Wild Goose Journal: #1 Prepared for Everything?

 Wildgoose Journal 1#: 

Prepared for Everything?

Last Wednesday morning, Ian and I filled up our Subaru with all the provisions we needed for our annual “glamping” trip to the Wildgoose Festival in Union Grove, NC. ( If you would like to learn more about the Festival, go to: https://wildgoosefestival.org/

The list of what to bring was quite extensive: Clothes for the variety of weather we would experience, water for hydration, power bars - for what else but energy, camp chairs, cash for concessions and and a notebook to gather ideas and inspiration from over 300 classes, workshops, lectures, table talks, music and art exhibits! In addition to the official opportunities for learning, there are the in-between conversations that fill every pocket of time with joy and wonder. We were prepared to take in what we could - all the while knowing there is no way to experience everything the event offers. It’s just not humanly - or physically possible to do so. 

I know that this is true -  but it can be tempting in such an oasis of opportunity - to try to do it all. That is, until something happens to remind us that we are people - not machines. 

A certain “something” occurred that I was NOT prepared for. 

As I sat in my Thursday session, taking in wisdom from Brian McLaren, Kate Rademacher, and Brian Allain, I noticed tiny little bumps forming on my right arm and fingers of my right hand. The longer I sat in my session, trying to focus on what was being said, I saw the rash growing rapidly and said to myself, “It’s probably just a heat rash.” 

By the afternoon, I stopped by the Ranger station to see if they had any cream to help with the itchy rash. When I showed them my harm they knew what this something was: POISON IVY! The ranger loaded me up with calamine lotion and cream and said:

Do not touch the rash. Do not scratch. Do not shake anyone’s hand! Come back if it spreads!!!

This “something” was a "something" I was not prepared for. 

This “something” made me adjust my plans. 

This “something” had some wisdom to offer. 

We are people - not machines. 

I was not happy about having to adjust and to do things differently - but the Camp Doc was serious that this “something” was a need I could not ignore or “power through”. 

I needed to shift - for my well-being and that of others - to a new way of being in that place. 

We are people - not machines. 

The “something” we don’t expect can have something to teach us. 

It causes a shift of routine. It connects us to people we never would have met. It helps us to be reminded that we (I) am not a machine, but a beloved person of God. It reminded me that care and rest - (and yes) even a trip to Urgent Care is the “something” we may need.

Proverbs 20 speaks of how all our steps are ordered or led by God/Creator. As I read that text I recall how the “something” of poison ivy reordered my plans. Not that this misfortune was given to me by God/Creator - buy how that “something” gave me an opportunity to do/be/live in a way that I might have missed if “something” hadent’ shown up. 

I am a person - not a machine! (Say it with me!)

This year at the Wildgoose Festival was different than I had expected it to be, not because of the Festival, but because of my own need for care, compassion and lots, and lots of Calamine Lotion. 

• As we walk through this last week of July of 2023, where do you notice “something” unexpected. 

• What might that “something” be offering you? 

• How might that “something” teach you a lesson of compassion and care?

So here is to all the “somethings” that reorder the plan, the hope, the goal. While we may not be prepared for all the “somethings”; there is something to learn from them - always.

We are people - not machines. 

Sincerely Coated in Calamine,

Rev. Tara L. Eastman

PS> To learn more about reclaiming rest and sabbath, go to this week’s Holy Shenanigans Podcast titled: Reclaiming Rest.