Lately I have not had much time for reading, let alone just "sitting and thinking." Last week I said goodbyes to a parish that I served for over fifteen years. It was a wonder-filled, and emotionally exhausting, experience.
This week I moved some things into my new office in Springfield and spent a good chunk of time on both Tuesday and Wednesday at Diocesan House. Today my wife and I closed on our new home. For twenty-seven years of our married life we have lived in church-owned (or church-rented) housing and so this, too, is a new adventure. Next week my eldest will graduate from college and then as I (officially) begin my new job as Canon to the Ordinary in Western Massachusetts I'll be traveling to Burlington, Vermont to meet the other C2Os from Province One - i.e. the other Episcopal Dioceses in New England.
So, as I was saying: not a lot of time for reading. But the book that has made it to the top of my reading list is a book by Rabbi Edwin Friedman, published posthumously. I have long been a fan of Generation to Generation and Friedman's Fables - two books that have gone to the heart of what I've learned as a parish priest. As I begin to transition to diocesan ministry (and trying to re-focus on what makes congregations tick) I am returning to Friedman, a rabbi and family therapist who thought a lot about such things.
I'm not too far yet into this book (for the reasons why, see above!) but here is a video I watched recently to whet my appetite. Check it out here and consider joining me in reading this book. I'll be coming back to it in the days and weeks ahead, I'm sure.
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