Steve on Sabbatical: Part 5

Saturday, July 3, 2010
Tuesday night our British Airways plane touched down at DIA. After 45 days and nights abroad, it was wonderful to be home – a bit tired, but very grateful for the gift of this journey.

Our last 10 days of travel allowed us mainly to concentrate our attention on two towns. Assisi, Italy – a small city made famous by a passionate follower of Jesus named Francis – sits along a mountain overlooking a lush valley. Old Assisi has retained both its medieval look and small town feel – full of great family-run restaurants where it’s a sin to spend less than a couple hours over a meal. Despite ways the many Francis-sites draw mere tourists, it was not hard to gain fresh appreciation for this amazing man who responded to Christ’s call to declare the Gospel through a joyful embrace of poverty and compassion in the early 13th century. It’s ironic, if not comical or sad, how incredibly vast and ornate buildings were raised to honor a man who worked hard to renounce property and fame. And yet, in many of the sites where Francis encountered Jesus and served, we were given special times of worship – not to mention considerable exercise walking the steep streets and paths!

After a quick visit to Canterbury, we had three days in Oxford, England, staying at a small 16th century Hotel surrounding an equally old pub, to take in this important University town where the likes of John and Charles Wesley, George Whitfield, C.S. Lewis, and J.R. R. Tolkien made an impact on the world and still do. Highlights?

• Visiting where C.S. Lewis lived (“The Kilns”) and taught (Magdalen College and its long wooded path (“Addison Way”) where, in 1931, Tolkien and another friend led Lewis to see that Christianity was “true myth”).

• Worship first at historic St. Aldate’s Anglican Church that has long had effective outreach to Oxford students, along with strong internship and mission programs, and then at Christ Church College’s “Evensong” led by its very traditional men’s and boys choir.

• Time with our Superintendent Rick Mylander’s daughter Maren and her husband Jeremy who just finished an M.A. in international relations at Oxford.

• Blackwell’s – perhaps the largest bookstore in the world.

• And, of course, the pubs!

There were times these last six weeks when Darlene and I wanted to slow the pace, stay longer in various places, and go deeper in relationships with fascinating new friends in Israel, Italy and England:

• like a passionate young Palestinian believer, Zack, who runs a small shop in old Jerusalem;

• like an older Jew named Moshe who owns a store near the famous Western Wall, but would rather dialogue with Christians about Judaism than sell his goods;

• like Messianic Jews we worshipped with one Sabbath (catching little of the their Hebrew, yet aware of Messiah’s presence);

• like the co-owner of Hotel Montreal in Rome who welcomed and helped me and Darlene (“Mama” he called her), starting with calming reassurance after our Taxi driver threw a tantrum because his partner at the airport gave us, in writing, a very low fare;

• like a brilliant young Harvard grad from Brazil, Tamara, we met while touring Rome’s ancient ruins;

• like 83 year old Margaret from Oxford who delighted us with stories while we waited for a bus that never came and then shared a Taxi (“it’s absolutely delightful to be this old,” she declared with a big smile; “I feel like a college student... no responsibilities for anything and you get all these free things!”);

• like Dr. Michael Ward, a chaplain at an Oxford college, who gave us a private tour of C.S. Lewis’ house and with whom we shared a love of this great Christian writer as well as a concern that he not be idolized as especially some American believers are prone to do;

• like all those and many more.

And yet how blessed we are with friends and family in a beautiful place called Colorado! It’s good to be home.

Now, for 23 more days, my Sabbatical shifts to home and family, and especially to unrushed time in God’s presence to reflect on what he’s been saying and showing.

Shalom,

Steve


St. Francis Basilica

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 

 

Oxford B&B

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Kilns

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

CS Lewis' grave

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Inspirations for Narnia

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Blackwell & White Horse Pub