Everywhere you go, there you are

I’ve come to Berkeley for a week to help with the Starr King School for the Ministry’s orientation of the entering class. I have spent my days in the school kitchen helping to prepare both breakfast and lunch to the incoming class of 14.

I’ve come because I wanted to stay connected to the school as my studies will find me doing fieldwork at home this next year. It is possible that I will never be in residence here for an extended period of time again.

But I am in residence this week, safely ensconced in Sister Margaret’s three-room suite in the old Gibbs guest house at the Episcopal school here at the Graduate Theological Union. My surroundings are amazingly familiar. It feels as if I have never left, and it feels as if I could stay on forever. Still, I will be happy to board the airplane on Wednesday morning and officially begin my schoolwork at home shortly thereafter.

I have come to peace about my journey through seminary. I have come to realize that there is no one way that we accomplish that which we aspire to, and that we can find sure footing within ourselves on whatever path we choose.

We can be a part of communities, both far and near, because we maintain a relationship with them. We can be a part of everything, when we hold everything in our heart. The adage “home is where the heart is” has a new meaning to me as I understand that our hearts are our homes and those that we carry there, are present with us, wherever we find ourselves this day.