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Dear friends,

Here we are, one month into this sabbatical adventure. I don’t know about you, but that first few weeks sure went by in an eyeblink. I thought it would be a good exercise for me—for all of us— to pause from time to time during this journey and to reflect on what we have accomplished or learned or UN-learned along the way.

For my part, I hadn’t realised just how tired I had become until I’d slept for about two weeks. Slept a lot. Already things look different. Apparently, I look different—the bags under my eyes are starting to fade. One of my sabbatical goals has been to re-ground myself, and part of that has been to rest, and to try and let go. So a major theme this month has been ‘the long exhale’, like one does when one stretches or engages in a reflective, contemplative art like yoga or Tai Chi or contemplative prayer.

That doesn’t always mean ‘doing nothing’, of course. While I do love sleep (now that I’ve become reacquainted with that spiritual practice ), as many of you know, I also like (need) to do things with my hands. I spent some time refurbishing my smoker and cooked up a feast for my extended family one weekend, and we’ve started trying out some great Palestinian recipes from Sammy Tamini’s recent cookbook, Boustany. Good flavours with good company. A different kind of communion.

I also took on the meditative exercise of building a new case for the bishop’s travelling crozier. The crozier is the shepherd’s crook that a bishop carries in ceremony, and on St Andrew’s Day in 1926, ten years into his episcopacy, a travelling crozier was either gifted by or for Bishop Charles D. Schofield (Bishop Sexton’s predecessor). (G.F.: here’s a great subject for a side research project!) The crozier itself cleverly unscrews into 4 parts, but the case that held it for 100 years had finally collapsed on one of Bishop Anna’s journeys up and down the Islands and Inlets. I offered to fix it, but it was beyond repair, and so the project transformed into a re-creation. Oak from St Mary’s, teak and black walnut from some other St Mary’s parishioners, and the project is almost complete. Next month I’ll include pictures. I consider it our collective gift to the Diocese, so that our bishops may continue to practice their shepherd leadership for another century or more.

My sabbatical goals have been three-fold: to rest, to re-ground myself in my calling as a priest—and a priest for St Mary’s—and to write. Over the past week or so, I have had the energy to sit down and begin the process of outlining and researching my main writing project. It’s a bit of a strange transition, as I’m casting my mind and my studies a year in advance. I’m compiling a resource for lay folk as a companion to the lectionary for roughly half of Year B, which comes up next year, in 2027. It’s going to be even more fun than I predicted it would be. The Gospel for that year is St Mark, which is so full of drama (and less full of speeches!) that it draws us into the action at every turn! And the Hebrew Bible lessons also take us into challenging territory, focusing on the cycle from Samuel 1 & 2 through Kings 1 & 2, which raise powerful and incredibly relevant issues around the generational effects of our choices for good or evil. So, yeah, it’s going to be quite a ride…

Meanwhile, St Mary’s is never far from my mind or prayers. We think of you always, and we are so grateful for the parish’s support for this sabbatical, and for all the folk who are stepping up to keep the work going forward. St Mary’s is such an important community, not just for one another, but also for the wider neighbourhood and Oak Bay. Keep the faith, friends!

Take care of one another, and I’ll check in again in a month.

With deepest love,
Craig+

(The Venerable) Craig Hiebert is the Incumbent/Rector of St Mary’s, and is currently on a five-month sabbatical.