For religious professionals, contemplating a sabbatical.
by Rev. Darcey Laine (she/her/hers)
We are probably expecting too many (sometimes contradictory) things of the religious professional’s sabbatical. We want to build our skills, to return refreshed and renewed with a clarified sense of calling, with fresh stories and ideas, ready to begin a new chapter.
In practice, the sabbatical often becomes time for all the things humans need that get squeezed out in the life of a religious professional. Perhaps you need to grieve. Perhaps you need to restore neglected relationships or webs of connection. Sometimes sabbatical time is even used in the place of medical leave — for a planned surgery, or an unanticipated health need that only emerges once we have time to notice our body or received deferred medical attention. Sometimes a sabbatical becomes family leave to care for young children or other family members. For many religious professionals, sabbatical leave is being used to recover from burnout.
I would encourage anyone anticipating a sabbatical to spend time in discernment, perhaps with a coach, clearness committee or spiritual director, to notice what you most need– body, mind, heart and spirit. Perhaps you need a new intellectual challenge, and want to take a sabbatical semester at a local university. Perhaps you are looking for a spiritual sabbatical, wanting to renew your connection with the divine, and renew your spiritual practices. No matter our other learning goals, I suspect any religious professional’s body and heart could easily use the length of a sabbatical to allow systems to repair themselves and to learn and implement health-sustaining practices.
For any of these transformations, it is not enough simply to be apart. Like the flame which transforms, change needs a container to protect the flame from winds that may blow it out, says Joshua Michael Schrei. There are many strong cultural and collective forces that pull at us, like a leaf drifting in a breeze, and not all those forces support our growth, renewal and deepening.
The container will be different for each religious professional, depending on their hoped-for transformation, and the context of their lives. Some religious professionals travel for their sabbatical, but many stay home for family or financial reasons. It can be hard to maintain a period of transformation when so much of life is the same. Perhaps you have a book that you’ve been longing to write- what kind of container would help you do that? Perhaps a writers’ group and an appealing writing space would help. If you know you have unprocessed grief, who or what can best support you in moving through that process? For a spiritual sabbatical, having a reflection group, or regular meetings with a spiritual director can be extremely helpful. Many areas have local retreat centers and events to give “time apart” even if one cannot travel far. Exploring local resources can be extremely helpful in creating a supportive container for a “stay-batical” as well as helping us bring the gifts of sabbatical back with us after our return to ordinary time.
For folks who share a home with other people, I invite you to have a conversation with them about how they can help you create the container you need. Perhaps there are certain times or spaces which everyone can agree are set aside for sabbatical work. Whether you spend your sabbatical time in your living room or traveling abroad it will impact others in your home. It’s good to have a conversation beforehand about your dreams, the support you would like from them, and the support they might need from you.
I often have times during a sabbatical when I wonder “am I doing it? Am I missing the whole thing? What if I get to the end of my sabbatical and don’t feel renewed and inspired?” Having a person or a group you check in with regularly can help hold the container.
As with fire, if the container is too constraining, the fire will suffocate. The book of Exodus[i] talks about letting the fields lay fallow on the 7th year — but fallow does not mean non-doing. Anyone who has let their garden go untended for a year knows that all kinds of things sprout up: the things which need that uncultivated soil, the things the soil needs. The same passage advises that we let the fruits lie, so that the hungry people and wild animals may eat. As with the fallow field, I invite you to allow your goals and plans to change as your inner wisdom speaks, as dormant seeds or roots long buried come alive. I encourage folks to worry less about harvesting the fruits while you are on sabbatical, instead letting the long-hungry parts and the wild parts of ourselves be nourished. There will be time enough to sow and harvest when we return.
Schrei also notes that transformation, like fire, takes friction. Friction could be trying something new, it could be a goal, it could be a challenge, or it could simply be an intention. This can change day by day; “Today I want to learn something new” “Today I want to feel what my heart feels.” This intention, goal or challenge gives us strength to resist the cultural expectations of ordinary time, to make the sabbatical a time for transformation. Sabbatical time is counter-cultural, and friction helps us resist.
In creating your container, consider how you will give yourself opportunities to integrate the gifts and challenges of your sabbatical. Once we are back at work, our sabbatical can feel like a distant dream. I encourage folks to plan time toward the end of their sabbatical and again as you transition back into your work to reflect on your sabbatical time: what moments ask to be remembered? What graces and blessings did you receive? What do you want to integrate back into your life and ministry? What feels unfinished? Something as simple as a day in the park with your journal, or a conversation with a spiritual companion can help you process and stay with nourishing morsels that might easily be swept away in the busyness of ordinary life.
But what about the board (or your supervisor), you might ask? Will they approve my plan? Start first with that deep discernment work- what you really need. Once you are clear about that, it’s a separate task to help your board or supervisor understand how it helps them too. Perhaps a Good Offices person, a coach or your regional staff can help you put your intention into language that makes sense to your board or supervisor, and help you negotiate a mutually agreeable plan.
Blessings for discerning what you most need for renewal and inspiration. Blessings for a container that will hold and support you in your process. Blessings for the spark to ignite the transformation you long for. And blessings for a return, grounded in yourself, to know the place for the first time.
[i] Exodus 23:10-11
Sabbatical Year and Sabbath
For six years you shall sow your land and gather in its yield; but the seventh year you shall let it rest and lie fallow, so that the poor of your people may eat; and what they leave the wild animals may eat. You shall do the same with your vineyard, and with your olive orchard.