Transposzing

New Icons at Church

2009-06-24T20:57:00.018-05:00

Knowing that some new iconography was going to be installed on the walls of our church last week, I took a few days off from work hoping to be able to watch some of this installation project up close, hoping to get some photos of the installation for the church's website photogallery, and hoping to be able to visit a little with the iconographer while he is in town.

I was fortunate to be able to do all of these things during those few days - YoungerSon came along each day and was as fascinated as I was. Six new icons now adorn the walls of our church, in the spaces between the windows. These new icons, in combination with the icon of the Theotokos over the altar, depict various verses of the Canons. Here are the new icons (forgive the glare from the flash of my cheap camera, and click on the images for a better look):

I was amazed at just how "at home" they looked, right from the minute they were put up on the walls - how the whole interior of the church was sort of tied together by the new iconography on the walls. It's almost as if the whole interior of the church is one large icon. The St. Paul paper wrote a little piece on the project in this past Saturday's paper.

What a good several days it was! A couple of folks from the church (including YoungerSon and me) assisted in various ways - and even though our tasks were quite small, it was a blessing to feel a part of the project. Iconographer Nick Papas was patient and gracious in the midst of his work to answer my many questions not only about this particular project, but about iconography in general - gave me lots of food for thought.

Now I'm off to assemble a couple of pages of photos of the installation for the church's website photogallery.

Thanks be to God for this wonderful work which will teach and inspire those who see it for many years to come!

Tender Mercy

2009-06-19T22:10:00.002-05:00

The icons of the “Tender Mercy” type show the Christ Child pressing his left cheek close to the right cheek of his Mother. Here the Theotokos again represents the Church of Christ, thereby displaying the fullness of love between God and man, a love that can only be achieved within the bosom of the Church, the Mother. Love here bridges heaven and earth, the things of God and the things of men; and this unity is expressed in the touching of the faces and the halos.

The Theotokos is pensive, as she presses her Son to herself. She envisions His way of the cross, His life full of sufferings. The almond-shaped eyes, the narrow nose, and the dark shadows in the face - all these features have a dematerializing effect, stressing the Divine.

(HT: a wonderful page of information about the various types of icons of the Theotokos)

Dance Dance Revolution

2009-06-18T19:11:00.005-05:00

For Bach lovers, like me!

HT: My friend, Dash

Weekend Update

2009-06-07T16:57:00.012-05:00

What a fine weekend it has been! Normally when it's been cold and rainy all weekend, I'd be inclined to whine about it, but it's been so dry here in recent weeks, that the rain this weekend has come as a welcome blessing.

Because of the rain, we busied ourselves indoors and got a few things done inside for a change, which was long overdue.

I spent some time working on an icon of the Theotokos, which is almost done. It needs some touch up, a couple of nimbuses/halos, some lettering, and a couple of coats of varnish. Because I'm a beginner when it comes to painting icons, I spend lots of time practicing, and I try to practice using materials that are inexpensive (until I feel ready enough to pony up and buy the $80 gesso board - maybe when I take another class.) But the board I used for this particular icon was the cheapest board I've ever found. And as soon as I started to lay paint on it I found out why it was so inexpensive...the board seemed to almost repel the paint. As if it had some slick coating on it. The packaging said that it had a gesso finish - I have my doubts. But I got off to a good beginning with it, so I didn't want to scrap it and start over. Yet the board and paint have fought me at every turn, and it has taken several coats of paint on everything to cover the surface.

Our older hens decided that it was time for a dustbath on Saturday - and because of the rain, their dustbath had turned to mud. No matter to them - they made it a mudbath and rolled around in the mud for almost an hour. By all outward appearances, they had the time of their lives, and they emerged as the sorriest looking wet and black chickens ever. Somehow, magically, when they came down from the coop this morning, most of the mud was off of them and they looked sorta fresh actually. (The hens pictured here are supposed to be red!)

Today is Pentecost in the Orthodox Church - and our church's parish feast. It was a beautiful liturgy. At the end of the service we had a procession around the church as it was blessed on it's feast day, then returned inside for the end of the liturgy and the kneeling prayers. After liturgy we had a celebratory potluck luncheon before heading home.

Here are a couple of photos from the blessing of the church building today:

The rest of these photos can be seen here.

