Dangers of complacency

Finally - posting another in the Church Visiting series. I really do intend to finish this!

St. Matthew Evangelical Lutheran Church

Lancaster, Pennsylvania

Well, Anthony and Bernadette had behaved very well on the trip to Ephrata Cloister, so I thought they would be fine in a church service. The closest church to their apartment is St. Matthew Evangelical Lutheran Church, so it was off to another Lutheran service. (My first post on a visit to an ELCA church, with notes on their history, is here.) My notes on this service are briefer than for the others, because going to a new church with children is a lot more work than going alone. To say the least, my attention was divided. Bernadette had developed a cough overnight, and I stopped by a drugstore before church to pick up children’s cough medicine. She refused to take it, claiming that her cough had gone away, and indeed it seemed that it had. So we went in.

The congregation at St. Matthew worships in an attractive, smallish building in a residential neighborhood. They have two morning services (8:15 and 11:00 – we attended the second service). We enter and find a pew (these pews are almost tiny, probably because the room is so narrow; I think you might seat 5-6 people in each pew). I look around. The sanctuary is pleasingly plain; there is a white, gently curved ceiling, and clear windows with sheer white curtains. A wooden cross on the sanctuary wall has gilt letters (IHS) in the center. Gold wall sconces with white candles line the walls. Very pretty. I think the sanctuary would seat about 150, and I estimated that there are about 50 people present for this service. One thing is a little unusual; there is an American flag over the entrance, so everyone enters under that banner. After the prelude and the prayers of Confession and Forgiveness, there is a time for announcements.

At this point an older gentleman stands up and notes that the financial situation is rather poor – so poor, in fact, that if things continue as they have been, the church might not be able to continue. This certainly seems like the gloomiest announcement I have heard so far in this project. I can see in the bulletin that the church is about $19,000 behind budget for the year so far, but I have no way of knowing if that is a huge percentage of the annual budget, or something more manageable. 

Like going barefeeted, only you look like the dork.

An interesting post almost every time you visit: Manolo's Shoe Blog.

Example: The Shoes of the Iceman

I love the Manolo.

Facebook statuses

Just wanted to collect these in one place.

If you save just a little bit of money every week, at the end of a year you will be amazed by how little you have managed to save. Sigh.

Saw La Traviata in Philadelphia this afternoon. Wonderful.

Happy birthday, Frank Baum (born 1856). We're not in Kansas anymore.

Who cans worms?

All I ask of life is a constant and exaggerated sense of my own importance.
Ashleigh Brilliant

Spending the day zero-tasking.

Wow a whole month of MAY ahead of us. I may do this . . . . or I may do that . . . . who knows what I may do?

Looking ahead to Saturday:
Hail, bounteous May, that doth inspire
Mirth, and youth, and warm desire,
Woods and groves are of thy dressing,
...Hill and dale boast thy blessing.
John Milton

Sometimes you seize the day; sometimes the day seizes you.

Not really appreciating irony today. Or washy. Or foldy. I like eaty, though. Eaty is always good.

Life is short and we have never too much time for gladdening the hearts of those who are traveling the dark journey with us. Oh be swift to love, make haste to be kind. Henri-Frederic Amiel

So how long do I have to be ignorant before I start experiencing bliss?

Spending the weekend in Lancaster with grandson Anthony, showing him some Nanatechnology.

Money talks. Most of the time it says good-bye.

Tonight's salad - asparagus with red onion, chick peas, fresh mint leaves, and Parmesan. Very good. And I found the recipe in the Metro - that's the free newspaper in the subway station!

Be yourself. Lord knows no one else wants that gig.

I don't mean to brag, but I'm already on my third midlife crisis.

President Obama is making a surprise visit to Afghanistan. Waiting for the VP to clarify for us just how big a deal this is.

Wanting what we want, avoiding what we need, ignoring what we have.

And don't even get me started on out-of-context statements.

Just started watching season 2 of The Big Bang Theory! Yay!!

A volcano erupted today near Eyjafjallajokull, Iceland, which is coincidentally the same exact sound you make while running away from a volcano.

What I learned this morning: paprika is not nearly so delicious in oatmeal as its spice rack companion, cinnamon.

"What if we could recognise people of faith by how they spoke? By an absence of cliché, or of dehumanising mockery or glib consolations?" – Rowan Williams

Neil and I took a walk in Newton Lake Park this afternoon - it really does seem like spring is almost here.

Happy Cinco de Marcho!

Ginger preserves on toast this morning. Feeling veddy British.

Happy birthday, Dr. Seuss! My first Dr. Seuss memory - reading The Cat in the Hat aloud, over and over and over (and over).

Back from the opera - Tan Dunn's "Tea: A Mirror of Soul." The action begins and ends with the "tea of nothingness," which is going through the tea ceremony using an empty bowl. Zen.

Don't ever tell anybody anything. If you do, you start missing everybody. Last two lines of Catcher in the Rye

Focaccia is Italian for "can't bite through this damn sandwich."

There is no path; the path is made as you go. Antonio Machado

On cold days like today working in a car wash would be the worst job in the world. Unless Batman comes in. Then it would be an honor.

Saw two fights on the way home tonight - one involving two women and a man (the women had him face down in the snow, and were beating on him something serious), the other a major mixup on Market Street with lots of teens. Both with plenty of police action. Maybe people are going crazy from all the snow and cold.

It's nice that Apolo Ohno is winning medals, but I'm still not forgiving him for breaking up the Beatles.

Soba noodles with seaweed for lunch today, in Balboa Park, which is a great place to spend the day.

Julie Andrews was right - bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens ARE awesome. Nonetheless, I'm so happy to be on the other coast right now.

California, here I come!

Do you have any questions about the menu? Yes, what font is this? (dining with copyeditors)

If you are irritated by every rub, how will you be polished? Rumi

Sadly, it appears that this week I will not be rocking down to Electric Avenue, let alone taking it higher.

Writing tip: avoid the passive-aggressive voice. WHATEVER, man.

Oh, nice new white blouse, we both know that mustard/ketchup/spaghetti sauce are in your future. Let's not pretend that I can protect you.

Balance

A trip to the grocery store. First, I have to begin by saying that I woke up early on Saturday, went to the gym, ran four miles on the treadmill (a slow four miles, but still, four miles), did weights, and then had Bright Lights chard for lunch.

After such a healthy morning, I knew I had to put the world back into balance somehow, so I had a couple of very stiff martinis that night:

Aaaaaah.