Weekly post

January 21, 2008

Dear friends,

After much excited predictions from television weather people, we got ... a dusting of snow. Most of the storm spent itself east of us. Still, since it's the first actual snow we've had in four years, the children were excited.

Classes officially began last week, but it was a little hard for me to measure the impact. I didn't have any meetings, and I worked Thursday and Friday at the bakery. This week, however, I'll be on campus Tuesday, Thursday, and a chunk of Wednesday, and I'll have my first independent study meeting and first class session for Readings in Liturgical Theology. I'm pretty excited.

Yesterday, because the forecasters were speaking so direly about the roads, the crowd was thin for the 8:45 service. Only about 60 people showed up, and no pianist, because he lives near Burlington and was iced in. The pastor conferred with the choir and chose several hymns that were easy to sing a cappella and said that we would speak the liturgy. Since the choir was sitting in its usual place near the piano, after a whispered conference with a soprano, I slid onto the bench and started accompanying at hymn time. When it was time for Communion, since several designated helpers were absent, the pastor asked for volunteers and various helpers came forward and it all got done! It had to be experienced to be really understood, but it was a wonderful example of the worshiping community.

I had a different experience last Sunday afternoon, when Our Lady of Grace offered an Extraordinary Version of the Roman Mass in Latin. It wasn't just Mass ... in Latin ... it was what I guess they used to call High Mass. The church was packed, and many of the women had their heads covered. The service lasted for an hour and forty-five minutes! It was wonderful to experience. Many of the worshipers were clearly deeply moved by the service. I wouldn't want to worship that way every week ... but it was a terrific opportunity.

The senior project is coming along. I've gathered all of the quotes I need, and have about 20 pages written (out of 90). I can't seem to do more than 4 or 5 a day, so it's important for deadline purposes that I do at least one every day. I hope to have everything completed by the end of February, a month before deadline, to give myself a cushion.

One intangible gift that my parents passed along by example, and that I also learned in journalism, was the importance of meeting deadlines. I've never had to ask for an extension on a paper, never turned a paper in late, and am in great shape on the project because I've got in my internal workings a respect for the deadline. Thanks, Mom and Dad.

More next week.
Grace and peace,
Beth