MAY 29 - Miscellaneous Presentations

During the time on sabbatical, I have had the opportunity to attend a couple of "miscellaneous" presentations that I thought I would take a moment to tell you about.

REMEMBERING THE HOLOCAUST. On April 30 I went to a community forum called Remembering the Holocaust - An Interfaith Community Dialogue – Why Remember? at Beth Israel Synagogue in Roanoke. We heard from a panel of three people, all of whom had personal stories connected to the Holocaust.

Betty Oberlender is a Jewish woman who grew up in Belgium and lost her entire family - parents and siblings - to the Holocaust. She was taken in and hidden by a woman who allowed her to live in her cellar. She later lived in an orphan's home, and came to the US to live with an aunt in 1947. It wasn't until later that she learned for sure that her family had died at Auschwitz. She has lived in Roanoke since 1991. Her late husband was also a Holocaust survivor and was actually in a concentration camp. One of her most striking comments: "If it could happen among highly educated Germans, it could happen anywhere."

Gary Oberlender is her son, a physician, and talked about what is like to grow up as a son of two Holocaust survivors. It was almost never talked about. He talked about growing up with no grandparents and only one uncle - he described it as growing up "anchor-less."

Pat Bijwaard is a retired Virginia schoolteacher. She is not Jewish (she is Catholic) but her husband was a native of Holland, where his father worked with the Underground. She worked to develop a curriculum on the Holocaust, tolerance and diversity that is still being used in the area, and also helped in the development of state standards for Holocaust education in Virginia.

Before attending the event, I knew it would be Holocaust related, but really was not aware how closely connected these presenters were to the actual events. It won't be long before we completely lose the voices of this generation.

EMOTIONS AND VALUES. On May 21 I went to an author's forum at an area library featuring a retired pastor and author Jack Good. He pastored for years in New York and Illinois, served as a pastoral counselor, and lived for a time in Bangladesh and Pakistan.

He spoke about his book Emotions and Values: Discovering the Source of Jesus' Strength and Influence. Essentially he suggests that our culture tends to de-value emotions. If someone makes a decision and discards their emotions in the process, we tend to think that is a good thing.

In studying the New Testament in the original Greek, he found that several times Jesus expressed emotions very intensely. He suggests that strong emotions are a key to understanding that which we greatly value, and are actually an expression of caring, though they can indeed become distorted.

In his counseling work, he noticed that often people either repress their emotions or "overly express" their emotions. He challenged us to pay attention to our emotions. If I am sad, what made me sad? What value was involved. If I am joyous, what value is being celebrated? If I am angry, what value is being attacked? "Be friendly with your emotions."

He happens to believe that Christianity has de-emphasized the humanity of Jesus. Could it be that Jesus is MORE human than we are - not less so?

In the discussion time, I did ask if he had integrated an understanding of the divine nature of Jesus at this point, but he acknowledged that it was really connected to the human side of Jesus.

THIS WEEKEND I will be participating in a 3-day spiritual retreat. So often the learning events I attend are primarily focused on practical learnings. This will be a change of pace for me. It has held at a Catholic retreat center near Richmond, Va., and will focus on the writings of St. Julian of Norwich, a 14th century English mystic, and her writings which have inspired many. I'll let you know more after I get back!

MAY 20 more sabbatical photos

Working with a group of volunteers, smoothing and extending a nature trail on Poor Mountain


Trying not to make TOO big a mess, while painting with a small group of volunteers at a Methodist camp - Camp Alta Mons near Shawsville, Va.


We have our pictures made with Thomas Jefferson(right), and his friend Charles Willson Peale, just before their presentation of Conversations with Thomas Jefferson. You can see Jefferson's retreat house, Poplar Forest, in the background.


Here we are in front of the amazing Natural Bridge, located in Rockbridge County Virginia, about a 45 minute drive from Roanoke


"Burkes Garden" - a beautiful isolated valley, completely surrounded by mountains on all sides, located in rural Tazewell County Virginia


Just a few of the many beautiful wildflowers


A view of the valley between the James River and the Roanoke River, taken from the Blue Ridge Parkway


A view of downtown Roanoke, taken from a trail near the top of Mill Mountain

MAY 18 Sabbatical Update - music and other events

In addition to the beauty of nature that we have enjoyed, we have also had the opportunity to FEAST on numerous experiences of "human-created" beauty - most of these in the musical area.

On my April 28 update, I posted about the "Sounds of the Mountains" music and storytelling festival, and also going to the symphony concert. Since that time we have experienced several other events, and I will give you a quick update on those.

Conversations with Thomas Jefferson - this took place at Jefferson's retreat house called Poplar Forest. We toured the house, and enjoyed this two person presentation by two actors. One portrayed Thomas Jefferson, and one portrayed a contemporary of Jefferson's, Charles Willson Peal. CLICK HERE for more info.

Mill Mountain Ringers - this is a community handbell group, and they gave their "end of season" concert. Wow - Betsy is the handbell expert - and her jaw was dropping as she saw and heard their presentation. It was amazing. They even did a medley of music from Phantom of the Opera.

