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.

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Uphill idealist

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