We had a pastors summer retreat this week. We spent a few days on a camping site near Pärnu (which meant that me and my dad could drive back home for nights so that I could sleep in my own bed - yes, I'm tottaly getting old, thank you very much). Although I couldn't be there for the whole time, I still liked it a lot. There were some things that made me very glad about hanging out with other pastors and their families.

First, I enjoyed seeing the generational shift happening. It's not that I have anything against elderly people, of course not, but there's something very exciting and inspiring about young people taking over and claiming their place in this church. The younger generation outnumbered the older generation by far on this retreat. And that changed the energy and synergy between people. I really liked it.

Plus the fact that some of these guys are very dear friends of mine. One pastor's wife (a good friend from my teenage years - I can't even begin to count all the hours I've spent on her couch) is a hairdresser and so it was that on the first evening she opened an impromptu beauty parlour and we all got our hair cut one after the other (including me - I'm slightly obsessed when it comes to the length of my hair) as others were sitting and commenting. Oh, do I love those kind of moments! There was so much laughter and joking, and no-one was in a hurry. Good people I have in my life indeed.

And then there was one more thing I thought about when I left the retreat and sat on the bus back to Tartu today. I'm not sure I can put it into words properly but I got the feeling that I was actually being taken seriously. I remember last summer when some people really hurt me just by assuming I wasn't serious about pastoral work. But I think some things have changed. I was asked to participate in a panel discussion on Tuesday afternoon with some other pastors, and we talked about the church and society and their relationships and where we should/could be more vocal about things, etc. I could express my opinion and build arguments and voice my concerns - a bit of a left wingy as I am. And I felt people took me and my viewpoints serisously. This actually means a lot to me. Because I am very serious about my job and occasionally I'm seriously concerned about our church, and more than anything I'm serious about having a good theological basis for everything we do or don't do in this church.

Oh. One more thing, I almost forgot. There was this little kitchen on the camping site and you wouldn't believe - someone from our lot was listening to Bob Marley's music there at one point. I tried not to look too excited about it, I only mumbled 'he was a prophet' to myself and whistled the tune and smiled. That's all.