51 Blog Post, Monday, October 28, 2024 "Healing...Hopefully!"

Soooo…how many travelers can boast that they have been to TWO hospitals on two different Greek Islands? Yesterday’s blog was a no-show because I was in the hospital on Santorini, terribly sick—details unnecessary. I was grateful to have made the two plane trips from Naxos to Santorini without incident, but we had to call the taxi service to change our destination from the hotel to the hospital as soon as we landed. Today, thanks to the intervention of modern medicine and to SOCIALIZED medicine, I feel so much better. This second visit only cost us 60 euro, or the equivalent of about $70. I am now ssomewhat weak and wobbly, but so much better. I am truly grateful to God for pulling me through all this, and to Alistair for being so steadfast. I also called out to some prayer partners and had them ‘working the lines’ because I honestly believe that prayer is a key aspect for healing. At least I am claiming prayer as part of my healing!

I had a very low-key day today, trying to recuperate a bit, and we have the perfect place for that. At this very moment, we are sitting on our private terrace on Santorini, watching the sunset. This is one of the most famous places in the world to watch the sunset because it has both beauty and drama, like a silent Broadway show. Right above us is Sunset Place where crowds gather to watch the sunset, and we saw them all wave to the setting sun and start cheering as the last bright orange sliver dipped into the sea. At least nine yachts have gathered, mostly private charters, to bring people to this place to see the sunset. And this happens every night. How fortunate that we are here to see this beauty; how blessed to recuperate at the edge of the sea; what a surpassing end to cap these two months.

Fun facts about Santorini—it is characterized by a caldera (think cauldron, or pot which holds a lot of liquid) which is a crater formed by a volcanic eruption. The crater is filled with water, the Aegean Sea, to be specific, and it is the largest caldera in Europe and the fifth largest in the world. A caldera is characterized by exactly what we see in Santorini: sharp cliffs that plunge into the sea below with islands in a ring-like formation. The eruption that formed Santorini and the caldera occurred about 3,600 years ago, making Santorini one of the youngest islands in the world and it remains part of an active volcanic region. The actual volcano is called Nea Kaminia and visitors can take a boat trip to the island, smell the sulfurous gases still being released and feel the warmth of the volcano that grumbles below the surface. Natural hot springs also attract visitors to the island, warmed by geothermal heat. The most recent eruption was in 1950, and the area is monitored continuously by volcanologists. How did I miss that major in college?

Oia (Oya) is the city in Santorini where we are staying and it is a busy tourist city, even at this time of year, although we noticed that most restaurants have room for additional diners, and that during the evening, things slow considerably. During the day, the city is filled with cruise ship visitors who are bussed into town to shop and sightsee, and the ships leave in the evening. I don’t love tourist cities, but I am so glad that we are not here during the high season when it can be unbearably hot and overly crowded rather than regular crowded.

I am grateful that this is our last stop, even though yesterday all I wanted to do was go home. Illness does that, doesn’t it? I was so sick that I couldn’t open my eyes the entire drive here from the hospital. I couldn’t appreciate anything like the stunning beauty that surrounds us, but waking up today, I was able to see and stretch into the wonder of what God provides. This is a place of rest and reflection. I will never be here again, I am fairly certain, so I need to soak up as much of this atmosphere as I can, appreciate the unique beauty of what is here.

This is also making me think harder about what this trip means/will mean and how it can nourish me in the long run. I need to physically heal after three weeks of difficult health issues. But after that? What might this mean for my ministry? At dinner tonight, Alistair asked another great question: “Has this been a tour or an odyssey?” I immediately said “odyssey” because an odyssey is a quest for something—wisdom, a golden chalice, the princess/prince who is in danger—you get the point. A tour is a cursory look or visit to learn a little bit about a place, an era, an artist. An odyssey has a goal in mind and the person on the odyssey is persistent in their quest, and often engages in unexpected conflicts and adventures along the way. Probably more than you want or need to know about odysseys!!

Today, because I had time and this beautiful view to look at, I prayed about this hard today, especially after being so ill. Sometimes illness functions as a way to point us back home when we’ve been away because home is all we want. But this is bigger and more important than just that, although I definitely just wanted to get on a plane home yesterday! While checking my email, I clicked on one that referred to a daily devotional called “God Pause”. Much like Forward Day by Day from the Episcopal Church, it’s a short scripture verse and reflection, but the message today felt like it was being sent directly to me. Don’t you love when that happens, when the sermon or prayer or message seems like it was meant just for you?

