Intersection March 5, 2017
Arrived at Intersection just in time to get tapped as chalice holder for Communion. One looke at the assembled gave me a clue as to what was going on. Almost all the old hands - but one - were no-shows and that person was Hairshirt Lady. HL has had her run-ins with the clergy in the past and it was clear from the look on the Assistant Rector's face that I would be doing her a big favor not to have to relinquish the chalice to another one of HL's imperious tour de forces.
The AR was treading on thin ice as it was by introducing a new form of prayer than the normal shouted out version. She had carefully seeded the sanctuary with strips of paper carefully scribed with sections of the Great Litany and when the appointed moment came around, we dispersed among the sanctuary like in an Easter egg hunt to retrieve the strips of paper. That was all we were permitted to read during the Prayers of the People and it went smoothly.
She chided herself later on in the Lower Sacristy for going on a little over time during the homily, but, it seemed worth it. She talked a little bit about Dostoevsky and "The Brother Karamazov" and from what I could tell, it made for some good group conversations during feedback portion of the service.
The Eucharist went well, although I realized just before it started that Hairshirt Lady had placed herself immediately to the AR's right. It's my understanding that people who stand there are often chosen to be chalice bearers; I think HL might have been disappointed when she wasn't.
As I went around the circle with the cup, the most immediate feeling I experienced was basically greeting everyone who attended. The wiping and turning of the glass after each swig was beginning to feel more natural although I was always relieved when anyone chose the intincture method of using their bread to dip into the cup for a drop of the wine. So much easier on the chalice holder. There were a brace of four bread-dippers one right after the other at the end of the circle so, you can imagine my surprise when Hairshirt Lady suddenly grabbed the chalice towel from my hand, wiped the cup herself and then handed it back to me. In twenty years of liturgical worship, I'd never seen anything like it.
I caught up with Huggy Bear after the Benediction. It was his turn on the hospitality rotation. The big news, of course, was his trip to visit Crosby and it confirmed several theories of mine. First, there is a more or less informal embargo on tagging Crosby in Facebook photos. Huggy Bear's smartphone was fairly bursting with pictures of he and Innamorata traipsing the surrounding parks or relaxing at home that will never see the light of day. I was in hog heaven.
Secondly, I got a clearer picture of the transportation situation out there. Huggy tried to soft pedal the amount of actual driving people have to do in order to get anywhere by pointing out how cheap it is to order an Uber driver at almost any time. Nevertheless, I only spotted one picture of the three of them at a pub of any sort. I mean, who the heck wants to be a designated driver?
Which brings me to the third an last part of the equation: be prepared to spend the night because it's the only safe way to get a bun on:
The AR was treading on thin ice as it was by introducing a new form of prayer than the normal shouted out version. She had carefully seeded the sanctuary with strips of paper carefully scribed with sections of the Great Litany and when the appointed moment came around, we dispersed among the sanctuary like in an Easter egg hunt to retrieve the strips of paper. That was all we were permitted to read during the Prayers of the People and it went smoothly.
She chided herself later on in the Lower Sacristy for going on a little over time during the homily, but, it seemed worth it. She talked a little bit about Dostoevsky and "The Brother Karamazov" and from what I could tell, it made for some good group conversations during feedback portion of the service.
The Eucharist went well, although I realized just before it started that Hairshirt Lady had placed herself immediately to the AR's right. It's my understanding that people who stand there are often chosen to be chalice bearers; I think HL might have been disappointed when she wasn't.
As I went around the circle with the cup, the most immediate feeling I experienced was basically greeting everyone who attended. The wiping and turning of the glass after each swig was beginning to feel more natural although I was always relieved when anyone chose the intincture method of using their bread to dip into the cup for a drop of the wine. So much easier on the chalice holder. There were a brace of four bread-dippers one right after the other at the end of the circle so, you can imagine my surprise when Hairshirt Lady suddenly grabbed the chalice towel from my hand, wiped the cup herself and then handed it back to me. In twenty years of liturgical worship, I'd never seen anything like it.
I caught up with Huggy Bear after the Benediction. It was his turn on the hospitality rotation. The big news, of course, was his trip to visit Crosby and it confirmed several theories of mine. First, there is a more or less informal embargo on tagging Crosby in Facebook photos. Huggy Bear's smartphone was fairly bursting with pictures of he and Innamorata traipsing the surrounding parks or relaxing at home that will never see the light of day. I was in hog heaven.
Secondly, I got a clearer picture of the transportation situation out there. Huggy tried to soft pedal the amount of actual driving people have to do in order to get anywhere by pointing out how cheap it is to order an Uber driver at almost any time. Nevertheless, I only spotted one picture of the three of them at a pub of any sort. I mean, who the heck wants to be a designated driver?
Which brings me to the third an last part of the equation: be prepared to spend the night because it's the only safe way to get a bun on: