A look back over 2020? Perhaps that’s something you’d rather not do. We all hope we won’t have a repeat of that year. But, there are some things about 2020 worth lifting up. Some are personal, others are broader. Rather than a “Best of” I’ll lean into “My Favorites.”

First, I must confess to reduced travel as my number one positive for 2020. Since 2012, I’ve put an average of 35,000 miles a year on my car, slept an average of one month per year away from home and sati in uncomfortable cramped seats on airplanes an average of 12 flights per year. I recognize there are others who could easily double or triple those figures. But for me, the novelty of the travel for work wore off a while ago. When the Pandemic hit last spring and I was forced to work from home, I realized how much I needed a break from the road.

Second, I began a training program Spiritual Direction with the Haden Institute in 2020. The program shifted from in person retreat to Zoom. Candidly, it worked fine for me. This program has reconnected me with several of the major influences that brought me into a life of faith. Namely, the Spirituality of the Christian Mystics and the Depth Psycholoogy of Carl Jung, Marie Louise Von Franz and Anne Belford Ulanov. I connected with a new Spiritual Director which has been very helpful.

Third, I rediscovered nature. That sounds odd, but it’s true. I spent more time outside in 2020 than I have in decades. This included building a raised bed vegetable garden, walks in a nearby Wildlife Refuge as well as bicycle rides throughout Rhode Island. Along with these activities, or maybe because oof them, I reconnected with Larry Rassmussen’s excellent book Earth Honoring Faith. Larry was my wife’s PhD professor, and his work in the connection between ecology, ethics and theology is some of the best writing.

Fourth, I’m learning more about Race relations and I notice more of our congregations are engaged in this important topic. I read several books and had more honest conversations with people who have a different life experience than I do. Fanny Brewster’s The Racial Complex has helped me understand some of the deeper roots of racism. I know a lot of people who are older and white and raised in middle class or up households have a hard time with this subject. One of my challenges is how to help us engage this topic in a way that allows for honesty and growth.

Fifth, we got our financial house in order. This has been a four year project for my wife and I. We made a commitment to this project following our sabbatical in 2017, and the plan worked. I’ve learned a ton about personal finance, retirement planning and the psychology and spirituality of money. One of the surprising, though it shouldn’t be, lessons of this project is that when you get your S&!+ together financially, you realize a whole lot of emotional and intellectual freedom.

There are other lessons learned, movies watched (have you seen Soul on Disney +) books read, etc. But these are the top five. A reminder for me that even in the midst of all that was awful about 2020 (and it was just plane horrible) I was able to find some good things. I hope you can find some as well.