Thinking Spot

I took another bus trip to Sacramento yesterday. A group of clergy I hang out with was having its annual Christmas gathering, a light-hearted meal followed by a white elephant gift exchange. We meet regularly throughout the year to discuss the challenges of ministry, share ideas about upcoming sermons, and pray for one another. I feel blessed to have found such a group of friends.

It's a 25-mile bus ride to downtown Sacramento; from there it's a short trip involving light rail and a city bus to our meeting location. However, I left home early in the morning, and had plenty of time. Downtown, I found a coffee shop next to the light rail station. I ordered a green tea, found a small table in the back, and started writing. It was strangely pleasant. This aspect of city life is new and unfamiliar to me. As an added benefit, I had fewer distractions. My office is in my house (which is across the street from the church), and sometimes it's hard to write when the dirty dishes in the sink are calling to me... not to mention the kids making noise in the hall outside my door.

Since this would be my first time riding Sacramento's light rail, I left the coffee shop a little early so that I could figure out how to purchase my ticket and reach my destination across town. Eventually I arrived within one short block of my destination. I walked that one block as others in the group pulled up in their cars. My clergy friends, most of whom would never take public transportation (they're Californians, after all), thought I was a little crazy. That didn't bother me, though, because all of us already know that we are all just a little crazy. Why else would we have gone into ministry?

When our gathering was over, the bus and light rail brought me back to downtown Sacramento. This time I walked into the Central Library, and found a desk next to a window on the third floor. A very nice "thinking spot" where I could finish my day. As daylight faded outside the window, I finished my sermon for Sunday, an essay for my column in the local newspaper, and began my article for next month's church newsletter.

Crazy I may be, but I think I'd like to do this again sometime.