The Fifth Sunday of Epiphany
Sunday marked the return of sunshine to New York City, just in time for the Super Bowl, when no one goes outside anyway. It was sort of like that all day; things were on the mend but not everyone was around to notice. The boiler was repaired just in time for the warmer weather. Frances and I could both feel it as well as smell something very like wood burning. We decided it must have been incense and hoped it wasn't the church.
Lawrence, Russell, and New Peter were among the missing. And, after greeting me profusely, Usher Lady took up a post, normally unmanned, right next to my pew and remained there for the rest of the service.
The Rector gave the sermon. It was about salt, or to be more precise, that passage in Matthew 5:13-20 where Jesus says, "You are the salt of the earth." It was yet another demonstration of his ability to imbed an idea into your head long after the sermon is over and Coffee Hour has come and gone and after you've gone home and gone to bed. You can still wake up in the middle of the night and recall an image of camels carrying blocks of quarried salt across an Ethiopian desert while diners in a tourist hotel paused momentarily to mark their passing.
Coffee Hour was pleasant. Talked with Emily, James Sparks, John Emery, and Val. Parishioner X gave me a nice squeeze of the arm.
Richard introduced me to someone new, a young man named Ledger; I gather he's gay. He's already a Hospitality Committee regular even though at that particular moment, as he came forward to shake my hand, he seemed to be suffering from "Weird St. Michael's Overload". We'll see how long he lasts. Maybe, Richard is better at that sort of thing than I am.
Lawrence, Russell, and New Peter were among the missing. And, after greeting me profusely, Usher Lady took up a post, normally unmanned, right next to my pew and remained there for the rest of the service.
The Rector gave the sermon. It was about salt, or to be more precise, that passage in Matthew 5:13-20 where Jesus says, "You are the salt of the earth." It was yet another demonstration of his ability to imbed an idea into your head long after the sermon is over and Coffee Hour has come and gone and after you've gone home and gone to bed. You can still wake up in the middle of the night and recall an image of camels carrying blocks of quarried salt across an Ethiopian desert while diners in a tourist hotel paused momentarily to mark their passing.
Coffee Hour was pleasant. Talked with Emily, James Sparks, John Emery, and Val. Parishioner X gave me a nice squeeze of the arm.
Richard introduced me to someone new, a young man named Ledger; I gather he's gay. He's already a Hospitality Committee regular even though at that particular moment, as he came forward to shake my hand, he seemed to be suffering from "Weird St. Michael's Overload". We'll see how long he lasts. Maybe, Richard is better at that sort of thing than I am.