The verses today was one of my favorites from Isaiah 25: 6 – 9. Verse 6 said this: “On this mountain the Lord of hosts will make for all peoples a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wines, of rich food filled with marrow, of well-aged wines strained clear.” I was struck by that because I AM on a mountain and we ARE feasting! The goodness in my life mirrors the goodness of God for all God’s people, should be reminding me of God’s promise for all of us, and it does. The passage continues with verses that remind me so much of the promises in Revelation: “And God will destroy on this mountain the shroud that is cast over all peoples, the sheet that is spread over all nations; he will swallow up death forever. Then the Lord God will wipe away the tears from all faces, and the disgrace of his people he will take away from all the earth, for the Lord has spoken.” Comfort and consolation and hope! Sign me up.

But it was the devotional part that struck me even more because it spoke about homesickness, which I have been feeling more and more, as being a longing for something familiar from the past, something we have known before and miss now, but the devotional writer said that our homesickness as Christians is actually about longing for something in the future, which is astonishing because Isaiah wrote this about 2700 years ago, and our longing is still the same. We long for things to be peaceful, to be harmonious, to be loving; we long for grief to end, for life to continue forever, for love to be a universal language. Consequently, as Christians, we each have a part in the creation of a world where those values are the foundation of what we believe. We’ll all have an opportunity to make a foundational decision when we vote for the next President. Which candidate will help us live out God’s vision here and now, fulfilling not just our own needs, but the needs of the least, the lost and the left out? We also have personal opportunities to do that in our lives by ministering to others in whatever way God has called us to do so. So God is being clear with me about my purpose as a child of God, as a minister—share hope, joy and make sure to celebrate!!! God is active and vibrant in the world today, and we can see and sense that in so many ways, including the sunset over the Aegean Sea in Oia.

One other thing reminded me of my core commitments and beliefs. While Alistair and I have been disconnected from regular Christian community, we carry our commitments and beliefs with us as the source of our words and actions. As we sat on our lounge chairs in the warm sun today, reading (me) and listening to music (Alistair), he handed over one of his ear buds and said “Listen.” It was a Robin Marks song, the same musician who created the CD “Revival in Belfast” and a famous Beaver Cross camp anthem: “These Are the Days of Elijah”. The song he wanted me to listen to was “When It’s All Been Said and Done,” and as I closed my eyes and listened to the familiar words, I felt the tears well in my eyes and slip down my cheeks. It has always been a grounding song for me. Some of the lyrics include these:

When it's all been said and done

There is just one thing that matters.

Did I do my best to live for truth;

Did I live my life for you?

When it's all been said and done

All my treasures will mean nothing;

Only what I've done for love's reward

Will stand the test of time.

I’ll include a link to the song here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V2rjfabh49A

It’s worth a listen.

I am being reminded that with all the treasures of the earth that have been spread before me like I am royalty, the true value of this time apart, this sabbatical, will be seen over time—will I be able to see and interpret how these visits, tours and places have spoken of God, shown me God’s glory or grace or healing? Has this trip allowed me to see what poet Gerard Manley Hopkins calls the ‘grandeur of God’ in the midst of the grandeur of humanity?

Time will tell. For right now I am grateful for this final visit to Santorini that is providing physical healing and soul rest. But I am also so grateful—impatient even-- that at the end of this week, we return home. You’ve heard it before, but I love the moment we drive up Main Street in Johnstown, see that beautiful church on the corner of Market Street, see the sister building at One Church, and then take the left turn that will bring us back to the rectory where we will rush to find our winter clothes because our summer skin will still be shivering from the adjustment. While I have one more month of sabbatical after this, cooking dinner and lighting a fire in the fireplace are top on my re-entry list for life in upstate NY. I follow FB pages that have detailed the rich colors of fall that we are missing, but we should be back in time for the first snow, and, in my case, for the season of Advent. So while Santorini is where we are now, my heart and my spirit have already turned towards home, towards church, towards friendships and family that we have deeply missed.

What turns your heart towards home, and how does home nourish you?

Blessings and grace,

ML+