As part of my continuing work with my Sabbatical Supervisor, even though the official "time away" piece of the Sabbatical has ended, I recently read a fascinating article on the power of positive emotions.

In a study undertaken by Epidemiologist David Snowden, 678 aging nuns who had been asked to write a personal essay about why they came into the order, at their time of entry. Years later Snowden found that those whose writing expressed a preponderance of positive emotions (happiness, love, hope, gratitude, contentment) tended to live longer and have more productive lives. In fact those with the highest number of positive-emotions sentences had half the risk of death at any age as those with the lowest number of such sentences. 

The same article also noted that just as we have to exercise physical muscles to keep them healthy, the same is true with our emotional muscles. One of the greatest resources for exercising our emotional muscles is regular engagement in an absorbing, enriching, enlightening activity. Such activities might include singing in a choir, gardening, playing a sport. Conversely surfing the net or watching TV may actually have the opposite emotional effect. Prolonged television watching has actually been found to cause increased anxiety and low-level depression.

By exercising our emotional muscles we allow them to be renewed so that when we do encounter stressful and challenging situations we are better able to cope. Throughout his Ministry Jesus experienced many difficult times, conflicts, violent opposition, betrayal. Yet he also took time to withdraw and pray. Lately I have rediscovered the value of a daily sitting practice of meditation and prayer. For me this practice enables me to feel more grounded as I go into my day and face whatever might lie ahead. I invite you to discover your own emotional exercises, not just for your own health, but for the health of the planet.

Well it's hard to believe but the three months are over and my Sabbatical has come to an end. I officially started back to work yesterday and this Sunday, July 4th, will be my first Sunday back leading Worship at Three Willows.

Over the past couple of days I have met many friends here at Three Willows, the greetings have without exception been very warm and welcoming, and I feel very blessed to be part of such a warm supportive community of faith. A couple of folks have said, "Welcome home", and I must admit to at first being a little taken aback by this greeting. There is part of me that wants to say, "No, this is not my home, my home is in downtown Guelph, where I have built a haven, a sanctuary with my partner Moragh and our 4 pets, a home that is often filled with the presence of our children and grandson, family and friends." But then when I stop to think about it a little more, I see that Three Willows is my home, my spiritual home, and the people here are part of my family. So I guess it is good to be back home!

Over the next few weeks I look forward to meeting many more of my Three Willows family members. I also look forward to having an opportunity to share my gratitude for the gift of my Sabbatical, some of my insights and learning, and also to learn about what my Church family has been up to and where their journey has taken them, during my absence. It is good to be back home!

One of my tasks for the learning piece of this Sabbatical is to write a personal Mission Statement. Most of us are, or have been, involved in organizations with clearly defined mission statements, just this past spring the Three Willows Church Council updated ours. Such statements can be really helpful in guiding activity and setting direction. A personal Mission Statement functions in a similar fashion. It is if you like a compass that enables you to stay on track so that your attention and energy is not pulled in too many different directions.

Good Mission Statements should be brief, one or two sentences maximum, they should involve action words, be easily understood by a 12 year old, and easily committed to memory. Once you have formulated one it is helpful to write it out and display it in a place that will remind you of the direction you have set.

One of the ways to get started is to ask yourself, given the fact that God calls us to live with and for others, where does my passion (what I get energized doing) intersect or connect, with the needs of others around me who are hurting or in need?

So for example if your passion is baking and there are many people living in poverty in your neighbourhood you might see your mission as helping to set-up and work in a drop-in centre.  Or if you have a passion for sports and there are many children and teens in your area with no opportunities for organized play outside school, you might feel called to organize an afterschool sports program. 

For me my Mission Statement, which at this point continues to be a work in progress, enables me to live my live more faithfully and intentionally.  How about you?

During my Sabbatical I continue to meet with my Mentor and a colleague. This is a relationship that I have appreciated for the past four years. This past Tuesday when the three of us met, Bill my Mentor suggested that I need to keep track of two types of learning during this time of study and development. One is the more technical book related theory and practice that is part of the whole Transformational Leadership focus of my Sabbatical.

An example of this would be the chapter that I just finished reading in "The Practice of Adaptive Leadership: Tools and Tactics for Changing Your Organization and the World" by Ronald Heifetz, Alexander Grashow and Marty Linsky. Today's reading outlined four archetypes of adaptive challenges. Briefly these are: gap between espoused values and behaviours; competing commitments; speaking the unspeakable; work avoidance. Each of these archetypes has its own unique set of characteristics and thus requires a unique response.

The second type of learning is what I have characterized as "life skills", the deeper reflective part that comes when you stop and take a serious look at yourself, where you've been, where you are now, and where you want to go. One of my recent discoveries in this area is that during the first 20 years of formal Ministry I relied heavily on "youthful energy" to get me through difficult, tough or challenging times. Although this served me well, I began the first half of my Ministry at age 27, I am embarking on the next half at age 47; and although some days I still feel like I am 27 (or even 17!) this is not always the case. The challenge is therefore to discover new ways to work smarter not harder.

Each one of us is surrounded by experienced and wise people who pass their knowledge to us through writing, video and other forms of communication. What a blessing it is to be continually exploring and learning. But in addition to this outside wisdom we need to take the time to listen to the wisdom that comes from within. We are much wiser than we give ourselves credit for. During his Ministry Jesus continually took the time to be apart from his followers to connect to that wise inner voice, that divine spark within. As his followers we would do well to follow his example.

One of the major differences inherent in Transformational Leadership (TL) is a shift in the starting point for new initiative and following this the steps that come after. In her article "Transforming Leadership in the United Methodist Church", Anne M. Dilenschneider begins with renewal as opposed to vision.

For me this was a major shift as in my experience in the Church we have always begun any initiative, project, or ministry by first of all defining our vision, then our mission, then formulating a plan, which we take to the people. This model can be defined as classical Transactional Leadership.

In Transformation Leadership, you begin with renewal, that is a radical openness to the Spirit and an adventure into the unknown. Next comes belonging, which is defined as connecting people to God's mission in the world. Another way of putting this is helping others develop a sense of belonging to something greater than themselves. When this happens you are ready to move onto safety/structure, which is when people feel confident enough to try something new and perhaps even more important feel that they are willing to fail. What a difference this would make in our congregations - if we gave each other permission to fail! Finally the fourth step is significance and meaning, which is when the community is willing to try something that will be its unique gift to the coming of the Kingdom.

In John 4:1-41 we have a wonderful example of this process in Jesus' encounter with the Samaritan woman at the well. Here she is radically open to the Spirit as she encounters Jesus at Jacob's well (renewal). In the conversation that follows (the longest recorded conversation involving Jesus in any of the Gospel accounts) Jesus meets her need for belonging and respect (belonging). Jesus provides the information that she needs to feel safe and to risk witnessing to his presence (safety/structure). With it she goes off to do something of great significance and brings others to meet Jesus (significance and meaning).

Although this shift may seem small, its significance lies in its radically different starting point. For it assumes not that a vision is something that we come up with on our own, but instead that renewal is God's work. By allowing ourselves to be fully open to the Spirit and its leading we do not assume to know the answer to the question, "Where does our deep gladness meet the world's deep hunger?" But instead are open to all possibilities and the invitation to an adventure into the unknown.