf camp in Tamarindo is literally right on the beach! The picture in this entry is from my room. This is a beautiful place. We arrived in the afternoon and after getting situated I changed my clothes and went to the beach. It was awesome! I actually surfed for around 2 hours. Pura Vida!

Easter retreat 2012

A number of my colleagues take retreats every year before Lent as a sort of "prep for Lent, Holy Week and Easter." During that time, I'm told, they research and plan services and sermons. I have argued that the real time for a retreat is during the Great 50 days of Easter ... the season of new birth that begins on Easter day. My idea of a retreat is refreshment, relaxation and recreation. So, I'm calling this time away in Costa Rica my Easter retreat. My mission (goal) is to enjoy the beach, spend time with an old friend and be refreshed.

My journey began this morning with an early flight to Atlanta. The picture in this post was taken at about 5:30 this morning in the Jackson airport. At this moment I'm on the flight to Liberia, Costa Rica. The flight time from Atlanta to Liberia is 4 hours, so we should. E arriving in about 2 hours.

I'm not gonna promise to blog everyday or even at all! But, if the spirit moves me I'll post some pictures and reflections from my retreat. Thanks again for the time off! Blessings on all of you!

Easter Thank You's!

It's hard for me to properly say thank you to everyone who did so much during Lent, Holy Week and Easter at St. Columb's. It's hard because there are so many of you and I'm afraid I will forget someone. It was a Holy and incredibly spiritual experience from Ash Wednesday to Easter Day. Whether choir, altar guild, lay readers, lems, teachers, volunteers, staff and on and on ... you all did so much! Thank You! And, thanks for making it possible for me to "finish" my sabbatical a few months late. Watch this blog for details about that experience.

Last Epiphany

I always struggle with the scripture for this week.I don' know why. It's really great stuff with a great theme, transfiguration. All of us have seen others change in dramatic ways. We watch our children do it as the years go by, we watch ourselves do it simultaneously. Maybe my struggle is the fact that change and transfiguation are an ongoing part of life. Kind of life death and taxes ... it can't be avoided. Just for simplicity sake I'm gonna use the words change and transfiguration intechangeably.

Change scares people! It scares me. As times change and years go by you can't help but pine for the good old days. Everything is different. Everything looks different. Our cars look different. Our homes look different. Our Church looks different. We look different! Jesus was there at the top of the mountain with a couple of his close companions. Suddenly in the midst of their time away everything looked different even Jesus. The disciples came to see him differently and know his divinity more fully. That particular change was a real good thing because they came to finally understand that God's love was being delivered to the world in the form of a humble human being.

We have 4 more days till Ash Wednesday comes and leads us into Lent. During these days consider the changes that God might be calling you to make in order to serve and know him more fully. When we open our eyes to the love of our lord He looks different and so does everyone else.