a holiday by the sea

"Before they were separated by the conclusion of the play, she had the unexpected happiness of an invitation to accompany her uncle and aunt in a tour of pleasure which they proposed taking in the summer. 'We have not quite determined how far it shall carry us,' said Mrs. Gardiner, 'but perhaps to the Lakes.' No scheme could have been more agreeable to Elizabeth, and her acceptance of the invitation was most ready and grateful." -Jane Austen, Pride & Prejudice

June 24th was my last day as Executive Assistant to the President and Provost at Patrick Henry College. Two years ago last May, I packed most of my worldly possessions into my Jeep, and waved "goodbye" to Patrick Henry College. I didn't know at the time that it was actually "au revoir." Just a few months later my Jeep and I drove back to Patrick Henry, to set up shop in the Office of the President and Provost.

It has been a sweet and challenging two years. I learned deep lessons. That most of life is lived out in the commonplace and routine. That community cannot exist with commitment. That the fruit of a placed and rooted life is subtle, but exceedingly sweet. And that in order for your ship to come in, you usually have to “cast thy bread upon the water.”

I learned that no morning is complete without a Tim Keller sermon, and no evening without a BBC miniseries. That 3:11 pm is the proper time for a coffee break. That eighties music is cool again and Zumba is the new Jazzercise. That Northerners make the best office mates, Southerners make the best friends, Lutherans make the best bosses, and that Librarians give the best advice. I am inestimably grateful for my friends in Purcellville and my congregation at Guilford Baptist Church, who helped me to understand community as a reality, instead of as an intellectual buzzword.

I also learned a few things the hard way. For example, that leaving George Clay’s VIP guests at Dulles Airport will result in eternal infamy as “The Skunk.” That you shouldn’t bring a Jeep to a Semi fight. And that a Bunn Coffee Pot will erupt like Mount St. Helens if you disturb its delicate mechanical sensibilities. That said, God graciously delievered me from all of the above.

After wrapping up my work PHC, I spent a whirlwind week coordinating PHC’s second Leadership & Vocation Camp. Then, I once again packed my worldly goods into the back of my Jeep Grand Cherokee (and a few friendly basements), and made pilgrimage back to Minnesota. I am very thankful for a certain pleasant innkeeper in Columbus, Miss Laura Marshall, who shortened the twenty-hour trek with her avocado grilled cheese, vermontucky lemonade, and sparkling company.

The rest of the summer held a blissful fortnight in Florida, a retreat to Lake Superior with Dad, and a week with my lovely and lively mother in the Smoky Mountains of Tennessee. During the in-between times I tackled the Trinity reading list, grilled dinners on the back porch, and visited friends and family. It was sublime.

One week ago today, I began another Holiday by the Sea. This past March, I accepted a fellowship with the Trinity Forum Academy in Royal Oak, Maryland, on the beautiful Chesapeake Bay. The Trinity Forum (www.ttf.org) proper is a non-profit organization that:

"…works to cultivate networks of leaders whose integrity and vision will renew culture and promote human freedom and flourishing. [The Trinity Forum provides] access to a broad but focused body of classic and thoughtful writings designed to facilitate conversation and reflection around some of society’s most intriguing questions and themes. This is accomplished through unique programs and publications that offer contexts for leaders to consider together the great ideas that have shaped Western civilization and the faith that has animated its highest achievements."

Trinity’s fellowship program, the Trinity Forum Academy (TFA) (www.academy.ttf.org), accepts twelve postgraduates each year to live, study, work, and worship at their retreat center in Royal Oak, Maryland. Fellows take classes in theology and cultural studies, pursue a personal project under the guidance of a mentor, and work in the retreat center, all in the context of an intentional community. It’s sort of a structured, selective version of L’Abri, Francis Schaeffer’s academic community in Switzerland. Minus the breeches and backpackers.

Although I have not yet narrowed my research topic, I hope to concentrate on the politics of hospitality, heaven, and the tension between pilgrimage and place. I get a lot of blank looks when I say that, which means I probably have a lot of work to do! I have revived this blog to be a place of reflection about my time here, and to keep friends and family updated on the many switchbacks on my own road to heaven.

Life after Trinity is still uncertain, but I imagine (and hope) it will hold one of those gloriously ordinary things we call a job. And I wouldn’t mind a cute studio apartment in Georgetown either. But two years after graduation, I have learned to hold onto my plans loosely, and onto Christ more firmly.

"It is not in our life that God’s help and presence must still be proved, but rather God’s presence and help have been demonstrated for us in the life of Jesus Christ. It is in fact more important for us to know what God did to Israel, to his Son Jesus Christ, than to seek what God intends for us today….I find no salvation in my life history, but only in the history of Jesus Christ. Only he who allows himself to be found in Jesus Christ, in his incarnation, his Cross, and his resurrection is with God and God with him." –Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Life Together

Coram Deo,

Meredith