Not For Lightweights

2009-06-02T16:48:00.002-05:00

A friend forwarded me a link to a great essay today. It's an essay about a Baptist pastor's first visit to an Orthodox Church. I'll cross-post it below:

Last Sunday was the 4th of 13 in my sabbatical time. Each of them is precious to me. Each week I am choosing a place and a way to worship. I’m not a church tourist, hoping to see new things. I’m seeking spiritual experiences. I want to worship. Saturday night Jeanene and I still hadn’t decided where to go. I experienced something common to our culture but new to me. The “Where do you want to go to church - I don’t know where do YOU want to go to church” conversation. I found the Saint Anthony the Great website. It's an Orthodox church that has beautiful Byzantine art in the sanctuary. We decided to go there.

Shelby and Lillian went with us. On the way we warned them that this was going to be different. “They might not have changed their worship service much in a thousand years or so,” I told the girls.

That was an understatement.

Saint Anthony the Great isn't just old school. It's "styli and wax tablets" old school. We arrived ten minutes early for worship and the room was already filled with people lighting candles and praying. There was one greeter. I said, “We don’t know what to do.” She handed me a liturgy book and waved us inside.

Pews? We don’t need no stinking pews! Providing seats for worshipers is SO 14th century. Gorgeous Byzantine art, commissioned from a famous artist in Bulgaria. Fully robed priests with censors (those swinging incense thingies). Long, complex readings and chants that went on and on and on. And every one of them packed full of complex, theological ideas. It was like they were ripping raw chunks of theology out of ancient creeds and throwing them by the handfuls into the congregation. And just to make sure it wasn't too easy for us, everything was read in a monotone voice and at the speed of an auctioneer.

I heard words and phrases I had not heard since seminary. Theotokos, begotten not made, Cherubim and Seraphim borne on their pinions, supplications and oblations. It was an ADD kids nightmare. Robes, scary art, smoking incense, secret doors in the Iconostas popping open and little robed boys coming out with golden candlesticks, chants and singing from a small choir that rolled across the curved ceiling and emerged from the other side of the room where no one was singing. The acoustics were wild. No matter who was speaking, the sound came out of everywhere. There was so much going on I couldn't keep up with all the things I couldn't pay attention to.

Lillian was the first to go down. After half an hour of standing, she was done. Jeanene took her over to a pew on the side wall. She slumped against Jeanene’s shoulder and stared at me with this stunned, rather betrayed look on her face.

“How could you have brought us to this insane place?”

Shelby tried to tough it out. We were following along in the 40 page liturgy book that was only an abbreviation of the service were were experiencing. I got lost no less than 10 times. After 50 minutes Shelby leaned over and asked how much longer the service would be. I was trying to keep from locking my knees because my thighs had gotten numb. I showed her the book. We were on page 15. I flipped through the remaining 25 pages to show her how much more there was. Her mouth fell open.

“Are you serious?”

“Yeah. And I think there's supposed to be a sermon in here somewhere.”

“They haven’t done the SERMON yet? What was that guy doing who said all that stuff about…all that stuff?”

“I don’t know?” I said.

“I have to go to the bathroom,” she said. I looked around and saw the door at the back of the sanctuary swinging shut.

And then there was one.

I made it through the entire 1 hour and 50 minutes of worship without sitting down, but my back was sore. Shelby came back toward the end. When it came time for communion I suggested that we not participate because I didn't know what kind of rules they have for that. We stayed politely at the back. A woman noticed and brought some of the bread to us, bowing respectfully as she offered it. Her gesture of kindness to newcomers who were clearly struggling to understand everything was touching to me.

Okay, so I started crying a little. So what? You would have too, I bet.

After it was over another woman came to speak with us. She said, “I noticed the girls were really struggling with having to stand.”

“Yeah,” I said. “This worship is not for lightweights.”

She laughed and said, "yes," not the least bit ashamed or apologetic.

So what did I think about my experience at Saint Anthony the Great Orthodox Church?

I LOVED IT. Loved it loved it loved it loved it loved it.

In a day when user-friendly is the byword of everything from churches to software, here was worship that asked something of me. No, DEMANDED something of me.

“You don’t know what Theotokos means? Get a book and read about it. You have a hard time standing for 2 hours? Do some sit ups and get yourself into worship shape. It is the Lord our God we worship here, mortal. What made you think you could worship the Eternal One without pain?"

