Surprise Learnings

For as much as we tried to educate people about what a sabbatical is and is not, there are some who ask me: “What did you learn?” I then proceed to explain that such a sabbatical for pastors is not like those for academics. Then one day it hit me. I did learn something. I learned how to rest. And I learned how to rest because I have come to trust.

Let me explain. Being away from the day-to-day operations of the church has forced me to step back and allow others to step up. In so doing I have observed that they have done a fine job. While I have been on sabbatical, people have been visited and prayed for; a new phone system was installed; a new roof was applied to the preschool and parlor; new flowers and plants found their way into the soil around the church; the Old Fellowship Hall was renovated; a Wednesday evening Bible study began to meet; and weekly worship took place. When Hurricane Irene blew through New Jersey, people stepped up to organize others so that we could love our neighbors amidst the devastation.

Certainly my absence creates a different atmosphere, but the church continued in its mission. Knowing this has allowed me to make a break from what can be and often demands my attention 24-7. I have come to relax and be at peace. No more hauling only theological books home to read. Sure, there are plenty of things to read. There always will be. Those books will still be there tomorrow when I return to the church. At home I have discovered the joy of reading for fun; to allow my imagination to be caught up with an international spy, to travel back in time through the biography of a great person, or read about the trials and tribulations of someone trying to succeed.

The sabbatical is a few days from ending but the lessons will continue long after that.

What's in a Name?

It is hard to believe that it has been two weeks since I posted. That should tell you how busy I have been driving to Iowa then to Illinois and finally back to Oakland. Even the dog is confused as to whether we are coming or going. Good news is that we are doing neither. We are staying put. Kara has begun her third week of work. Noah, Mary and Matthew are trying to get in as much "summertime" activities as they can before school starts. Where does that leave me? I have assumed chief cook and bottle washer duties. There will be some adjustments but I think I can handle it.

Friday evening I arrived home from a week in the Midwest of which four of those days were spent in Illinois. In Iowa the family attended Kara's family reunion and celebrated her parent's 50th Wedding Anniversary. Afterwards, I made my way to Illinois to attend the Busker cousin reunion. These are my father's cousins. (They are pictured here standing around the last remaining sibling of my grandfather's). I spent the rest of my time reading through old consistory minutes and church documents in both the Baileyville Baptist and Reformed Churches. My parents and I drove around to different cemeteries finding relatives. Interesting thing about conducting research...answers only lead to more questions. As I read through the consistory minutes of the Baileyville Reformed Church, I noticed that my family's name would be recorded as either "Busker" or "Buisker". When my grandparents joined the church the minutes record their name as "Orin and Ellen Buisker". Headstones even contain different spellings. A great deal of this ambiguity has to do with my family trying to make sense of their identity as German-Americans living in rural Illinois during the First and Second World War. It was a time when speaking German in Illinois was against the law. Sometimes they went with the German spelling and other times they went with a more Americanized spelling and pronunciation. And to complicate matters futher, the Buiskers are from a part in Germany known as East Friesland. The Buiskers are Friesan which has its own language.

What am I doing? While many of these questions have no definite answers, there are great stories I want to record and tell. I will be spending my time recording the stories I learned, am learning and hope to continue to experience.

Home at Last

We've been home for a few days - but with a six-hour time difference, Noah needing to be in Amherst, Massachusetts on Saturday for a marching band camp and Kara reporting for her first day of work - the recovery has been slow. It's not long after supper that my eyes feel heavy and I hear the bed whispering for me to come and lie down. There is no rest for the weary. On Wednesday I pick Noah up from camp. On Thursday, Noah and I drive with Matthew and Mary to Iowa. Kara will fly out on Friday night. On Saturday, I will be conducting a memorial service for Kara's grandmother in the morning. At noon, the reunion of Kara's family begins along with her parent's 50 Anniversary celebration. The next morning, I drive Kara and Noah to Des Moines airport to catch a 7:15 am flight back to Newark. It is a whirlwind of a weekend.

