Holy Week

You want to hear about Holy Week, huh? OK, here's a rundown:

I moved. Thus, I suffered. Not really like Jesus suffered, but it was difficult. It is very hard to remain a good Christian when dealing with idiots. My movers overcharged me and wouldn't do anything about it; my phone company has completely screwed up. It's tiring to work with people who simply don't care and/or are incompetent.

So I spent a lot of Holy Week not really in the season. I blissfully missed out on the news, so was not bombarded with 24/7 Schiavo/Jackson coverage. I think CNN has a camera permanently in her room so we can all be there when she dies. Because that's what death is all about - having millions of people watch and snarky politians and activists making an example out of you. I just watched Citizen Ruth and it's so similar! Anyway, I kept away from it except when I got an email from Christianity Today which suggested that the comparison of Terri's and Christ's sufferings is "unavoidable". Oh, that made me cringe. Come, now. Do we really want to go there? Would this be such a big story if it wasn't going down during the passion week? I wonder...

At any rate, speaking of passion, we did the passion narrative at my church on Palm Sunday and at the church I attended on Good Friday, and the thing that struck me (no pun intended) was how very little time is spent discussing the flogging of Christ and how much more focus is on his being mocked. And I thought about how the reverse is true in Mel Gibson's film. I am personally much more disturbed by people mocking God than by someone getting the shit kicked out of them. The latter we see all the time and it bothers us, yes. But the former happens probably more often and doesn't bother us...which should be a problem.

What else? I got to sing the Easter Vigil, which was fabulous. And three services on Sunday. That is tiring. Clergy work freaking hard. Choirs do too. And you know, people just don't get it. I mean, many people thanked the choir, but I wonder how many thanked the clergy. These services, even when it's all written ahead of time, are a lot of work. I even heard choir members saying that the clergy don't do much, and mocking our poor clergyman who cantors. They just don't get no respect. I'm ultra sensitive to it now (well I have always been, because of my dad, but now I'm really internalizing it).

These are such random thoughts - I am sorry I don't have a pretty narrative for you. The stuff of life really has gotten in the way this time. But I thank God every day for my beautiful new apartment, with a view of the mountains and its light-filled spaces. And this quarter I get to take 2 worship classes and Episcopalian Polity - all of which will be such fun. And my parents are coming to see me this week. Life is good.

I've got to get going - class starts today. I promise to be more regular here now that I'll be back on a schedule. Peace and blessings to you. The Lord is risen! He is risen indeed!