See, I get that. That makes sense to me. I had a hard time following the words of the chants and liturgy, but even my lack of understanding had something to teach me.

“There is so much for you to learn. There is more here than a person could master in a lifetime. THIS IS BIGGER THAN YOU ARE. Your understanding is not central here. These are ancient rites of the church. Stand with us, brother, and you will learn in time. Or go and find your way to an easier place if you must. God bless you on that journey. We understand, but this is the way we do church.”

I’m going back again on Sunday. I started to write, “I’m looking forward to it.” But that’s not right. I’m feeling right about it.

And feeling right is what I'm looking for.

Update: This was actually written on May 26 or 27. I went back to Saint Anthony the Great on Sunday. I found I was following along a little better. I'm REALLY getting a lot out of Orthodox worship. Shelby and Lillian declined to go with me this time.

Another Kind of Conversion

2009-05-30T21:48:00.016-05:00

Spring has sprung and our 6 week old chicks, Betty and Wilma, want out of the brooder and out of the garage, and into the sunshine and fresh air. We try to get them outside for a little playtime most days and it's getting harder and harder to get them to go back in the box. This past week one of them tried to make a run for it and almost flew out of the box after their romp in the yard. Now that they are fully feathered and Minnesota temps are seasonable, it's safe for them to be outside temperature-wise, but it isn't safe for them to be in the coop with the big girls just yet. The chicks need to be big enough to hold their own in a squabble when we put all of them together, because there's every chance that feathers will fly a bit as they get their pecking order sorted out when they are all together.

So for the past week or so, I've been eyeing our old dog house, which we bought ten years ago when we got our dog, and which he immediately outgrew. There it's been sitting unused all these years out in the back of the house and I wondered if it might be possible to convert the (insulated!) dog house into a temporary outdoor home for our chicks, until they are big enough to go into the big girl coop. So I made a few mental notes of things that it would need to be suitable for a few weeks, and I emailed a friend who has spent a considerable amount of time in recent weeks working in and on his own coop to ask his advice.

Saturday morning rolled around and two friends (our priest and the husband of my old high school pal, Gern) who are far handier than we are with drills and saws and such generously offered their morning and their wisdom and made some fine digs for our little girls out of that old dog house. I spent the morning handing off tools and trying to be as helpful as possible.

Here's a pictoral glance at our Saturday morning and early afternoon, beginning with the old doghouse - removeable roof removed.

Now we need to make a little ramp for the chicks and a small and predator-safe run around the house, and get some paint on that roof. We'll try to get some of that taken care of on Monday, and with any luck they will be living outside in just a few short days. We will all be happier.

It's nothing elaborate, but for our chicks it will be a palace compared to the box in the garage! It should serve them well for the summer until they are full grown in about a dozen weeks.

Avian Update

2009-05-24T20:19:00.015-05:00

The Transposzing family has been busy in the past couple of weeks (part of the reason for my lack of updated posts). But I've been asked by a couple of folks to post some photos of the girls, so here they are.

The little girls, who used to look like this:

Now look like this:

They're sort of at that awkward teenager stage - mostly feathered with little bits of down sticking out here and there, and some patches with neither feather nor down, but which will soon be feathered. They have gotten along famously and continue to spend their days in a (now greatly enlarged) brooder, dumping their food all over the floor and trying to sort out who gets to be the boss of them. This shouldn't be too hard - there's only two of them! And of course, once they get that sorted out, they'll soon discover that neither of them are the boss, because once they get out to the coop with the big girls, they will be low chickens on the totem pole, simply because of their size.

Once we offically adopted Miss Flora, we renamed her at the suggestion of the friend who gave her to us - she was part of a threesome originally: Flora Fauna, and Merriweather. Once he gave Flora away, it seemed rather silly to just have a Fauna and Merriweather, so he renamed his two buff Orpingtons and encouraged us to do the same. So Wilma's adopted sister is Betty, even though we know that naming our two chicks Wilma and Betty rather dates us. (Once when our boys were little we bought some Flintstone's children's multi-vitamins for them at Target, and ElderSon's only comment was, "What's a Flintstone?" *sigh*)

The big girls seem to love their new home in the 'burbs. They settled in as soon as we got them home and gave us two fine eggs the very next morning. In fact, they have given us two fine eggs every day, which we have enjoyed! We've got a little waiting list of folks who want eggs and are sort of handing them out in half-dozens. We eat a few and then give a few away. Here's what's in the fridge at the moment:

As it turned out, we renamed the big girls, too. They came to us with the names given to them by my brother-in-law's young children, Docilea and Flash. We had no trouble remembering Flash, but could never remember Docilea's name - mostly we just remembered that it started with a D. So we gave them different names, Lucy and Ruby. New names, new home, new family - lots of changes came very quickly for them, but they seem to have taken it all in stride and are delightful, hard-working girls.

