Bishop's Perspective
Bishop Chamberlain Shares His Letter To The Rev. Frank M. "Bob" Bostick, Superintendent Of The Maryville District:

Dear Bob,

You told me a while ago that you were still trying to figure me out – what makes me tick. Well, I have often wondered about that, too! But now I have a fresh insight into who I am.

My father had a good deal of Irish blood in him. He relished life as much as anyone I have ever known. He was constantly awed by creation. He took thousands of pictures of flowers, mountains, valleys and streams. He traveled the world and captured on film the faces of countless boys and girls whom he dearly loved. I heard him say hundreds of times, "She/he is the most beautiful child I have ever seen!" He meant it. His laughter was contagious. His energy, boundless. He imaged Jesus who set his face like a flint toward Jerusalem.

I have a lot of my dad in me.

And then there is my mother. Her favorite animal is a turtle. She seldom, if ever, becomes excitable. She is reflective. She ponders and mulls. Once during a childhood birthday party in her honor, someone finally missed her. She had gone to her room to read a book. At age 94 she still loves her books and quiet. She is stimulated by conversation about life issues, soul issues, and social issues. She is not petty. She has a reverence for creation. She loves God with all her heart. I have a lot of my mother in me.

Bob, the new insight into myself is that I am half my dad, half my mother. I am intense and driven as well as reflective and instinctive. During Lent I am especially conscious of this tension within me. Part of me yearns to retreat to quiet. To read. To pray. To ponder. To just be. The other part of me wants to engage the church and the world in confronting the claims of Christ. I love to pour energy into the challenge at hand. I am task oriented and soul oriented! I am motivated and stimulated by the outer and the inner.

So here I am in the middle of Lent obsessed with preaching, worship, witnessing, planning, and appointment making. Yet I am hungry to nourish my soul through the disciplines of devotion and retreat.

What gives me courage is Jesus, who struggled to find balance between his need for time alone with God and for doing the work of his father who sent him.

My struggle is to keep these competing forces in my life in a healthy tension rather than a destructive tension. I never get it quite right. But Lent helps me to be aware of the tension and to prayerfully seek the balance God intends for me. Well, this is who I am and who I am becoming.

May these be good days for you as you prepare for retirement at Annual Conference. I hold you with respect and appreciation. Your ministry is a blessing to many and an inspiration to me.

Grace and peace, Ray

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