The Second Sunday of Lent
Well, there's nothing like Lent to stir up the emotions, even in a church known for its self-medicatingly, emotionless mien. I arrived late, probably in the middle of The Assistant Rector's homily. She had taken to the skirt of the Chancel, mic'd up, riffing about Prayer, and ending with a reading of Psalm 27.
I was torn between sitting in the children's section again or sitting near Simon. Frontpage and Benjie were looking alert and friendly. I should have mentioned that Benjie has been much more engaginng this year. It's easy to forget that he's barely in grade school, but, several times now he has spontaneously stuck out his arm to shake hands during the Peace, and once, at Coffee Hour, he glanced at me from across the room. based on that, I determined that I'd always be welcome in the children's chapel, but that Simon was still a work-in-progress.
Simon was once again seated alone in a pew along the more sparcely populated wall. The miracle was that he didn't furrow his brow when I paused at his side to gain entry beause he was seated on the aisle. His legs are pretty long, so when he swang them out, gate-like into the aisle, it gave a sense of why he thought he needed to sit that way. It didn't stand close scrutiny, however. He sat that way because he could, not because there was any advantage to doing so.
In any event, he wasn't at all intimidated by my invasion. He sang the Lord's Prayer just as fulsomely as when he was with his partner. And, I'd never seen anything quite like it at the end of a hymn (#318.) After four stanzas, all sung while seated (Communion was in progress), Simon had to reach for a handkerchief and blow his nose.
I think it began about a page before, in the Order of Service, even before Communion started. Colette had traveled two pews up in order to hug me while still one pew over from me. All we had touching were cheeks and necks and she still managed to make it feel warm and sparkling. It demonstrated, to me, once again how much better women were than men when it came to hugging. And, when she asked how I was, it felt equally organic to the situation and there was no fear in reaching down, assessing oneself, and coming to the only honest answer, that I was doing "very well."
Later, at the Forum, the Rector would remind us of all the myriad ways we worshippers can and do communicate their thankfulness to G-d.
I was torn between sitting in the children's section again or sitting near Simon. Frontpage and Benjie were looking alert and friendly. I should have mentioned that Benjie has been much more engaginng this year. It's easy to forget that he's barely in grade school, but, several times now he has spontaneously stuck out his arm to shake hands during the Peace, and once, at Coffee Hour, he glanced at me from across the room. based on that, I determined that I'd always be welcome in the children's chapel, but that Simon was still a work-in-progress.
Simon was once again seated alone in a pew along the more sparcely populated wall. The miracle was that he didn't furrow his brow when I paused at his side to gain entry beause he was seated on the aisle. His legs are pretty long, so when he swang them out, gate-like into the aisle, it gave a sense of why he thought he needed to sit that way. It didn't stand close scrutiny, however. He sat that way because he could, not because there was any advantage to doing so.
In any event, he wasn't at all intimidated by my invasion. He sang the Lord's Prayer just as fulsomely as when he was with his partner. And, I'd never seen anything quite like it at the end of a hymn (#318.) After four stanzas, all sung while seated (Communion was in progress), Simon had to reach for a handkerchief and blow his nose.
I think it began about a page before, in the Order of Service, even before Communion started. Colette had traveled two pews up in order to hug me while still one pew over from me. All we had touching were cheeks and necks and she still managed to make it feel warm and sparkling. It demonstrated, to me, once again how much better women were than men when it came to hugging. And, when she asked how I was, it felt equally organic to the situation and there was no fear in reaching down, assessing oneself, and coming to the only honest answer, that I was doing "very well."
Later, at the Forum, the Rector would remind us of all the myriad ways we worshippers can and do communicate their thankfulness to G-d.