Making memories – The sabbatical of Rev. James Estes
Q: What occupied your time on sabbatical?
Sabbatical was a great time to not be in such a hurry. In a typical working day, I am usually home in time to help kids eat, brush their teeth and conduct the bedtime litany. During sabbatical, however, I was able to just wrestle in the living room floor or play in the back yard. We also took a long road trip to be with family in Washington state. The kids got to see a lot of different things and have some extraordinary experiences, so after returning to Tulsa we asked the kids if they had a favorite part. Our oldest, Simeon, said it best: “I just liked our family being all together.”
Q: What was nourishing about your sabbatical?
There is a kind of tired that a long weekend doesn’t begin to refresh. And when I closed my office door in the fall to begin sabbatical, I was a deep-down kind of tired. So for me, it was nourishing to sit next to Lindsey in worship and to take walks or naps after taking kids to school, it was good to make progress on the neglected to-do list around our house. It was also nourishing to not come to a worship service with a plan other than meeting with God. It was a gift to drive through the Rocky Mountains in the snowy winter. For me, mountains are a place where I can gain perspective viscerally—as if the grandeur of the mountains and imposition of snow can set my existence against a measuring rod. It’s good to feel small, and that is a gift that I often experience in nature, off the beaten path.
Q: What was your focus of study?
During the mission to Kenya in October, I was rereading some important books about mission and witness and I carried those readings and considerations right into sabbatical. The big question I was pondering and discussing with friends and colleagues is, what does it mean for an economically secure person to be lost? Said differently, the question is, "How can we as Christians both recognize and speak good news to spiritual need in our own socio-economic peers?" I suspect that evangelism lives in our minds as a caricature out of a Far Side comic, where evangelistic training includes footnotes about the technique for safely mounting a soap box while wearing a 40 lb. “turn or burn” sandwich board. The more common face of evangelism, however, is perceiving spiritual need in a neighbor or coworker and speaking the good news of the Kingdom of God. It means praying for those who are lost to be found, for those in darkness to come to the light, and for the lost children to come into the Father’s feast. Jesus tells us that the greatest joy in heaven is when one sinner repents. And, the questions that I kicked around during sabbatical were about becoming increasingly preoccupied with heaven’s joy.
"How can we as Christians both recognize and speak good news to spiritual need in our own socio-economic peers?"
Q: What was the hardest part of being gone for three months?
Kids love routine, so part of the challenge for us was that the kids missed connection to our larger Church family rhythms. They missed worshipping in the Chapel Thanksgiving and Christmas days and being a part of the Christmas Eve family service. They missed Worship 101 and not knowing the hymn of the month. They were sad to miss the Epiphany Bonfire. Of course, there were a lot of gifts during those times, but a recurring conversation was about being disconnected from the Advent rituals that have come to be meaningful for our family.
Q: Any thought on what you might do differently on your next sabbatical?
Next time sabbatical comes around, my kids will be older and more independent. That will open up other great opportunities to be active: to go skiing or backpacking on part of the Appalachian trail or Grand Canyon. Something we considered, but knew it wasn’t the right time, would be to spend time in another country and culture; to let my kids experience being a minority race, language and religion. Or who knows, we might learn to sail and spend a month at sea feeling small and transient.