Compline
There is nothing quite like Compline at St Mark's. At least, not that I've experienced. The music, the quiet words, the dim lights, the big empty space, and the dozens of teenagers and 20-somethings sprawled all over altar area. There's something magical and beautiful and almost miraculous about it.
I didn't see anyone I knew tonight, but that didn't really matter. There were people there, and without exchanging a word, a look, a touch, they shared something rare and wonderful. It is a place where souls are made lighter and priorities are reassessed. All the trivial little worried of life just fade away into insignificance, and each lost little person becomes part of a Whole, at peace with its own existence.
So many thoughts flow through my mind at those times. I think about people I have known who are no longer in my life. I think about the things I would like to do. I ask myself if any of it really matters. I wish certain people could be there to experience that perfect half-hour with me. I think about moving back to the Northwest and staffing HYCs until the day I die.
Some of you know what I am talking about. I wish the rest of you could, too. There is so much contempt and disdain in this world for God and religion anymore, it seems. But there are still holy moments, and quiet places for the soul, for those who know where to look for them.
I didn't see anyone I knew tonight, but that didn't really matter. There were people there, and without exchanging a word, a look, a touch, they shared something rare and wonderful. It is a place where souls are made lighter and priorities are reassessed. All the trivial little worried of life just fade away into insignificance, and each lost little person becomes part of a Whole, at peace with its own existence.
So many thoughts flow through my mind at those times. I think about people I have known who are no longer in my life. I think about the things I would like to do. I ask myself if any of it really matters. I wish certain people could be there to experience that perfect half-hour with me. I think about moving back to the Northwest and staffing HYCs until the day I die.
Some of you know what I am talking about. I wish the rest of you could, too. There is so much contempt and disdain in this world for God and religion anymore, it seems. But there are still holy moments, and quiet places for the soul, for those who know where to look for them.