A week ago I left the sanctuary of Assateague Island for the chaos of New Jersey. I had a lot of mixed feelings about going back to New Jersey. It was a good time in my life, but also a hard time. First Presbyterian Church in Hightstown where In served for 7 years was an amazing congregation, the main problem was that being situated in the middle of the state, and being a young single guy, it was very isolating. By the time I left I was spending a ton of money to go into the City just for some kind of social connection. So though I loved the church it reminded me of the painful loneliness I felt while there.
That being said, it was great to go back. I arrived on Thursday afternoon and started the stay by going to DeLorenzo’s Tomato Pie (pizza). One of the more amazing Pizza’s in the US and for a flat pizza I think it is the best. After that I settled in what was probably the most sketchy campsite to date. The place was rundown and the site I had literally had cigarette butts and beer bottle cap layered across the site, thankfully my rig is self contained. On Friday I went into Hightstown and did a good memory tour, visiting the Church, the Hightstown Diner, and a couple special former members. It was great to see them and to see how things have progressed since I left. That Night I headed out to the rehearsal dinner for the wedding I did Saturday. Jesse and her family were special when I was in Hightstown so I was delighted when she asked me to officiate. It was delightful to see how amazing her and her sister and brother have matured and really become delightful adults and loving parents. Going to church on Sunday was an experience. It was great to reconnect with folks and even with a bit more hair, a few more pounds they recognized me and welcomed me home. It was also nice to be received so graciously by their pastor. Sunday afternoon we had a late lunch with the old mission trip group. We spent a lot of great years going to Jamaica and Africa making our mark and helping folks along the way. On Monday I made my way to Lancaster with a detour to Hoboken to visit one of my best friends daughter who is in her final semester there. It was great to see her and reconnect! I must have had luck behind me because unlike the rest of my time in Jersey the traffic was smooth and pretty clear! Which allowed me to get to my overnight spot with plenty of time to do a deep clean of the van and a bunch of laundry. I arrived at the Rural city Brewery, my harvest host site at 5 and that began an evening that was truly amazing. Talk about hospitality and care, the staff went out of their way to welcome me and make sure I was comfortable, It was trivia night and even one of the families that I sat by invited me to join them so I was not left out. It made for a lot of fun and I have to say they had amazing beer! On Tuesday, I got to have lunch with my Admin from when I was in Hightstown and her husband. That was a special time as our hour lunch turned into two and a half as we remembered, laughed and shared, and to no ones surprise, she knew everything about everyone that was connected with the church even after being retired for over 10 years. On Wednesday I made my way to Provincetown where I am writing this. I will post more on that next week! Love you all, Bryan
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Yesterday was and emotional day as I went to visit my first church in Swan Quarter. Unfortunately, The Plymouth church closed many years ago, but the Swan quarter church was always a special congregation. What was really surprising was the poster that had the history of the church as you walk in and to my amazement there I am as big as life that young optimistic 25 year old!in some ways it looked the exact same, but the chancel area got a really nice redesign! Sanctuaries are always spiritual places and it was fun for me to walk in and hear the memories of the children playing tag under the floors on Sunday Morning and the laughter, I have yet to be in a congregation that laughed and enjoyed life as much as they did.
From there I went to Negs head and had a fun beach day finding a cool hole in the wall resteraunt for an awesome lunch and a local Rum distillery that had a low sugar rum and it was delicious! We camped on the beach which was amazing the only problem being that I had to spend an hour and a half today to get sand out of the van, and I am sure I did not get it all! Tonight I am back at a National Park, this time on Assateague Island this cool sanctuary for wild horses and beautiful views! Tomorrow we head up to New Jersey. I have officially made across the country as I am in a little beach town just north of Myrtle Beach. Crossing the country has absolutely blown me away, both figuratively and literally as some of the winds were so strong it felt like my van was going to be carried off the road! One of the things I know to be true is that the United States holds so many wonderful sites and and some amazing people. Even in the short time I have been on this journey I have met a lot.
By design, these last couple weeks were transition points for me as I mentally transitioned into the sabbatical life spending a week with my parents and well doing a lot of resting, something that I have not been able to do for a long time. I started the trip in the best way possible with an Easter dinner at Harris Ranch. OH MY was that amazing and set a great tone for what is to come. From there we went to the Grand Canyon staying at the Grand Canyon Railway Hotel and RV park. we got to take the train into the Grand Canyon and even with the walking limitation of my father we were all able to have a great time and see a good portion of the South Rim, I will be going to the North Rim by myself over Labor Day Weekend which should be interesting! We also got to go to Sedona unfortunately there were so many people there it was mostly sitting in traffic. But we found a great little restaurant and later that night found a brewery that made up for everything! After leaving Arizona we went to Albuquerque for a memory tour from the time my grand parents lived there heading to Santa Fe sharing all the good memories of my beloved grand parents. For those who know me well know I was really close with my Wild grand parents as I spent most of the summers as a teen with them for a few weeks at a time. There were a few times that my eyes swelled with memories. That Saturday we drove through the most insane wind storm I{ have ever been in. It was good to learn the stability of the Van but still when the semi in front of you has the cab and trailer in different lanes . . . it was scary at times. I split off from my parents outside of Oklahoma City as they traveled towards home and I went to Tahlequah, OK to be with a member of the San Jose Congregation. It was so wonderful catching up and seeing how happy she is in her new home. it is always wonderful to see people living their best lives! On that Monday I got to see the eclipse! Everyone has asked if I got pictures and I didn't. one thing I have learned about me is that far too often I find myself focusing on the wrong things and not being in the moment. I had gone well out of the way of everything to see the eclipse and I wanted to experience it and I was glad I did! I was staying at a Corp of Engineers Camp in Arkansas with people from about 14 other states, there were no planned activities but about 12:30 everyone found a spot outside the trees to sit and watch. Someone in the campsite had put together all of the "eclipse songs" and played them as we slowly watched the sun get smaller and smaller. I got worried a few times because the clouds were not cooperating but sure enough about 5 minutes before the total eclipse the clouds parted, they turned off the music and it was one of the more spiritual moments of my life seeing this amazing phenomena listening and looking around. Maybe, for me, most importantly being in the moment. That evening the storms came and for the next three days it was rain and wind and travel! I did get to catch up with my good friends in Atlanta Rev. Katie Day and Rev. Nancy Palmer-Jones That was such a blessing as I really loved being in ministry with those amazing women and funny enough they are in the same county outside Atlanta so maybe they will become good friend too, This past weekend I had an amazing time at a GLBT campground, While I had a lot of fun meeting people, as I told some what I was doing it was amazing how many people opened up about their connection with faith and God. A lot of that I am saving for later writings, but something to think about that I thought was interesting was the general condemnation of Church as an institution or dogma but a high respect for the spiritual connection and for those who do seek a deeper relationship with God. Today, on my way to this site I got to have lunch with a former member of Hightstown, Presbyterian and it was wonderful connecting with her hearing about the last few years there and her new life in South Carolina. Tomorrow I head up the East coast to visit Swan Quarter, NC were I started after Seminary. The Plymouth church is long gone, but Swan Quarter will always hold a special place for me as they knew how to have fun with their pastors and taught me about the Bible from a farmers perspective which actually helped to make some parts live in new ways! As I really dive into this journey I will be posting a few times a week so look back and see what is up. Bryan |
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