The State of My Heart

I'm not posting here about my physical heart-it is stronger,
perhaps, than it ever has been. I am referring to my spiri-
tual heart. All is well there, but I sense God is continuing to
do some major work on my heart as the spirtual center of
my life.

Yesterday I returned from a three-day, two-night St. An-
drews visit, my third since I moved down to Holy Island/-
Lindisfarne in early June. I enjoyed catching up with the
plans of several good friends, eating a stack of pancakes at
the North Point, walking by the North Sea, and being intro-
duced to newborn Lawson Ryan Parks, a Colleen and Ryan
production, dear friends from Canada.

As I travelled back by train to Holy Island, I had a strong
sense that my heart longed to be in St. Andrews. Although
I had informed the Church of Scotland that I was open to
serving anywhere in Scotland, I always have felt a strong
pull to St. Andrews. Recently I was informed by the Church
of Scotland that I should expect to be assigned to a church
in St. Andrews for my one year familiarization placement.
I could not imagine anything better. I am looking forward
to moving back up there and starting pastoral ministry in
Scotland. That is where I long to be!

But as I travelled by train to Holy Island, I also had a sense
of excitement about returning to the Island and my service
at The Open Gate. I realized that my heart is in St. Andrews,
but it is being shaped on Holy Island/Lindisfarne. My time
at The Open Gate on Holy Island is where God is preparing
me for the next phase of my ministry in Scotland. So I trea-
sure this time on Holy Island; it has been such a rich time
for me.

I covet your prayers as I continue on this amazing journey.

Blessings, and all the best to you and yours,

The Rest of the Story

In the last posting I shared about prayer, work, and study
providing the structure of my time here at The Open Gate
on Holy Island /Lindisfarne. After thinking about what I had
written I determined that I needed to add rest to those three.
That is the rest of the story.

After prayer, work, and study all day, as 9:30 pm approach-
es, I realize just how worn out I am. During my stay here this
has happened night after night and week after week. I have
not had any trouble falling asleep. When I wake up in the
morning I feel rested and am eager to carry on with the new
day. I have come to realize just how necessary rest is for me
to pray, work, and study as God would have me do. It is es-
sential for living before the face of God.

The four staff people here at The Open Gate take sabbath
rest seriously. They make sure that I get a day off for ev-
ry six I work, and that we honor the Lord in a special way
on Sunday. We also take rest seriously by taking breaks
during the day, meeting together for hearty meals and ta-
ble talk during the day, and taking naps.

Rest energizes everything else: prayer, work, and study. I
am grateful to the Lord for the rest God gives me.

All the best to you and yours,

Prayer, Work, and Study

The past six weeks here at The Open Gate on Holy Island/
Lindisfrarne have been such a rich time for me. I have de-
veloped a very simple order of life as a result: prayer, work,
and study. I sense that these three daily routines are shap-
ing and forming me for the next stage of my life.

Ordered prayer three times a day adds to my own personal
time of prayer. Every morning at 7:30, Monday through Sat-
urday, I meet with a small group of residents and visiters to
the Island for Morning Prayer at the parish church. We read
through the Psalms, hear Old and New Testament lessons,
and pray for the Church and the World. It is the anchor of
my day, and noontime prayer and night prayer at the Open
Gate are the structure of my day. Three times a week I lead
the prayer services at the Open Gate that combine the anci-
ent faith with contemporary forms of rich Celtic Christian ex-
pressions of that ancient faith.

But hard work fills most of my day. I am realizing how much
prayer and work influence and enrich one another. I spend con-
siderable time setting up and preparing for meals and wash-
ing up after meals. I also spend a lot of time preparing rooms
for arriving guests, changing bed linen, and cleaning toilets and
showers. I also prepare for the three prayers services I lead ev-
ery week at The Open Gate prayer chapels that, as the name
implies, are always open to the public. The work is very hard, and
many nights I feel worn out. But I feel great joy in doing it. It is
a wonderful way to serve other people and Jesus Christ.

It is also important for me to nurture my mind, and so I try to
make time to study in some way. I continue to work hard on
expanding my thesis, but I seek opportunities to read for en-
joyment. I love that, and it refreshes me. I try to make small
times throughout the day to do that. But many times I am too
worn out to do much, so I grab a quick nap or go to bed.

I am experiencing much joy being here and doing what I am do-
ing. I am surprized by joy because I did not anticipate this or
plan for it. It has turned out so much better than I could ever
have imagined.

Continued blessings and peace to you and yours, Jeff T.

The Latest

Not only have I been hardpressed to get online, but it has
been especially difficult for me to do blogging. Only recent-
ly have I found some down time to to read recent emails
and to prepare a blog update.

I continue to be profoundly grateful to the Lord for sending
me here to The Open Gate and Holy Island/Lindisfarne. I
am often busy and wornout, but nothing that a good night's
sleep can't remedy. I continue to be amazed by the Lord's
provision for my needs, frequent divine appointments with
people, nourishing table fellowship with amazing people, the
beauty of God's creation all around me, and witnessing and
experiencing personally God working in the lives of God's
people. I'm glad that I'm able to continue to serve here un-
till the end of August. It has been a precious time for me.

Several weeks ago, the Church of Scotland (C of S) notified
me that I have been authorized to transfer my ordination
from the Presbyterian Church (USA) to the C of S. As I ex-
pected, I will be placed with an established minister for
twelve months in order to become more familiar with the
C of S. During that year I will attend seminars on working
with children and young people, study C of S law, do read-
ing on the history of Christianity in Scotland, and attend
four mini-retreats. I do not yet know where I will be placed
for my twelve month familiarization program. I will receive
a full stipend for the placement with a church.

Although I have not yet been able to do more writing on
my thesis, I have been able to think about a lot of things
while I make beds, wash dishes, and clean toilets. I am
really excited about what I want to write about, and I
am so grateful to the Lord for providing me with another
year to develop my thinking and writing in a greater way.
I am not tired of my thesis; I really desired more time. I
plan to start writing very soon.

All the best to you and yours,