This is my year of Jubilee; The year of rest and deep work following four years of college, one year of grad school, and one year of teaching.
Through the Church of the Incarnation Fellows Program, I am setting aside nine months to reflect, praise, and discern who God is calling me to be. For the Israelites, the year of Jubilee was a gift from God. In Jubilee they were liberated from debts, slavery, and injustice. They also received consolation through rest and relationship with God. The land, the people, and the animals- all creation- got to rest. God provided all they needed.
This is my year of Jubilee.
I get to experience liberation from stress, exhaustion, an unhealthy workplace, and work that did not quite fit. I get to experience consolation through solitude, prayer, a healthy workplace, and a creative internship. These nine months are not without work, but the work I will be doing is unbusy and unhurried.
In these first 22 days of the program, I have read through Genesis, Exodus, and Leviticus in a reader’s edition of the ESV Bible. I also read The Drama of Scripture: Finding Our Place in the Biblical Story by Craig Bartholomew and Michael Goheen, and The Pastor by Eugene Peterson. That is a whooping 857 pages of text! Both the whole book readings of the Bible and the novels are helping me understand that God is involved and interested in all of life. Holy work isn’t limited to church work.
These lessons are being worked out through co-teaching an English as a Second Language class; and, hopefully, in working with released inmates on memoir writing for the purpose of reflection and restoration. Both internship experiences are vastly different from anything I have participated in before.
In the three weeks that I have co-taught in the ESL class, I have had such fun. I am constantly impressed by each student’s persistence and boldness. I reflect on my grandparents immigration from Cuba to America - I can imagine their experience much better now. They escaped from Cuba with an infant to a foreign country with a foreign language. They had to work, learn, parent, and adapt to this overwhelming life change so quickly.
It is difficult to learn a new language- especially English. Each letter and word has to be tasted, formed, and spoken differently than these men and women are used to. It takes time and repetition to get it right. It can be awkward and difficult. Their experience is a metaphor for my own. God’s Word is so accessible, his promises are so available to us, but it takes a long time to taste and see. It takes persistence, boldness, and some discomfort. Thank you for supporting me prayerfully as I intentionally taste and see God in every part of life.
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