I just got off a plane a couple hours ago.  And 6 days ago, I had just gotten off a plane.  And a month ago, I had just gotten off a plane.  And two months ago.  And so on.  In fact, my facebook account today shows me that a year ago today I was anticipating getting on a plane the next day. It’s getting so we barely ever put suitcases away here.

In a little under two weeks, it will be back into “the friendly skies” again, this time to DC and then off to Palestine and Israel as an Ecumenical Accompanier for the World Council of Churches.  I don’t know where I will be living for the three months of my service; that information comes closer to departure, and although I have my preferences, I’m willing for the Jerusalem office to send me where I am most likely to do some good.

In the midst of all this, I was walking in a still wood in Maine this week, and this interior image is with me as a reminder of the quiet center of our lives where God continues to accompany us.  Francis of Assisi, who loved to pray in places like this, was a wanderer also, and reminds us to carry our hermitage with us wherever we go.

White Oak trail, Ferry Beach State Park, Maine