I have prepared for vacations and trips in the past. But I have never prepared to be away for 6 months. Well not since I left to go away to college in 1971. I have spent the past few days working out questions like: How will I get laundry done while at the retreat center since I intend to travel light - with only a week's supply of clothing. I intend to check no bags at the airport. My month at the Ste-Baume retreat center is a new experience for them also. They have not received someone for periods longer than a week. So when I sent an e-mail to Frere Hotellier, (Brother Hostel Keeper - that's his real title) he had to consult with the community. So now I have permission to use their laundry facilities.
I also asked about a piano to practice on. Unfortunately, their only piano is in a hall which is not heated in the winter. There are many miles (kilometers) of hiking trails and I'm looking forward to spending time hiking. I was reminded that the retreat center is at an elevation of 700 meters (approximately 2296 feet) above sea level. And the trails climb to 1150 meters, or 3775. Frere Hotellier reminded me that they do get snow at that elevation. So much for the warm, sun-bathed days in Provence. The good news is that by February, the weather is already turning spring-like.
For the less mundane preparations, I have been doing some spiritual reading in French. In Trouver le Paradis dans nos Deserts. (Finding Paradise in our Deserts) Luc Baresta begins his reflections on the experience of the "garden" - Eden - as the first paradise. He continues by saying that culture has fooled itself by creating a human garden; into thinking that prosperity and affluence, individualism and even personal liberties are paradise; that somehow the human person has achieved the pinacle of being. But this human-created paradise is too often to the exclusion of God, and therefore no paradise at all. We need to be open to the realities for which we were created, namely realities of the gardens: Eden, Promised Land, and even Gethsemani.
The prospect of this sabbatical is very exciting. But leaving family - personal and parish - sometimes seems like going into a desert. I want to leave myself open to what the Lord has in store for me. I need the renewal that is openning up to me. As the grant proposal says so beautifully, " [this] is the optimum time to renew the spark that gave birth to this parish and drew Fr. Degagne to the priesthood." This is my personal hope and my prayer for our parish.