Roanoke Valley Choral Society - this is a community choral group, and they did a concert of Broadway show tunes. Since we sing in the Austin County Civic Chorale, it was fun to hear a comparable group. This concert was presented in the gorgeous sanctuary of First Presbyterian Church. Despite its elegant setting in a wealthy neighborhood, I was surprised to learn it is actually smaller in numbers than BUMC. CLICK HERE for info on the chorale. CLICK HERE for a picture of the church.

Southern Routes - this was a concert of traditional Appalachian music, presented by two GREAT musicians - two guys in their 40s who have known each other for many years - Riley Baugus and Dirk Powell. They both played and sang - swapping and retuning instruments during this 2+ hour concert - they played banjo, fiddle, guitar and accordion. These guys were involved in the music for the movie Cold Mountain (which we have not yet seen). The concert took place at the Jefferson Center, part of their Appalachian Jams series - the Jeff Center has a huge, beautiful concert hall, but the concert was in a small recital hall - a very intimate setting which made the presentation very enjoyable. The music is amazing. CLICK HERE for a Youtube video of these two guys performing back in 2008 in another setting.

Local Colors - this is an annual festival in downtown Roanoke featuring various international cultural groups - we stopped by for a short while and sat on the hill and took in some singing and dancing by groups from China, Japan, India, etc. Local Colors also does educational work to promote international understanding. CLICK HERE for info on Local Colors.

Double Organ Concert - the downtown UM church hosts a fine arts series, and for this concert they used the church's pipe organ, and installed a brand new (never been played) electronic organ, and had two Juilliard organists from NYC do a double organ concert. Wow. We arrived 15 minutes before the hour, and barely got a seat. I am so used to sacred organ music, so it was quite a switch to hear double organs performing, among other things, selections from the Nutcracker and Peter and the Wolf. The audience greatly appreciated this. The organists' names were Daniel Sullivan and Isabelle Diemers. CLICK HERE for the flyer about this concert. CLICK HERE for some pics of Greene Memorial UMC. (This is another church that, despite its prominent history and elegant downtown sanctuary, is actually smaller in numbers than BUMC.)

WOW - it sounds like all we have done is soak up music and culture. One of the nice things we like about this city, is that it is very compact, surrounded by natural attractions (mountains, trails, etc.), easy to get around (15 minutes to anywhere!) but large enough to have a huge number of cultural options. It is great to have both an appreciation for fine classical music as well as an appreciation for the traditional Appalachian styles.

Well that is enough for now. It actually got a little warm last weekend (over 80 degrees, that is), but a cold front came through yesterday, and this week looks to be really nice, with 66 for the high today, and a low tonight of 41. We miss you all, and we appreciate your prayers as we reach the halfway point of our sabbatical.

MAY 12 Sabbatical Update - reading, etc.

Let me take some time to update you a bit on some of the reading I have done in the last few weeks. My plan is to read from a variety of sources - not just "preacher books!" I completed three books that were recommended by Dave Ramsey during FPU - and they wound up having a lot of good insights - both personally and professionally.

Two of the books go hand in hand together - THE MILLIONAIRE NEXT DOOR by Thomas J. Stanley and William D. Danko, and Stanley's follow up book THE MILLIONAIRE MIND. You might wonder why Pastor Robert is reading books on how to become a millionaire. Actually, both books do a great job of highlighting the fact that the lifestyle of folks in our nation who have achieved great wealth is often the opposite of what we would expect.

While many of us associate "millionaires" with extravagance and conspicuous consumption, Stanley notes that these behaviors make it MUCH less likely that you will ever achieve wealth. One of the chapters in the first book is titled "Frugal Frugal Frugal," and it makes the point that these folks actually tend to live below their means, and tend not to live in some of the "high status" neighborhoods that actually encourage folks to live beyond their means.

Another Ramsey recommendation was the book GETTING TO YES: NEGOTIATING AGREEMENT WITHOUT GIVING IN, by Roger Fisher and William Ury.

The authors highlight some of the traps folks fall into when trying to negotiate a solution to any problem. The learnings can apply to relationships, to finances, and to almost any sticky situation we find ourselves in. At one point, they suggested that the two parties actually sit on the same side of the table in tackling a problem, as a visual reminder that the two persons are BOTH working toward a solution - not against each other.

One of the humorous stories they tell is about two people squabbling over an orange. Each of them wants the orange for their use, and there is only one orange. Finally they cut it in half as a way to negotiate a solution. Sounds good - until you find out that one of them uses the orange peel in a recipe, and discards the fruit, while the other eats the fruit, and discards the peel!

Sometimes there is an even better solution than the most obvious one!

I am also working on the book ONE HOUR WITH GOD, by John Maxwell. Maxwell is a great trainer and speaker, and I always enjoy hearing him. I picked up this notebook years ago, and never got around to beginning it. I thought it would be a good tool for this sabbatical - and beyond.

Each week's devotional and journaling is centered around a theme. The first week's theme is ATTITUDE. (What a great place to start!) Maxwell suggests that one of the differences between children and adults is that as adults, we have more choice about our attitude. He also gives us the important reminder that even Christians can have bad attitudes (with a biblical example being the elder brother in the story of the prodigal son).

