This month’s Soul Matters small group packet contains the etymology of the word journey. From page 8, “Journey has its roots in the Old French journée, a day’s length; a day’s work, a day’s travel. For instance, a day laborer was called a [journeyperson]; we write our daily adventures in a journal. Looking at life as a journey, the idea of day becomes important. What part of my past do I carry forward into this day and what part do I leave behind? How do I set my compass for the travels of this day, moving into my own becoming? (pg. 8)” Reading this entry in the Soul Matters packet reminded me of a ritual I had offered at seminary in 2015, and later repeated at the UU church in New Madison, Ohio. This began me thinking about the relationship between spans of time and personal change and growth.
In the fall of 2015, I was taking a class on worship. To fulfill a class assignment, I wrote and lead a ritual for the autumnal equinox. The ritual emphasized harvest in both literal and metaphorical ways. In the literal sense, participants brought canned goods for a Richmond food pantry that we might share some of the bounty we had. In the metaphorical sense, I asked those gathered to consider their “harvest of wisdom” from the past twelve months. We each spent six-seven minutes considering the following questions and recording some thoughts: (1) “What have you accomplished since the last autumn equinox?” (2) What have you learned that you wish to harvest? (3) What “chaff” would you like to leave behind? (4) Which “seeds” do you wish to store for future planting? Following our meditative time on these questions, a number of people shared some of their thoughts about personal and professional growth and gains, things they wished to cast aside, what they wished to keep and integrate in the present, or what they wanted to retain for the future.
The questions posed during the ritual used a year (from the previous fall to the present one) as their time frame. There are advantages to assessing our lives in large time frames such as that. We can better see patterns or the consequences of changes we’ve made with a larger time frame. However, a large time frame is subject to how successful we are in our memory recall. Smaller issues may be lost to time and nuances may be lost as we focus on a bigger picture. Conversely, a short time frame enables easy recall but does not encourage as much consideration over time. There likely is no perfect time frame to use in assessing our lives and the issues we each are working on. How far back we reflect, or how forward we plan ahead, will depend on the issues concerning us. Each time frame has its value.
In the past, I have been unable to appreciate the value of journaling. But thinking of journaling in this way, as a means of harvesting the wisdom of the day, appeals to me. I intend to journal write for the month of March while we explore the theme of journey. If you are also inspired to journal, whether for the first time, as renewal of past practice, or as maintenance of a long-standing practice, I am providing ten journals and pens in fun ink colors to the congregation for you to keep and use. (If we run out, I’ll get more.) See me or come to the main office during normal hours to get them. Happy journaling. Bonne journeé.
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I am delighted to be your Sabbatical Minister February-May. Please allow me to introduce myself—if you have joined UUCM since June 2018—or reintroduce myself if you were part of UUCM from August 2017-June 2018.
I grew up in Wisconsin and was raised Missouri Synod Lutheran. I stopped attending as soon as I was able to make my own decisions. Following college at one of the University of Wisconsin campuses, I went to graduate school in Austin, Texas. It was there that I discovered Unitarian Universalism and I’ve been UU ever since. After completing a M.A. and Ph.D., I taught African and world history in Georgia and Washington from 2002-2015. If you care to see any of my published work from my time as a historian of religion, I’m the only Joel Tishken on the planet. It is easy to find me in a library catalog or online book store. It was while living in Washington that my wife Lee Ann and I met. We’ve been together since 2008. In 2015, we both left academia for new careers. We came to Indiana for me to attend the Earlham School of Religion, in Richmond, in pursuit of a new career as a UU minister. Lee Ann is the director of academics at the Boys and Girls Club of Wayne County. Lee Ann and I are proud caretakers of three cats, two rabbits, and a guinea pig, all humane society adoptees with Roman mythological names. I enjoy vegan cooking, international foods, reading, mythology, time with my wife and critters, and walking in nature. I’m a regular volunteer at Second Chance Animal Rescue of Richmond and the New Paris Food Pantry. Since moving to Indiana, Lee Ann and I have been members of First Universalist in New Madison, Ohio. Theologically, I consider myself a religious humanist and nontheist pagan.
As a professional update, I completed my Master of Divinity degree, and 28th grade, in May 2018. After completing my internship at UUCM in June, all that remained in becoming a minister was an interview and approval by the UUA in September 2018. However, I was not given approval to search for a ministry job at that interview. Before the UUA will allow me to do so, I need to complete a year as a chaplain in 2019-2020 and interview again another day. As you might imagine, I’m not excited about this two-year extension of my timeline.
I look forward to being part of UUCM in our all too short time together. Thank you for giving me the privilege to be your minister.
Minister Joel