Looking Back; Looking Forward

2014: A year of rest and work; endings and beginnings; joy and loss; despair and hope ... basically, a year of the stuff of life. Here's a tip-of-the-iceberg look back at the Old Year on this first day of the New Year:

I had the gift of three months of sabbatical to begin the year: a time of rest, reflection, recreation, reading and writing. #Blessed

Such an extraordinary privilege to be part of the A050 Task Force on the Study of Marriage -- charged by General Convention 2012 to report our work back to the church at General Convention 2015. (Coming soon to a Blue Book near you!) #MarriageMatters

In March we lost our sweet Juno to the rapid onset of an aggressive immune disorder. She was quite literally one of the best dogs ever -- never letting the fact that she was blind slow her down for a nanosecond -- and we're still grateful for the gift of her in our lives. #DogsRule

Also in March I attended my first Planned Parenthood National Conference in Washington. As a member of the Clergy Advocacy Board got to be part of the work of lobbying for women's reproductive justice on Capitol Hill -- and hanging out with some amazingly powerful women. The theme of the conference was "Stronger Together" ... and we are, indeed! #EndTheWarOnWomen

A Happy Easter was had by all. #AlleluiaAlleluia

June was "Happily Ever After" month for us as we were married (in the sight of God and the State of California) at All Saints Church. The best wedding in the history of marriage was followed by ...

... the best honeymoon in the history of weddings. #MauiBliss

In July I had the OMG, totally out of the blue, unanticipated honor of being a guest in the East Room of the White House to witness President Obama signing the executive order ending workplace discrimination against LGBT people. My HuffPost piece is here ... truly an historic, once-in-a-lifetime gig. #SoGrateful

Freed from the clutches of the evil McCorts my Dodgers had a great year -- which even the messed up no-Dodgers-on-local-TV-unless-you-have-Time Warner snafu or their less that brilliant playoff performance could ruin. #GoBlue

Two announcement of impending retirement came in 2014, with both Ed Bacon (my rector at All Saints Church) and Jon Bruno (my bishop here in the Diocese of Los Angeles) called for selection/election of their successors in 2016. #EndOfAnEra

My son James William (Jamie to his mom) Russell graduated from Western Kentucky University with a BA in social studies and education -- and plans to continue on to graduate school in January. #SoProud

The two steps forward, one step back on that journey along the arc of history that bends toward justice continued with major victories on marriage equality and FINALLY gaining approval for women as bishops in the Church of England -- while the work of dismantling racism, standing against torture and gun violence and a host of other challenges continues. #LaLuchaContinua

My QOTD to start the New Year is also a great one to mark the end of the Old Year: this favorite from Sister Joan Chittister. #HappyNewYear