I feel a little nostalgic as I write this. It’s my 35th birthday and my final few weeks of work before I receive six months of sabbatical. My community has generously offered me a time of sabbatical rest. I am incredibly thankful, but, I must admit, it is also difficult to leave.
Sabbatical is a practice of humility because it means that you release what you “do” for a time and let it lie fallow, just as in Leviticus 25 the Israelites were told to allow the land to lie fallow every seventh year, unsown and unharvested. You stop, rest and let it go into God’s hands and the hands of your community. You acknowledge that you have something very valuable to offer and are important to many people — but life can go on without the work you offer. You wait and see what grows outside of your own efforts, as the land produces on its own.
I was 25 when I started editing The Cry, and over the last 10 years I have seen 39 issues go to print. When I started, it was just me, a clunky PC with a newly installed copy of Adobe InDesign (v1.5!), and a handful of WMF staff writers who enthusiastically sent me articles to print. I started out with a commitment to praying the work as Mother Teresa taught us to do. From day one, the Fleshies have continually inspired and overwhelmed me with their investment in this publication. Because of our staff’s excellent contributions, I would argue that The Cry is the best expression of a collective “us” that we can tangibly hold in our hands.
In recent years, I have been privileged to have Mandy Mowers and Jara Sturdivant join the team. The Cry has only gotten better since they arrived! So during my six months of sabbatical, I am leaving The Cry in very capable hands. Mandy will be the acting editor during my absence, and Jara will continue to create beautiful layout and design. Our faithful editorial committee will keep speaking into the contributions as only their wonderful minds can do. And, as always, our staff will keep sharing stories that we all need to hear.
So I look forward to seeing you again in Spring 2010. I can’t wait to see what has grown!