Thinking about God while keeping my feet (& wheels) on the ground!
Georgia Bound!
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Got up this morning and walked around down by the marsh. Needless to say it was beautiful. After I broke camp, I loaded up. Not liking the look of the hazy sky, I put the rain covers on the bags. Wet luggage is something that I learned how to deal with the hard way in 2017. I took off for Georgia headed to Kingsland which is south of Savannah.
I road to Mt. Pleasant and decided to have breakfast. I met up with Jim Brown who recently moved to Mt. Pleasant from Greeneville, TN and was a member of St. James. We chatted over breakfast and enjoyed some coffee. It was great to see him again.
When I got to West Ashley, I stopped for gas and it started to spit rain. (Glad I covered the luggage!) I donned my rain suit and off I went. The whole ride was periods of wet, dry, rain, wet, rain, dry, rain (you get the picture).
I was able to connect with another friend from my past, Amy Cadawader and her family. Amy and I have known each other for at least 53 years. From elementary school on. We’ve kept up over the years. The last time I saw Amy and her family was 2015 on a vacation to Florida when I came through Kingsland. They picked me up for dinner after I had a chance to dry off, have a much needed shower, and change. Seafood! Yummy, coastal, Georgia, seafood!
I’ve said before that this sabbatical is about re-connections and relationships. It’s not just about reminiscing about the past. I am intentionally connecting with folks, who through the years have supported me, prayed for me, cried with me, laughed with me, helped me, as well as people who I’ve influenced, prayed with, cried with, laughed with, etc.
As followers of Jesus, we are “communal,” which means our relationships with one another matter to the point that our faith depends on it. I’ve heard it said that people are in your life for a reason, a season, or a lifetime. Many start out as reasons for a season, but often end up lifetime connections. I cherish these connections in my life. They give me great joy.
This past few Sundays, we’ve heard the bulk of the farewell discourse in the Gospel according to John. (Chapters 14-17) Jesus prays… “As you Father, are in me and I am in you, may they (speaking about his disciples / followers) also be in us, so that the world may believe that you sent me.” As believers, we are part of one another in Christ, part of the movement or faith community we call the church. We are part that is left in the world to prepare the world for reconciliation, when all creation will be made anew.
Challenge to St. James: Think about creative ways to build long lasting relationships. If we are truly part of one another in Christ, it should be pretty easy to find a starting point. I’ve seen several new faces on Sunday morning. Please make sure that we take the time to get to know them and they get to know us.
Challenge to Self: Continue to reconnect throughout the sabbatical and throughout your life. The people you are connecting with are made in the image of God and you are part of them and they are part of you and you both are part of God in Christ.
When considering my next destination on Monday, yesterday 8/8 I decided to ride to Dodge City, Kansas. Yes, that Dodge City. No, I didn't see Marshal Dillon, Ms. Kitty, or Festus, but I did learn some great history of the old west and how Ft. Dodge became Dodge City and why they called the burial mound "Boot Hill." Dodge City was once home to the great lawmen of the west, such as Bat Masterson and Wyatt Earp. The way I understand it, in the times of the conflicts between the US and Native Americans, the government wanted to deplete the buffalo herds so they invited a hunting "free for all." They thought this would cause the This caused every ragtag hunter within hundreds of miles to decend upon Ft. Dodge. Most of them took a liking to the many saloons. Fights would break out and then be taken to the streets. Someone would end up killed. If they were an unknown or of little means, then they would end up in a mass grave that was called Boot Hill. This was becaus...
I’m not sure the complete reason for the infatuation I feel for the Historic Route 66. When I traveled 66 from Chicago to Santa Monica in 2017, I spoke a bit about the “sacredness” of the road… about how traveling the road connected me to something from the past and something other than myself. I prayed the Litany of Supplication at the 3rd Corner of these contiguous United States, asking God to guide us to peace and reconciliation. One of the main treats of today was meeting up with my classmates and friends, Pete Ince and Bobak Montemedi. It was very cool to get together with them at Ye Olde King’s Head, a restaurant on Santa Monica Blvd. just up from the West End of 66. Pete, Bob, and I graduated from Frederick Military Academy together 40 years ago. With this as the year of our 40th, and them not able to make the reunion in August, I felt it was a real honor to see them. We enjoyed stories of yesteryear and bringing each other up to date with what’s going on in our lives. Like...
