The Bearded Baptist in Europe #4

An On Second Thought Special Series

The Bearded Baptist in Europe
Week Four: And These Things Endure
A Sabbatical Travelogue by Dr. Dock Hollingsworth

This week, we are in Rome, "the Eternal City." In the last two days, I’ve seen 3000 year old columns and 600 year old paintings, and walked on the same mosaic tile floors that some of the New Testament kings walked on. This has caused me to reflect this week on things that endure.

In Rome, some of what has endured is accidental. Folks would start digging to put in a basement and find a column from centuries ago and then find ways to preserve their wonderful accidental finding. The column may or may not have been significant in antiquity, but it’s treasured now just because it is old. Other enduring artifacts have survived the centuries because of their beauty, excellence, artistry. The Bernini fountains, the sculptures by Michelangelo, the paintings of Raphael, were valued at the time and preserved because of an obvious and enduring beauty.

I have wondered this week what of my time on this earth will last longer than my days. I can’t paint. The sabbatical has given me the space to think about my ministry, my particular gifts, the importance of staying focused on what I have to offer a hurt and broken world. My reflections are still unformed; I am still ruminating and praying and trying to discern how to come back to you as the best version of myself and the best pastor that I can be. The only sure puzzle piece in place is that it will center on relationships.

A few weeks ago, I learned that my friend Gary Poe, a history professor at Palm Beach Atlantic University, was going to be in Rome at the same time as Melissa and me. We made plans for dinner and he said that he was bringing a friend who was traveling with him and his undergraduate students. Melissa and I beat them to the restaurant and Gary arrived to the table surprising me with my closest friend from high school, Sam Harris. We talked and laughed and sat for a long time at a corner table. After, we went for gelato and took a selfie in front of a Bernini fountain. I realized that relationships with texture and pain and laughter and years are more valuable to me than the timeless marble art of this beautiful city. I want relationships that endure. I hope to return with a new focus on time spent building those with you.

I love being your pastor,
Dock