I weep and I wail when I think of death
Funeral today for the newly-departed +Maria Redko, mother of the wife of our choir director Sergei. It was my second Orthodox funeral (sufitom's being the first. I can never get through the "last kiss" stikhiri without losing it. I'd never even had the opportunity to meet Maria because she was already a patient at the nearby assisted-living facility when I first dumped myself on the church doorstep. I suppose it might have been easier if I wasn't on somewhat close terms with the family; it's tough watching people hug and kiss the mortal remains of their mother for the last time in this life. When you're trying to contribute something to the choir, it's a worse problem because you can't really sing and sob at same time, you know?
Didn't go to the burial because it was over an hour away and I had students in the afternoon followed by the prison. A few inmates mentioned to us this evening that they're being released this week; I'm so happy and hopeful for them and, in the most optimistic sense of the statement, hope that I don't see them next week- at least not within those walls.
I've been going to the prison for about 8 months now; there are some inmates who have been extremely faithful and consistent in their attendance at our sessions. A few weeks ago I gave a study Bible to Ed, one of those such inmates; we chatted briefly tonight and he is loving it. The prison is required to provide Bibles to anyone who requests them, but they usually only contain the Protestant canon and have no study help. It's better than nothing, of course, but Ed is Catholic and this Bible I hooked him up with is the softcover New American Study Bible. I'm so happy that he's pleased with it, since I know he's been "auditioning" different Bibles since I met him in November. Good stuff.
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