a peaceful Monday

Joyfully...there was not much that was pressing on today's timetable. In a few minutes here I'm going into a brief (I hope!) meeting to set questions for a vocational discernment interview...there are four other very good folks on this committee, so I'm hoping I can just be amanuensis. The candidate is promising. Interview is scheduled for Thursday, and then I'll do the write-up.

I did have my once-a-month turn to celebrate the noonhour Eucharist at the cathedral today. Fourth Monday. There is almost never more than one other person present, but I've never had to settle for the ante-communion alone. And to my great delight, the Hebrew Scripture for today is second Kings, chapter five. Naaman the Leper, one of a small handful of all time favourites. Even though we don't read the part about bowing in the House of Rimmon...let alone Gehazi's peculations. "Fundraising for theological education: how NOT to do it."

So the other soul present, somewhat to his bemusement, got the full-scale armwaving reflection on the career of Naaman the leper... He was very genial about it.

I came back to MHU, and was joined by the Daughter Unit and Best SIL Ever, for a certain amount of elegant conversation -- and blog-assistance. Kindly admire my enhanced blogroll!

I am glad of the "slack" day. The weekend was very stressful. There was the "angel workshop" on my mind, and potentially destructive feedback; there was a party, a birthday party, in our major meeting space on Saturday night, and when I came in on Sunday morning I found that there had been "incursions" into the worship space...the communion silver on the altar was "disarranged," and most frightening of all someone had lit the altar candles and they had burned all night...THEY WEREN'T LIT WHEN I WENT HOME AT EIGHT O'CLOCK... so I have an Awkward Interview with one of the parish families...ASAP.

And it was Scout-Guide parade day with marching to and fro and presenting flags and salutings and recitings of promises. MHU has an ancient affiliation with a scouting group. It is honoured annually. I find it completely...pointless; and disproportionately enervating.

Then we had two, not one but two, mental patients in our midst...one of them Very Cheerful; he sits in the very front pew and coils wire by way of entertainment. However he also listens quite attentively. And when he doesn't take his clothes off, he's really only a minor distraction. I could wish he didn't wave at the musicians and the readers, but still.

The other one was scary. He arrived between the services and strode up and down the centre aisle announcing the imminence of judgement and its kick-off happening at MHU. It is possible he was irritated by something about the angel workshop. Or just diffusely furious. He's been around before...his refrain is "uncleanness in the churches" but I don't think it would help to introduce him to the janitor.

Fortunately a little platoon of large parishioners persuaded him to await the parousia elsewhere.

After our second service, I went straight into an intensive two-hour discernment meeting with committee and candidate and the two ordinals, old and new. It was a lunch meeting as well...then off to the south end of Prairie Metropolis for a reserved communion service with folks in a seniors' residence.

And so home! and the Oscars! I found them a little disappointing -- hoping for more recognition of the merits of Away From Her and the radiant Julie Christie.