Hello, Everyone!
I have several things to share with you as we begin the month of April…
(1) If you have followed Oboedire in 2013, you have probably noticed a lot of extra postings. I go through “seasons” in my writing, and I don’t completely understand it myself. I just have to write when something is burning in my heart.
But…enough is enough. I have “emptied my pen.” It is time to lay it down and rest for a while. So…no posts in April, except for the “Holy Gospel” writing each Saturday.
You can use the month as a time to review previous posts, or maybe catch up on some you bypassed. Or…maybe you’ll just want to take a break with me. No matter. It will be a good month.
Postings will resume on Monday, May 6th. If you’re a subscriber, it will pop up automatically on that day. If not, just mark your calendars and plan to resume checking the Oboedire site that day.
(2) Don’t forget about the Archives icon on the Oboedire home page. It can take you to previous subject postings. As new people join the Oboedire family, I want to keep reminding you about the Archives. These can be good studies for you, and you may also find that you can use them in small-groups.
(3) Another reminder—the Doctor of Ministry program in Wesleyan practices at Ashland Theological Seminary (seminary.ashland.edu). If you’re looking for a good doctoral-level experience, this one could be it. Also, if you know clergy who are at a point where they want to do some further study, please pass the word along to them. I teach the “Introduction to Wesleyan Spirituality” course this coming September.
Well….that’s it for now. See you back here in early May!
Oboedire 
Dear Rev Harper,
How clever of God to point me to you just on the day that you announce your “sabbatical.” If I thought God were a practitioner, I might suspect an “April Fools!” right about now. But I suspect I am not alone in my wandering as your article in the most recent Upper Room falls to today’s “date” so others may happen in. I am not clergy but I am a Christian writer (who blogs nearly daily at http://kinestheticchristian.wordpress.com/) and I am delighted to find you here. I have recently been investigating Benedict’s Rules and the Desert Fathers and so I will delve into your archives until you return. I VERY much admire and appreciate your structure and organization. Thank you and may God bless you as you refill your pen.
Wendy LeBolt
Dear Steve
A senior colleague, now now longer with us, used to refer to certain books in his library as “Friends”..I first met you in “John Wesley’s Message for Today” many years ago, and, since then in articles in Upper Room. websites, and just recently in Oboedire. How I relish the friendship of your writings, and am cherishing still your recent Holy Week and Easter blogs. I’m looking forward to the Archives!
Thank you! The Lord bless you in this “season” when, I suspect, God will be rotating the crops a bit.
John