We had a great All Saints Sunday. Much as people complain about the time change, every autumn when we turn the clocks back, I have a night of wonderful sleep. This year was no exception. Because of the time change, we were both up early, and we headed over the mountains to Bristol early.
It was wonderful to travel in the daylight, to see the trees in their full and fading autumnal glory. This year, various trees are on their own schedule. Some are still green. Some have lost all their leaves. There's every variety of in between. It's not as full and blazingly beautiful as two or three years ago, but it's been a treat, especially considering last year.
I was glad for the extra time, because we had a lot to unload. I knew that the confirmation class, and perhaps all the youth who arrived for Sunday school, would set up the space I envisioned for people to put photos and other mementos of loved ones who had died. I brought all the supplies: fabrics, fairy lights, candles (both traditional and electronic), candle holders, 2 yellow mums, and a small table. I gathered 2 additional small tables from the sacristy.
The youth did a great job of working together to create the space. They are two pairs of siblings, and the siblings are cousins, so we had a head start in working together. They seem like the kind of cousins who are more like siblings, siblings who like each other and have fun together. I was so impressed with what they created:
The congregation came through too--we had plenty of pictures, so many that we added two additional flat spaces (flipped boxes with white tablecloths to hide their identity).
After church, we spent some time in the front, hearing stories of the loved ones whose pictures had graced our worship space. I had made extra bread, and people ate bread or took some home. It was delightful, a way of having a picnic with the ancestors.
My sermon went well, which is always a treat for me. What I mean by well is not that everyone loved it, but that I felt good about my delivery (not too much reading, not getting tongue twisted). If you want to view the recording, it's here on my YouTube channel. If you want to read a version, head to this post on my theology blog.
We came home and relaxed, as we always do. Sunday afternoons come after very full mornings, so we're not going to be doing much of substance. We watched a great PBS show about a man who was taking a last trip on a buckboard wagon pulled by his 36 year old mule on their last trip in Hyde county, NC. It was oddly compelling. I did a bit of sewing on my quilt top and headed to bed.
Today I have two days of work, and the rest of the week is spent at Quilt Camp, just up the hill at Lutheridge. I'll sleep in my house and spend the rest of my time at Quilt Camp. I'm hoping to make progress on a variety of projects.
It sounds heavenly, and it will be, but first I have to do the prep work so that I can be gone from my full-time teaching job. I am probably further along on that project than I think, but I feel a bit of anxiety. At the same time, I'm sure it will all be fine. It's nice to be at a school where I can rest easy in the knowledge that it will all be fine, even as I'm feeling a bit of anxiety.
No comments:
Post a Comment