“I do not call you servants any longer, because the servant does not know what the master is doing, but I have called you friends, because I have made known to you everything that I have heard from my Father.”
(John 15:15)

My best friend Emilia and I met on our first day of Seminary at Andover Newton Theological School in Newton Centre, Massachusetts.  She’s also a UCC minister, so our nearly twenty years of friendship has seen us through new relationships, new apartments/parsonages/houses, new churches, and on and on.  Em and I hatched a plan at least a decade ago to visit Oxford, England together.  We were musing about her love of C.S. Lewis and my love of J.R.R. Tolkien (as one does) and that they taught together at Oxford University.  Tolkien and Lewis were part of The Inklings (an informal group of writers who met in Oxford, gathering nearly twice a week for many years to discuss their varied projects).  We decided then and there that we had to go on a best friend trip to England.

A few days after I turned 40, it finally happened! 

Some of us are connected on social media, so you’ve perhaps seen some of what I shared along the way about “Emilia & Lauren’s Grand Tour of the English Countryside.”  (Because this trip a decade in the making had to have a fun name after all)!  Em and I visited Oxford, Stonehenge, Avebury, Highclere Castle, Winchester, and Chatsworth House.  We stayed in a cottage on a working farm in Middleton Stoney (a little village outside of Oxford) and enjoyed some quiet time in the English countryside.  It was glorious, and experience after experience kept feeling like dreams were coming true.

As we were reflecting on our adventures before I journeyed back Tuesday morning (Em is on Sabbatical and remains in England), I reflected that I am just SO proud of us.  Because we really did it after all these years of talking about this trip.  And the timing couldn’t have worked out any better. 

Lest we forget, Jesus spoke about friendship.  Yes, his disciples were his followers. 
Though there is a beautiful moment in the Gospel according to John where Jesus calls his followers his friends.  Friendship is a blessing.
And I’m also glad to be back.  See you on Sunday!

Love,
Pastor Lauren

Photos by Rev. Lauren Ostrout of Magdalen College, Oxford University (top photo) & Hertford Bridge in Oxford (bottom photo).

Thursday Thoughts 8/22/24