Phase One Comes To A Marvelous End

The first phase of my sabbatical comes to an end today.  This phase was the quiet home front phase.  The kids were finishing school, and I had a lot of time to write, reflect, read, and enjoy being home without the usual pressures of our busy lives.  

I finished the first draft of my big poem project called The Cast.  It is a 40 stanza poem that features 38 characters from the Bible and culminates in Jesus.  It is a creative way of telling the whole story of God's great redemption for the cosmos.  I have included a commentary section that gives insight into the many Biblical allusions and some of the denser lines.  I will now spend the rest of the summer editing it and preparing it for printing.

I have also made great strides in a collection of poetry featuring my favorite old poems and a bunch of poems written in the last year.  This chapbook is called Clock Hands Never Catching.  I will continue to revise the poems in the book, and add new ones, as the summer progresses.  I hope to also print this little book at the end of the summer.

Oh, I am having too much fun.

The next phase of the sabbatical begins tomorrow.  We head as a family to Hawaii for 10 days. Then we are off on a road trip to Minnesota where we will have a family reunion.  From Minneapolis I will fly to Wales to begin my solo two-week adventure following the historic trail of my favorite poet Gerard Manley Hopkins.  I am planning on chronicling my journey in a poetic format, using the structure of Hopkin's greatest poem The Wreck of the Deutschland.  I plan on calling this piece Following Hopkins. (Imagine that!)

Back from Wales, we will head up for a few weeks in Washington to finish out the sabbatical season.

During these days I am also playing with an old idea--that of taking Christina Rossetti's famous poem The Goblin Market and adapting it as a musical for the stage.  I have always felt this particular piece might make for a fantastic, artistic portrayal of the Gospel.

I am reading a lot of Hopkins and about Hopkins these days.  In addition, I am reading the first novel in the Mitford series.  I am slogging through a tough book that is reflecting on theology and art.  It is called Real Presences by George Steiner.

I have visited my brother's church in Vallejo, attended mass at Christ the King Church in Pleasant Hill, walked the trails around the Briones Reservoir, and participated in a surprise 50th Anniversary party for my folks.

The unhurried time with my family is an inexpressible gift.  

Blessings to you all, whoever might be reading these tinkerings.  I saw the new church directory today, and it reminded me what a rare and beloved bunch you all are!  It will be sweet to be with you again at the end of the summer.  But for now, this time away too is a rare sweetness.

Until next post.