Well, second day and we have finally made it to Rhode Island. We got to visit with Aunt Dot and say hi and bye to her. The snow is blowing around today reminding us of what it is to live in winter on the East coast! Bone chilling cold, all my heavy jackets I got rid of thinking I wouldn't need them, ha says winter! The drive down from Milford wasn't bad though. We traveled a little slower because of the drifting snow, but at least it had let up or stopped in places.
The strange part of today had to do with the desk clerk at the hotel in Milford. As we checked out she said, "Have a safe drive home." Now this left me dead in my tracks because where is home right now. I think of Mary and Joseph, looking at the Bible story we are reading from Matthew, where they have to go to Egypt to escape Herod, where was home? Certainly not in Bethlehem, definitely not in Egypt where the Israelites were once slaves, and then finally Nazareth. I cannot help but think of President Imes telling the seminarians who were tied to the old Bangor Theological Campus how church is not the buildings but the people.
Even though we don't have a home in Maine anymore or a home here in Rhode Island where family is and where so many memories exist for me of my first days in college. I attended Barrington College my freshman year before it merged with Gordon. Going past the old campus tonight and Town Pizza brings back so many wonderful memories (Drew I hope you are reading this), but this is not home. And even our home in Poplar Bluff is so new it is a dream, a future of what is to be. So here we are in the in between again, and yet the Holy family lived through this too. Bethlehem and the census or as home in the Matthean version, then Egypt and finally resettling in Nazareth - safety from Herod, even though long dead. A future they could not have envisioned and God was in it all. Where is God with us on the journey and where does He make home? Maybe this is what matters. After all Mary pondered all these things in her heart!
The strange part of today had to do with the desk clerk at the hotel in Milford. As we checked out she said, "Have a safe drive home." Now this left me dead in my tracks because where is home right now. I think of Mary and Joseph, looking at the Bible story we are reading from Matthew, where they have to go to Egypt to escape Herod, where was home? Certainly not in Bethlehem, definitely not in Egypt where the Israelites were once slaves, and then finally Nazareth. I cannot help but think of President Imes telling the seminarians who were tied to the old Bangor Theological Campus how church is not the buildings but the people.
Even though we don't have a home in Maine anymore or a home here in Rhode Island where family is and where so many memories exist for me of my first days in college. I attended Barrington College my freshman year before it merged with Gordon. Going past the old campus tonight and Town Pizza brings back so many wonderful memories (Drew I hope you are reading this), but this is not home. And even our home in Poplar Bluff is so new it is a dream, a future of what is to be. So here we are in the in between again, and yet the Holy family lived through this too. Bethlehem and the census or as home in the Matthean version, then Egypt and finally resettling in Nazareth - safety from Herod, even though long dead. A future they could not have envisioned and God was in it all. Where is God with us on the journey and where does He make home? Maybe this is what matters. After all Mary pondered all these things in her heart!
Rev. Annette, thank you so much for keeping us
ReplyDeleteposted on your journey. We are all anticipating
your arrival with joy in our hearts and praying
for a safe and happy trip. Emily shared your
email with several of us. Carol Mott Morse has
been in Corpus Christi for Christmas and we talk
every night and she was thrilled to have me read
both your blogs on the phone to her tonight. I
look forward to your post tomorrow.
Annette, you might be interested to know that our previous bishop, Hays Rockwell, was from Barrington. He now attends a small Episcopal church in Saunderstown. We ran into him there serendipitously when we visited there while visiting my in-laws.
ReplyDeleteMike M
Sorry I missed Christmas Eve -- I fell behind on my baking(lazy!). Drove by your place on Christmas Day, but I had just heard the forecast and was sure you had left a day early -- Bon voyage!
ReplyDeleteDale