For those who have been faithfully following my weekly reflections on the lectionary, you may be wondering where I have disappeared to. I stepped down at the end of April from 12 wonderful and fruitful years as rector of St Martin’s Episcopal Church in Providence, RI, to begin a new phase of life in what is generally referred to as retirement.

My grasp on this next period of my life is as yet elusive. I am as yet only dimly aware of the emotions of both gratitude and grief evoked by no longer playing a pivotal role in a faithful and worshiping Christian community. Like the proverbial coffee percolator, many emotions still largely subconscious will undoubtedly bubble to the surface in their own time.

The day after the celebration of my final Sunday, I underwent very necessary spinal surgery known as a laminectomy – a procedure for decompressing pressure on the nerves – in my case, the nerves that run from L3-L4 to the legs, caused by the arthritic narrowing of the spinal canal. I am pleased to report that the surgery is successful, and I experience the relief as life-enhancing. I mention this only to say that attending to the needs of my body has provided a valuable respite from attending to the feelings of my heart. The nature of respite is that it is temporary by nature – a resting until the next stage of my work resumes.

I look forward to this next phase of my life as I return to Phoenix, AZ, where I lived and served from 2008, prior to coming to RI in 2014. I anticipate returning to my deeper vocational loves of spiritual discernment and pastoral counseling after a necessary fallow period (soil plowed but left unseeded). What I know at present is that I will continue to write. I don’t yet have a clear Idea of the direction further writing may take. Rest assured, this blog, Relationalrealities.com, has not been shut down. I may move to the now-ubiquitous Substack as the online platform, but as yet, no decision has been made.

Please stay tuned!