The Bible reference for this section is Philippians 2:3-5. This Scripture reminds me that it really is possible to be doing the right thing, but for the wrong reason. Our approach - our attitude - really is important. This Scripture reference begins with this challenging call: "Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit." What a tough assignment. Do NOTHING from selfish ambition or conceit. Needless to say, it has been a great learning experience to spend time with this Scripture.

I have to also share this humorous story that Maxwell shared in this chapter. He tells about a construction worker who opened his lunch box, and angrily screamed, "I can't believe it. Baloney again. I hate baloney sandwiches. This is the fourth time this week I've had baloney. I can't stand it."

His friend says, "Take it easy. Just tell your wife to fix you something else next time."

"Wife?" replied the man. "I make my own lunch!"

Maxwell says that the moral of this story is - MOST OF THE BALONEY IN OUR LIVES, WE HAVE PUT THERE OURSELVES!

MAY 2 Sabbatical photos

A trail alongside the Roanoke River


On a trail near the Blue Ridge Parkway


Walking trail in Roanoke

MAY 1 Sabbatical Update - Personal Habits

Let me share just a bit about how taking sabbatical has affected the rhythm of daily life. My sabbatical is not oriented around an academic project, so it is not like sitting in the library all day doing things. As you can probably tell already, it involves quite a few different types of activity. One of the side benefits has been to experience an entirely different rhythm of daily living.

So far I have been able to focus on healthy personal habits. First of all is the walking. We have walked an hour or more EVERY DAY since our first full day here (Friday, April 23) and so far we have logged about 19 miles in seven days. The weather has been very conducive to walking. Even on the warmer days, it is easy to find a shady trail to walk. The sheer number of trails is incredible. We have also connected to a twice-a-week walking group at a local library. Even though they only walk 30 minute jaunts, it has been really fun to have a small group to chat with while we are walking. We make sure to add an additional walk on those days! (The apartment is also less than one mile from a mall where we could join the senior citizen mall-walkers in case of inclement weather, but we haven't had any of that yet!)

It is going to be really hard to keep this up once we return to Texas since it will almost be July, and I am guessing the pleasant mountain breezes will be difficult to bring home with us.

Sleep is another personal habit. "Sleep, you say? You must be kidding?"

Some of you know that I recently acquired a C-PAP machine to enhance my sleep and prevent episodes of sleep apnea. I knew I snored very badly but had no idea that it was so strongly affecting my sleep patterns. My patterns have greatly improved, but my doctor strongly suggested I increase my nightly sleep time to 7.5 hours or more. At first, that was very difficult for me. It would be easy if I were to go to bed at 10 p.m., but I tend to stay up and work on projects, go through mail and bills, watch TV or catch up on email. If I go to bed at midnight, there is no way I could sleep until 7:30. Just not happening!

On my sabbatical, I have no excuses. So I have been doing a much better job at getting to bed at a reasonable hour. My "smart" C-PAP machine actually logs my nightly time and records it. So I can actually see that I have made progress. (My 7-day average is 7.12 hours - just short of the goal of 7.50. My average before this week has been around 6.21 hours - so that is an increase of almost one hour.) Maybe I will be even more pleasant and clear-thinking by the time I return to Texas!

As you can see, I have not weaned myself from computer use. (I did not have that as a goal, by the way.) I am using it to take notes, to keep up with my diary (including this blog), and also to research further activities and exposures for the balance of the sabbatical. I also use it to keep up with our finances, as the bills do continue to be paid!! I make occasional contacts with the church office back home, but that is a lot easier to do via email than having to make a phone call, and it keeps those contacts very short and focused! I was also trying to keep up with Brahma baseball. As I told someone - I did not take a vacation from sports, and I was surprised to learn about the postponement of UIL activities because of the influenza issues.

One thing I am definitely NOT doing is carrying my cell phone with me - of course we are keeping it in the apartment for general use, but it is really nice not to have it with me when we are walking, etc. I am not nearly as tied to my cell phone as some folks I know (no names, of course), but it has enhanced my sabbatical to leave it behind.

Food is another area to consider. The luxury of time on the sabbatical has made it possible to eat much healthier. We have also enjoyed eating more fresh produce, especially that which we find at the farmer's markets. We are not depriving ourselves by any means, but hoping that my food intake is healthier than I am accustomed to.

Reading. It is great to have more time to read. It is so nice that our apartment has a small balcony that overlooks woods and has distant mountain views. It is very calming to go out there and read. Again, I will post later some updates on my reading, which is both personal and professional in nature. I am also enjoying having some time to do Bible reading which is not project-oriented (such as reading the Bible to prepare a sermon). I will also soon begin a very focused Bible and prayer notebook called "One Hour with God."

Because of the length of the sabbatical, we are continuing some normal activities - shopping, fun outings, watching DVDs, etc. (We are, however, making sure the TV stays off for the vast majority of time.) I am looking at some options for incorporating a more focused spiritual retreat within the time period of the sabbatical. I'll let you know how that works out.