No words can fully express my appreciation and thankfulness for your gift of a 6-week sabbatical to mark the occasion of my seven years as your pastor. I am writing this on my last week away, and I continue to process and reflect upon my time away, including the remarkable opportunity to tour Ireland and spend a week on the ancient Celtic island of Iona, Scotland. I hope you have used this time to reflect, as well.

You will be hearing much about my "spiritual growth pilgrimage" in the weeks, months, and years to come. For there's no way one can participate in such a journey without being affected in powerful ways.

My time away has served to reinforce the importance of authentic community in my life - and by extension, in the life of College Hill. It reinforced for me the need for regular times of devotion, reverence, and intentional spiritual practices. Saying that, there is no 'one size fits all' in experiencing the presence of the Sacred in our midst. Therefore, it takes individual effort to discover what is most effective. I personally find that much easier to do with a creation-based spirituality that is a characteristic of what is called Celtic spirituality. It begins by acknowledging the presence of the Divine in all of creation, seeing it as good, not as inherently sinful and separate from God.

Each and every one of us is on a remarkable journey - of life and faith. I am blessed by being on that journey with you! I truly look forward to returning to the church on Monday, June 8, and leading worship on the following Sunday, June 14. On that day we will share community with one another in church school, fellowship, worship, and a potluck luncheon. At the luncheon I will present a PowerPoint slideshow with you to help further share my adventures. It's good to be home!

Blessings,

Rev. Todd 

Booth Volunteers Needed ASAP!

Several months ago our adult church school class discussed the concept of "mindfulness," which involves living life in a way that we are more "present" in each moment and decision that is made, rather than just running on "automatic."

Mindfulness means maintaining a moment-by-moment awareness of our thoughts, feelings, bodily sensations, and surrounding environment. Mindfulness also involves acceptance, meaning that we pay attention to our thoughts and feelings without judging them-without believing, for instance, that there's a "right" or "wrong" way to think or feel in a given moment. When we practice mindfulness, our thoughts tune into what we're sensing in the present moment rather than rehashing the past or imagining the future.

Click the link below to visit a very helpful website: mindfulness.org. It's subtitled: Everything you need to know about Mindfulness on one website. It is one among many that you may find very helpful.

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