Pages

Saturday 7 April 2012

Three down - One to go

This evening was the third of our Easter services.

A huge contrast to the heart-wrenching Maundy Thursday and sombre Solemn Liturgy of Good Friday, this evening we had the lovely return to light, Holy Baptism and Confirmation and flowers everywhere.

All three services were led by our excellent Bishop Alan who also sang the Exculat
can't spell it, extremely well.

It has been a very emotional three days.  Extremely exhausting, vocally a bit of a marathon, but truly rewarding and worth all the hard work.

Somehow tomorrow's Easter Day service seems like a bit of an anti-climax since all the most interesting music has been sung, sermons preached and symbolic ritual performed.

It is two years since I was baptised and confirmed.  It seems far longer than that and the thought of an 'ordinary' secular Easter now seems unthinkable to me.

Travelling back and forth seemingly every few hours to St. Mary's by taxi, passing people enjoying their way of celebrating their bank-holiday seems like looking at the world through the wrong end of a telescope.  I can no longer see Easter in that light.

As I scurried down the little narrow cobbled street from the Church in the dark this evening toward the well-lit square, with its taxi-ranks awaiting their alcohol-fuelled passengers fresh from an evening's revelry it suddenly felt as though I was an inhabitant of another planet.

Odd.  Interesting.  Better than i would ever have thought.


8 comments:

  1. "Better than I would ever have thought." Amen, Ray.

    I'm preparing to sing the Exsultet myself in three hours. I hope I do it creditably.

    Happy Easter!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks for the correct spelling Penny.

    If you sing as well as you write you haven't a worry in the world.

    Happy Easter to you too.

    ReplyDelete
  3. A very blessed Easter to you, Ray. You put the shift in perspective really beautifully in this post and I know just what you mean.

    I'm off to church in the village this morning (Church of Scotland) and then going with 2 friends on a 100 mile round trip to Kinlochbervie to make our Easter communion at the nearest Anglican Eucharist in our mission area! Distances here are huge....

    ReplyDelete
  4. Happy Easter Ray. Easter is an exhausting time. I have been up since 4.30am for dawn breakfast and normal service afterwards.

    ReplyDelete
  5. A blessed Easter to you too Perpetua. I was too tired to put into sensible words what I meant, but am glad you seem to know. I hope your long trip to celebrate communion is not too wearing.
    As you so rightly say, distances there are huge indeed.

    ReplyDelete
  6. A Happy Easter to you Jane. It really is an exhausting time isn't it? But hopefully worth all the effort and a chance to rest later.
    When I got home from church this morning, I went for a brief lie down, and woke at 2.00 pm!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Happy Easter, Ray. Easter seems extra special this year for some reason. I too needed a brief lie down after church -- at least it was supposed to be!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Happy Easter Broad. (if a somewhat belated one).
    I wasn't going to admit it, but the initial 'nap' was not the only one yesterday. In fact, I slept on and off for most of the day and evening and had a good night's sleep on top of that.
    About a month's sleep in 20 hours.
    Sometimes our bodies just take over.

    ReplyDelete