2011 Review, Part II

 May 2011

Mount Frissell CT

Before I finish my assignment in Worcester, I aim to reach the highest point in each of the six New England states. This month saw me tackle my fourth– Connecticut’s Mt. Frissell– once again in the company of a friend. Our shared hiking background and expertise proved useful, as the appointed day brought shrouds of fog barely stirred by faint rustlings of feeble winds and steady gurgles of runoff-swollen streams. Our progress, thanks to the sodden soil, suggested traipsing more than hiking, bumbling through tangled undergrowth when clearer paths towards our goal proved to be submerged under vernal pools. A vital and verdant landscape, hidden in mysterious moisture, may have redirected our steps, yet this realm still ushered us to a peak notable for its memorable insights as well as its geographic significance.

June 2011

Moore State Park, Paxton MA

In a sudden and disconcerting impulse of self-indulgence, I traveled to this nearby park on my birthday for a few hours of quiet reading, reflection, and photography. Falling in the middle of the month, this day and its images mysteriously encompassed the balance and transition that characterized my June, as well as the tranquil fluidity of God’s presence and grace that wondrously surfaced above other perturbations. Somehow this pond, just upstream of a dam and waterfall servicing an old mill, expressed to me both the mysterious marvel of my birth yet also the ordinary spectacle of that given day and its annual remembrance. That’s a tension I’ve been challenged to embrace… humbly respecting the ordinary while also gratefully accepting the wondrousness of my life, my relationships, and my call to deep involvement in the life of the community.

July 2011

WaterFire, Providence RI

After struggling for much of the first half of 2011, my capacity for enthusiasm, creativity, and satisfying engagement with work seemed to suddenly catch fire. A large and complex grant proposal– the first assignment in my new job at Holy Cross– suddenly swept me into regular contact with wonderful professors and administrators, pushed me into various tasks with quick turnaround times, and stirred anew my interest in the workings of higher education. At the same time, various fires sprung up, or were gently stirred, in my friendships. Whether sharing the warmth of their company or feeling the harshness of their suffering– caused by the illness of a relative, the loss of a job, or the vagaries of depression– strong bonds were forged or fused even more tightly.

August 2011

College of the Holy Cross, Worcester MA

The return of students to the Holy Cross campus at the end of the month echoed a return of my own optimism and enthusiasm as the new academic year began. My annual 8-day retreat, completed in the middle of the month, restored my connection with the roots of my vocation, a firm calling planted in the midst of an ever-changing world. Fittingly, the entire landscape around this tree changed during the summer, yielding a new campus gathering space that has been warmly and enthusiastically claimed by grateful students. As I spent time here, encountering students and faculty doing the same, the atmosphere of community took on palpable presence in physical space. With so many academic pursuits, spiritual adventures, and personal journeys entering a new phase at this time of year– an array of concerns whose complexity I could only imagine as I gazed upon those passing through this new space– I’ve felt myself drawn to the still-blank pages in my own life story, and eager for the experiences that will fill them.