Wednesday, March 15, 2006

A long, tiring, wonderfully magnificent, enlightening....

Day. Yup. Today has been a very interesting day. Actually, it started last night. I got home from work and learned that Pastor had called Ma to ask if I was available to go to the seminary he attended. There was a lecture series that he thought I might be interested in attending. Well, I was sad because I had to say no because duty called at Restaurant. Anyway, after hanging up, I thought, "Trishy, you deserve a day off. You had a Restaurant dream every night last week. It's time to get away." So, I called one of the other waitresses to see if she would switch me Wednesday for Thursday. She didn't answer her cell, however, so I simply left a message. About an hour later, she calls me back to see what I wanted. I asked her if she would switch and she said yes. I was thrilled. But then I had a moral dilemma: Do I risk waking my bosses at 10:22 P.M., (Which Miss Manners would say is breaking etiquette because her rules state you can call UP UNTIL 10:00 p.m., but no later, for most people) or do I risk not being able to go because Pastor was planning to leave at 6:15 in the morning? Well, I thought I'd better call at night that way I could have my plans squared away. So, I called and she was okay with my plans, so I was thrilled. However, by that time, there was NO way I'd call Pastor's house that late because I've driven past the parsonage at 10:30 and there are NEVER lights on that late. So, I thought I'd get up extra early, get ready, swing by his "Other" congregation to make sure he wasn't there, (Pastor has a 2 point parish) and then go to my church, which is the one by which he lives. So, since I've been spending the week at Sister's house, which is 35 minutes away from Church, I had to get up at 4:30 this morning. But, that's not the best part. The best part was that I was so excited that I couldn't fall asleep. So, by the time I fell asleep, it was about 1:00 a.m. Yay. But, I fell asleep finally, and then awoke to nothing in particular. I looked at my cell phone clock and found it to be 4:28 a.m. So, I got up, got ready, drove to Other church, drove to my church, and waited until 6 to call Pastor to make sure he hadn't made plans to meet the other people who were going someplace else. So, at 6:00 a.m. (I'm a BAD girl) I called Pastor. He laughed at me a little and then we got our plans straightened out. I went to Other church and he followed to meet up with the other people who were going. We got into the car and headed on our merry way.

3 hours later: We arrived at Seminary. I was very excited. It'd been about a year and a half since I'd been there. We got there and headed straight in for worship. I had almost forgotten what seminary worship is like. There is an AMAZING array of vocal, musical, and other gifts there. I love being able to stand there and hear all the voices singing so passionately and strong. You know how it is at home churches, where most of the people are afraid to sing loud, and so everyone just kind of murmurs. Haha. Well, that's NOT the way it has ever been when I've been to the Seminary. It's a lot of people singing in a heartfelt way to their God. I was especially taken by the group in the back who sang the Kyrie Eleison, Christe Eleison parts. Ooooh, it was great. Then, during communion, I happened to see someone who's blog I've been reading for a while. I didn't actually think I'd ever meet him in person. Well, finally, by the time we were heading out, I worked up the guts to make myself look like a complete dorkfish, so while Pastor and the others were getting their coats, I walked up to him and told him I'm a huge fan of his blog. Yup. I'm a dork. But, I had to say hi. SO, Hi! Glad to "meet" you in person. Oh, one more thing about people I "know!" I saw a guy who looked familiar, so when he was walking past me, I reached out and said, "Hey, what's your name?" and he told me and I said, "I know you!" And he said something like, "I thought you looked familiar, but from where do I know you?" And I told him that I met him at Discernment weekend, November, 2004!" So, we had a brief conversation. It was interesting to see people I actually had met prior to today. I think it's cool to see that people are actually moving forward on this journey.

But today was a good day overall. The two previous bishops and our current presiding bishop were the speakers. I thought that our current bishop did a pretty good job with his part of the lecture. I didn't realize he had a knack for humor. I really appreciate that. I also appreciated that he didn't go over his time immensely, and was able to edit some of his stuff out. However, I wish he'd been able to talk more. I also wish we'd have been able to stay and hear the questions asked of him. He seemed like an interesting, inclusive type guy, so that was something I was not totally expecting. I should keep abreast of these matters better, but alas, I do not fully know his stance on some things. Overall though, I had a splendid time today. I've had a monster headache since 3:00, but that's okay. I got to go to Lenten worship tonight, which was cool, too. Pastor was the preacher for our ecumenical service tonight and he preached on the discipline of community. It was interesting, considering that was what these bishops were basically talking about today. But, I'm back at Sis's house, typing out this huge laundry list of things I did today, and I'm sure I'm boring you all to tears! If you've made it this far, be proud. My blathering seems to know no bounds, but you must excuse me because I'm very tired now and must be heading to bed. :) Hasta la vista.

P.S. I'm sorry for not posting for over a week. Like I've said before, I'm a BAD girl!

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