Well, things are interesting here in Northern California. Beginning at midnight tonight we will lose power for at least a day and a half in order to be proactive re fire danger. (Gusting winds beginning tonight and very low humidity makes this necessary.) Local news though, has asked us to be prepared to be without power for up to seven days. So, I am charging devices, buying batteries, shopping for canned food, making sure my prescriptions (especially for pain and seizure) are filled or sufficient, and just generally getting ready for this planned power shutdown. Amazon is delivering food for my pantry and I will pick up some stuff today to be sure I have enough for several days. I have a case of V8 juice to substitute for fresh vegetables (all stores will also be closed beginning at midnight tonight and my refrigerator is probably too small to keep perishables cold for long), a couple of thermos bottles for a day's worth of hot beverages, and am prepared to be drinking water instead of tea or a morning coffee so (despite some sleepiness in the early am) I think all will be well here at Stillsong.
I will not be able to post or pick up emails --- no router, of course (just realized that!) --- though I may be able to take a train into the City and do some writing there (I may also want a hot meal if the outage goes on a bit!). Otherwise it will just be relatively quiet (i.e., normal) days at Stillsong. I'm not yet sure about the parish Bible classes on Thursday and will miss those if they can't be held. The morning class might be able to be held but if the outage goes on longer than first suggested will be the case, there will be no way to hold the evening class. We are just moving into the heart of Paul's letter to the Galatians --- the section on justification, faith, and freedom and the ways these are rooted in the faithfulness of God and his Crucified Christ so I am particularly excited to start that. I am preparing material on justification, the way the cross works, our New Covenant identity "in Christ" (which Christians are invited to adopt as we have been adopted by God!!), and, of course, the nature of Christian Freedom.
We have all of October and most of November left to us to finish Galatians so we will be fine even if we need to lose one class. The class itself is wonderful! We have folks from all age groups (College onwards) and backgrounds (from college students to homemakers, to teachers (including theology!), to psychiatrists); they ask such good questions, make really excellent observations, and care deeply about their faith; they inspire me and I am energized by working with them in this way. It continues to amaze me how well this ministry works as an integral piece of eremitical life and allows the development and use of my own discrete talents in this regard. My director and I were discussing this a few weeks ago and I commented on how much reading and work I had to do for it (both in general and at that point in time). She observed wryly, ""Yes, like that is something you really hate!" (paraphrase) I laughed and agreed it was not exactly a hardship for me!! So, power outages are a nuisance but, for me at least, a small matter when there is this kind of energy flowing! Thanks be to God!
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