Saturday, August 16, 2008

demeanour, and all that...

It's hot, folks, in these parts.

The wedding is over, and the wedding guests have departed. The groomsmen arrived at church in their street clothes, with their wedding garments on hangers, a prudent move, but one of them at least forgot to take his shed raiment with him...I need to box it up, I guess. (No, cancel that, it's clothing pertaining to one of the Fringe Festival productions happening here at MH & U -- "The Pre-Tenors" -- problem solved.)

Baptisms in the morning. I had a baptismal rehearsal this morning at eleven. It would have been simple if a) I hadn't had a commitment in the earlier morning at the opposite extremity of the conurbation and if b) the city fathers hadn't seen fit to rip up all, but ALL, the roadways between point A and point B.

With the result that I was 20 minutes late for my baptismal families, who (given the natural perversity of the fallen world) were all precisely on time. However they all hovered in the offing with much patience, paging me from time to time, until I arrived. They were even in reasonably good humour, and fully cooperative, and we had a fine rehearsal.

I thought to myself coming into the church, "SMILE, self, and tell them how glad you are to see them, and don't do your usual See How Fussed I Am act, it isn't pastoral." My default expression is GRIM, I've been told, by my nearest and dearest...and there may be something in what they say, at that.

Be that as it may the rehearsal went like a bomb, and then there was a wee hiatus before the wedding guests began to arrive, just long enough for me to scratch out an outline for Sermon #187 on I Cor. 13...

And THAT went like a bomb, I think perhaps the key to my ministry is caffeine, as I've consumed practically nothing else since dawn this morning.

Somebody's preaching in the morning and I fear it is me. I think I am going to summarize and transmit the remarks of the Chief Rabbi which he addressed to Lambeth a couple of weeks ago. Not being STOOPID, it didn't get a lot of publicity...and it ought to be heard!

and maybe it's time to find something a bit solider than coffee...

3 comments:

Terri said...

I tend to live on coffee too, and tell myself I'm getting "some" calcium and protein in the cream that I had (haa haa)....sounds like a great day even with all the business and traffic issues....

Crimson Rambler said...

It was, mompriest, and today is OK too altho' I'm sure it's well over 80 in the church (I know that "by you this isn't hot!").
But the "Pre Tenors" are launched into their one pm performance in the sanctuary...v. v. funny as it can be ONLY when the participants can really and truly SING, for serious, when they put their minds to it.
I am going to go and find a ladylike lunch somewhere, and then take reserved communion to my 6 old ladies in a srs' residence on the south side. And then home...and eventually supper and an early bedtime, I do hope.

RevDrKate said...

Believing as I do that the key to most useful things is caffeine (in reasonable amounts, of course!)...I am with you all the way on this, CR!