This trip marks the second phase of my quest for information concerning my family. Sunday I will have the pleasure of attending the Busker Reunion. At that time I will inform them that they have been using the wrong name for a few generations. I will spend a few days reading through church archives in rural Baileyville, Illinois. I want to see what stories I might find about my family and their faith. I plan to be back in Oakland on Friday, August 12.

While I still have quite a bit of information, stories and experiences to process from Europe, I wanted to give you a few final numbers. The picture is of me driving our Peugeot 5008.

• Total miles driven: 2821 miles
• Top speed achieved on the autobahn: 112 MPH
  
• Average speed driven on the autobahn when permitted: 150 KPH (that's 93 MPH)
• Number of countries traveled through and/or visited: 6 (Switzerland, Germany, Netherlands, Austria, France and Italy).

Hello, Italy!

The family went up the French Alps in a cable car. Upon reaching the first stop at Plan De L'Aiguille, Kara decided she had gone high enough. Noah stayed with Kara as Mary, Matthew and I continued on to Aiguille Du Midi (elev. 12,604 feet) and then to Pointe Helbronner(elev. 11,358 feet). Helbronner is located on the French/Italian border. Upon our arrival, we walked across into Italy, enjoyed a Sprite and then returned back on a series of cable cars to Chamonix, France.

Tomorrow morning we will return to Geneva for a last dose of Swiss chocolate before heading to the airport on Thursday morning.

Final Stretch

The weather broke long enough for a great day to Neuschwanstein castle. The best way to view the castle is with a tour. We left Munich at 9:30 am by train. Spent a great deal of time hiking to the castle, touring the inside and then walking down. Finally, we took the two-hour train ride back to Munich. This is the castle that the Disney castle is based upon.

Tomorrow we leave Munich for France. It will be a long day in the car. We will drive through Austria and Switzerland to get to France. On Wednesday we will return to Geneva and repack for our return flight home on Thursday.

There is much to process from the four weeks we have been in Germany. From amazing sights to wonderful relatives the trip has been so much more than I ever anticipated. And yet, four weeks has been enough. Each of us is ready - for different reasons - to return home. Mary is tired of menus in German. Matt misses the dog and cats. Noah is tired of being around his brother and sister and following his parent's schedule. Kara is looking forward to being in familiar surroundings and catching up with friends. And me? There is something about being home that one does not get in a hotel or even in a rented apartment.

Buchenwald

They murdered those they considered not worthy of remaining alive.

Those were the words of Elie Wiesel, author and prisoner at Buchenwald Concentration Camp. Hearing the stories, seeing documentaries and visiting museums dedicated to the Holocaust are powerful tools in communicating the horrorific actions of the Nazi regime against Jews, Roma, Allied soldiers, the handicapped, homosexuals and others. It is quite another to stand in the midst of the concentration camp; to see the ovens in the crematory; to stand in a killing room. I can't tell you how many times I fought back the tears.

We returned to our apartment exhausted in more ways than one. Not everyone in the family wanted to visit the concentration camp, but it was necessary. Truth was necessary. Truth is necessary and Kara and I want our children to know the truth.

Esther

In preparation for the sabbatical, the church leadership discussed the possibility of someone dying during this time. I insisted that I would "step out" of the sabbatical for such times with the exception of when traveling in Europe. Little did the family and I realize that the death we might have to deal with would be within our family. This morning we learned that Kara's grandmother died yesterday afternoon. It is hard dealing with the loss of a loved one such as Esther. She was a strong woman of faith and conviction. No shades of grey with Esther. She told it the way it was. One never had to guess what Esther was thinking nor did anyone wonder what she believed. Esther believed in the Lord Jesus Christ and lived her faith with confidence.

For as much as I tried to plan what I wanted to learn during the sabbatical, the sabbatical is teaching us. One of the great lessons the family and I are learning is the importance of community. We had already begun to realize this, but it is at times like this that the need for community becomes even more pronounced.

We spent a little time today at the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church that was devestated during WW II. While we can't be among the Ponds' community, we found some comfort connecting in spirit with the greater community of faith.