Love this Parish I serve. . .
It was a wonderful Sunday.
We had a beautiful Border Collie named Seabury for nearly a decade; she was never trained formally, but she showed us her obstacle course agility in endless football games and military type maneuvers with our boys. I think I channel some of that same energy on Sunday mornings these days, though perhaps with less agility —and with much less barking.
The 8:00 service had a lovely amount of people, and some were back for the very first time. Our chalice has had a tablespoon of wine in it for so many months, but the wine has now returned. The half full chalice caught me off guard as I lifted it, sending a tiny tsunami over the edge. It could not have been much more than a tablespoon or two, (plenty remained,) but to my horror, it formed a small lake on the Corporal and Fair Linen. My wonderful 8:00 Altar Guild person was doubling in the A/V Room, and she watched in slow motion as it unfurled on the video before her. We all just kept going, and in typical ECOOS fashion, we had the perfect help to do the changeover. I felt so loved and supported. . . but also felt so much remorse for being the cause of someone else having to do more laundry.
I had 5 minutes to switch out of vestments and drink a protein shake before rushing back to the Nave where our Music Director, Chip, was teaching a wonderful class about the Hymnal. We were all so engaged that the turnaround on the other end was just as short. The kind soprano I stand next to in choir grabbed my folder, and I reassembled before hitting the Narthex with 90 seconds to spare.
We had two newer Acolytes today and two seasoned. I love the way our Acolyte masters teach them (and photograph them!) and the way they shepherd each other. We are still all re-learning ‘the way we always did it’ before the great sparseness of the Pandemic. Little things do occasionally go awry, and are handled with enormous grace— and always, always an eagerness to serve. When I kneel for the Confession with these young people on either side, I know that I am inhabiting the Kingdom of God.
There was joy in the Sacrament, joy in the Offertory and joy in the congregation. I hope that these dear people are as fed as I am at the end of this Sunday, despite the sometimes chaotic course we run together.
Somewhere, across the Rainbow Bridge, I can hear Seabury barking her sharp approval: “Keep moving, Mom. You’ve got this.”
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