July 2020
If you missed our newsletter in June, you have a hint of what the summer has been like. Like so much in our world right now, it has been vastly different than what we planned. Elizabeth was due to start a three-month sabbatical in mid-June. With all the retreat centers closed, she ended up with a "stay-batical", with no direction appointments and few meetings, but still caught up in the business of the Companions - which is a lot this time of year. She hopes for a bit more rest in August.
The business included the Companions' annual retreat and Mary Magdalene celebration. We couldn't meet in person this year, so three Companions designed a "formation semester" model that we will use for deepening our awareness of the Charism and Covenant, as well as our relationships with one another. We still had our celebration on July 22, via Zoom. Diane, Ernesto, and Lauren all moved from Candidacy to their first annual Covenant Companion commitment, and Shelby Johnson became a Candidate. They were joined by friends and family - and our Board. We have four new Board members. In August we will have an on-line retreat to begin our work together as a new group. We are grateful and excited to have these wonderful people sharing their gifts with us.
And speaking of gifts: Two of our friends have generously transformed our house and grounds this summer. Emilie Trautmann took the bare space under some trees and transformed it into a garden of native plants. With a statue of Mary and a bench, it has become the perfect place for socially distanced spiritual direction and conversation. Tim Sharpe usually works on projects on summer mission trips, but this summer his “mission” has been to upgrade the insulation and features of our sleeping porch/office/direction space/guest room. What began as a simple two-day project has grown as Tim has shared his enthusiasm and skill with us.
Elizabeth and Shane joined Dario and Kaity Reece, a Covenant Group member, to facilitate a conversation on the book and film Just Mercy for the Episcopal Diocese of Nebraska. Our Zoom experience has been invaluable these past months! It was great to sit with people learning about structures and people they had never encountered, and to see them begin to move toward action.
Shane has been doing the usual, plus some extra summer/ sabbatical tasks. She’s enjoyed watering the new garden and the patio plants, and exploring for interesting wood to use in the garden. Both Shane and Elizabeth have been the painters in Tim’s project. Come mid-August, she will begin two months of sabbatical in turn. She will focus on writing, and on deepening her use of the Mastery Foundation tools. In the meantime, she’s trying to stay cool. She will attend the Kaleidoscope Institute via Zoom in early August, before heading to Mercy by the Sea for two weeks: first to direct others in individual retreats, and then to have her annual eight-day retreat.
Our newest Candidate for Covenant Companionship, Shelby Johnson, has had a mind-bending few months. She was in her last semester at Union Theological Seminary in New York when everything shut down and she had to return to her hometown of Kewanee, Wisconsin. She completed and graduated on line, then drove back to New York to empty her apartment. She is now in Kewanee until August, when she moves to St. Paul MN to begin a chaplaincy residency program. And in the meantime, she’s working for her town offices doing grant writing. Just a little change.
More change: Diane took a new job after 25 years. She continues to work in health and education policy, and to serve on the Board of Cristosal. Annie continues her priestly discernment and hopes for full-time work at her hospice chaplaincy job. Ernesto and his wife Susan got a new puppy, and are negotiating over names.
Prayers for you and those you love, and thanksgivings for all you do in this hurting and beautiful world.