Well, I got off to an interesting start. I spent the morning around the house with Kelly. We were watching the weather, hoping that the rain would let up. However, no luck! So, I ended up “rigging for rain.” Full rain gear, covers for the bags, etc… making sure everything stays nice and dry. I dislike riding in the rain, but sometimes you got to do what you got to do. All in all it was a nice ride. Only one unintended “detour” (down a weird mountain road somewhere in backwoods Western North Carolina) but I quickly got back on the right track. The more I rode, the more the rain became virtually non-existent. It cleared up the closer I got to Salisbury, NC as I headed to my Son Kyle and his wife Kara’s house. About 80 miles out I stopped and took off the rain suit. Today, I’m thinking about fears. So many have approached me when preparing for the trip, scared for me being out there “on my own” on the open road. Fear is natural, we need fear sometimes to keep our selves from d...
May 3, 2022 Considering the evening before, we woke up late. We made another 1/2-mile trek down the hill and 1/2-mile back from to camp to get water. I can honestly say, drinking filtered water from a mountain stream beats ANYTHING coming out of your tap! We had breakfast and broke camp. Breakfast was a carnation instant breakfast with a coffee pack. It was rather tasty, sort of like a mocha shake. Still very sore and tight from the night before. I slept with my feet elevated, which helped the swelling in my feet. Stretching helped! The pain eased up a bit and we thought we were going to be ok. Extreme ups and downs in the first 3 miles, we felt every ounce of our bodies and the packs we were carrying. We were both starting to hear our bodies saying, “what in the world do you think you’re doing.” After a 1000-foot drop in 1/2 mile down to Horse Gap parking area, and looking at the assent up Sassafras Mountain, which was UP and steeper than we previously went down, we decided...
I now realize that preparation for a long journey is just as important as the journey itself. I have been preparing the trip, getting the gear together, making sure that I have the right amount of the right stuff. Kelly and I were talking the other night, and I expressed my worry about forgetting something. She reminded me that if I continuously worry about forgetting something, I probably will. I have used guidelines posted by other motorcycle riders and campers when making my list, so hopefully that will pay off. I want to be "free" to experience the pilgrimage "by the Spirit," so I think it's important not to plan every segment of the trip. However, I have planned out a general route that begins here in Towson and goes North into New England then across the Northern US to Chicago then down historic Route 66 to California, Up the coast of California and then diagonally back across the US down through the Rockies toward Louisiana then down into Florida and...
We are less than a week out from Ken and I beginning our trek northbound on the Appalachian Trail. I think I have packed, repacked, shaken down, and prepped about 3 dozen times. We've been talking back and forth, getting excited about our journey, talking about food and gear and bears and trees (personal joke). I'm not sure I have many concerns. I am thankful that Ken will be with me. He has always felt like the older brother that I never had. We plan to go slow, listen to our bodies, savor the experience, and enjoy the trip. We have both wanted to do this for a long time, but I'm not sure we ever expressed it to one another. It was just brought up in a conversation about a year ago, so we said, "let's do this!" "Going for it" is something that I have always done in life. If you read the 2017 Sabbatical entries in this blog, you will see that I love adventure. The journey then was epic, and this one, though shorter, will be just as epic. I hope you ...
This past week I’ve been riding the historic Route 66. From Santa Rosa, New Mexico, I crossed into the top of Texas (7/16), then to the middle of Oklahoma (7/17), into the corner of Kansas (7/18). In Texas, I had lunch again at the Midpoint Cafe in Adrian, TX. I ate there in 2017 when I was west bound. The place is full of nostalgia and signs. They are dedicated to keeping the memory of the mother road alive. The “Midpoint” is exactly 1139 miles in and equidistant between Santa Monica and Chicago. In Oklahoma, I crossed myself in Oklahoma City and was invited to spend the evening with the Fankhouser’s again on my way through. The scenery changes quickly on Route 66. Different towns offer different levels of preservation or dilapidation, depending on the circumstances. The landscape goes from high dessert to rolling hills, to flat prairie. Lots of agriculture and small towns. The Americana of yesteryear lurks in the shadows of neon gardens and museums. The “old road” is barely pass...
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