Well, I got off to a great start with Lent. I was too tired after work, so I did not go to the Ash Wednesday service at 6:30 as planned. Pathetic. However, daughter #1 went to the Noon service at St. Bartholomew’s in NYC, elbowing her way through the crowds outside St. Patrick’s on Madison Avenue to get there.
Extra credit for me, right? Just kidding. It’s not like we’re keeping score…
Tonight I had pancakes for dinner at Grace Church. It is a pretty low-key, family-friendly event. And who can say no to pancakes for dinner? Especially if someone else is cooking? But let me say, I am not a Mardi Gras kind of person. I do not wear cheap plastic beads or drink in public or attend events where public urination is an issue. The idea of overdoing it in anticipation of some fake fasting is somewhat repellent to me. I know that makes me sound like an old lady and I suppose I am too much of a puritan. But I have always felt that way, even when I was a young lady.
But I do like Lent. I like the idea of trying to be more intentional about prayer and bible study. I like the idea of taking on rather than just giving up. I like having a “Mite Box”.
So I will be blogging some about this darker season leading up to Easter. I even have my favorite Lenten movies to share.
Lent
Welcome deare feast of Lent: who loves not thee, He loves not Temperance, or Authoritie,
But is compos’d of passion. The Scriptures bid us fast; the Church sayes, now:
Give to thy Mother, what thou wouldst allow To ev’ry Corporation.
… It’s true, we cannot reach Christ’s fortieth day; Yet to go part of that religious way,
Is better than to rest: We cannot reach our Savior’s purity;
Yet are bid, Be holy ev’n as he. In both let’s do our best.
Who goeth in the way which Christ hath gone, Is much more sure to meet with him, than one
That travelleth by-ways: Perhaps my God, though he be far before,
May turn, and take me by the hand, and more May strengthen my decays.
Yet Lord instruct us to improve our fast By starving sin and taking such repast
As may our faults control: That ev’ry man may revel at his door,
Not in his parlor; banqueting the poor, And among those his soul.George Herbert
1633
I was scheduled to be a lay reader this morning, so I had no choice but to go to church, having stayed up until midnight watching 6 seasons-worth of Buffy the Vampire Slayer season finales with daughter #2. This was clearly an awesome and rewarding undertaking, but still entailed staying up way past my bedtime.
The congregation was (not surprisingly) very small this morning. Those who came were treated to a collect that is used only when Sunday falls on January 1 (about once a decade) and the first lesson which is a wonderful New Year prayer:
The LORD spoke to Moses, saying: Speak to Aaron and his sons, saying, Thus you shall bless the Israelites: You shall say to them, the LORD bless you and keep you; the LORD make his face to shine upon you, and be gracious unto you; the LORD lift up his countenance upon you, and give you peace. So they shall put my name on the Israelites, and I will bless them.
Numbers 6:22-27
Happy New Year!
Awake, my soul, and with the sun
thy daily stage of duty run;
shake off dull sloth, and joyful rise
to pay thy morning sacrifice.Lord, I my vows to thee renew;
disperse my sins as morning dew;
guard my first springs of thought and will,
and with thyself my spirit fill.Direct, control, suggest, this day,
all I design or do or say;
that all my powers, with all their might,
in thy sole glory may unite.Praise God, from whom all blessings flow;
praise him, all creatures here below;
praise him above, ye heavenly host:
praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.–Thomas Ken
Now here’s a poem we have probably all known forever and taken for granted. What a great morning prayer and hymn! If you are alone and cannot sing it as a round, sing it anyway. You’ll be glad you did.
And while we’re at it, let’s give a high five to Bishop Thomas Ken (1637–1711) who wrote it. (Ken is honored with a feast day on the liturgical calendar of the Episcopal Church (USA) on March 20.)
They don’t write ’em like this anymore.
P.S. This is our 100th blog post! Yay for us!
Tonight I went to our service of Advent Lessons and Carols at Grace Episcopal Church. We sang all the great Advent hymns, including (56) O Come, O Come, Emmanuel, (66) Come Thou Long Expected Jesus, and (265) our all-time favorite, Gabriel’s Message, the one about “thou lowly maiden Mary, most highly favored lady.”
There were eight lessons, scripture readings from the old and new testaments, and a variety of carols sung by the Choir of Men and Women, the St. Nicholas Boys Choir, the St. Cecelia Girls Choir, and the (adorable) St. Patrick Training Choir. This AND a homily from the visiting Rt. Revd. Stephen Dokolo, Bishop of the Diocese of Lui, Southern Sudan, who looked like a Masai warrior without a spear. Very impressive indeed.
The highpoint for me was when fourth grader Brigid strode across the choir, bowing before the altar, and proceeded up to the lectern to read the second lesson. Clearly enjoying herself, radiantly self-confident, she smiled and read Isaiah 40:1-8: “Comfort, O comfort my people, says your God” better than most adults are able. She never stumbled over such stumbling blocks as “recompense” or “constancy”. She read with conviction, “‘Cry out!’ And I said, ‘What shall I cry?'” She brought to mind Linus in A Charlie Brown Christmas.
I am particularly fond of Brigid and her siblings because daughter #2 has been babysitting them for many years and so I have a tangential, proprietary attachment to them. They give me faith in the next generation.
So onward through Advent: Look toward the east, O Jerusalem, and see the joy that is coming to you from God.
dual personalities 