Here are a couple of additional shots:

The big girls seem to love their new digs:

DearHusband and Ruby (blurry cell phone shot):

Ruby

Lucy

Seems the chickens have been a bit of a curiosity in the neighborhood, too! We've now visited at length with several neighbors we've lived near for over a dozen years and never really spoken with. Many have stopped by to see them and to ask about them - one neighbor even volunteered to chicken-sit while we are away (if she can keep whatever eggs she gets!). So chicken ownership has had some unforseen benefits, too.

Now that we have sort of fallen into a good routine with the new chicks and chickens, we are slowly getting back to life-as-usual ... it's just a little fuller now. And a little more fun.

How I Spent Mother's Day

2009-05-10T20:43:00.005-05:00

We drove down to DearHusband's hometown to have lunch with his mom - and came home with our 2 new hens.

They seem pretty happy in their new home (but what do I know?). I'm not sure how much I'd like a complete change of life as I've always known it all within a few hours. They are now separated from their 2 sisters with whom they've lived their whole 1 year of life, taken their first really long car ride, and taken up residence outside instead of inside...and I'm told they're moulting, to boot (though I sure can't tell yet).

As you can see from the photo, the stress of the day hasn't seemed to have affected their appetites! And they aren't one bit afraid of that big dog, either.

Well, if we all make it through this first night, it should get easier from here on, right?

(Meanwhile, the little girls in the brooder will move to a larger brooder tomorrow, as they have outgrown the one they are currently in).

Reason #262 Why I Don't Belong on Facebook

2009-05-08T06:30:00.007-05:00

I find myself wanting to "hide" a Facebook friend.

It seems that I am learning WAY more than I want to know about a Facebook friend or two. I'm not talking about responders to those stupid quizzie things, "What gumball flavor are you?" or "What celebrity will you marry?" or other such meaningless stuff that folks feel compelled to tell the world (our two sons are perhaps the worst offenders of posting those stupid quizzie things).

It's when they post serious stuff, such as this, posted by a guy I really like - a pastor who is a former colleague:

"This generation is not looking for a church - they are looking for Jesus. I am Lutheran because of the beauty of our theology and the deep respect of God's grace. This is our shared heritage. I pray that, as Lutherans, we may be called by this generation to LIVE our theology as well as we TALK about it. It is an age of re-formation and, like the first, we are called to put Jesus, not church, at the center."

People want Jesus without the Church, he says. Seems people WANT lots of things - including Jesus without the cross. Or Jesus without worship. Or Jesus as genie-in-a-bottle. Or a personal sort of Jesus who belongs solely to me. Or, worst of all, the infamous Jesus as my boyfriend.

I did respond with a brief comment about Jesus and the Church being a package deal (and I really wanted to mention that a Jesus without the Church is not a part of the Lutheran "shared heritage" or the "beauty of its theology" that he mentions). The statement is so troublesome to me that it bothered me for much of the day - still bothers me, really. And what bothers me even worse is that I am the only one of his 258 "friends" that saw this update who challenged him about it. The only other responders gave him the old thumbs up or thanked him for his meaningful insight.

I like this fellow alot - he's just the sweetest guy ever. And while I enjoy seeing news of his family and photos of his growing kids and stuff, I'm so bothered by some of the theological material he puts out there that I think I might be better off not seeing that.

So Facebook handily provides a "hide" feature, which allows one to see less of the material posted by specific "friends." It saddens me to have to hide him, but if I'm going to keep him as a real-life friend, I might have to, or I'm gonna get myself into hot water.

If you are really looking for Jesus, you're not going to find him on Facebook.

Log off and go to church.

"For where two or three are gathered in my name, there I am in the midst of them."

Crazy Eight

2009-05-04T06:35:00.006-05:00

Borrowed in an invited self-tag from Mimi

Eight Things I am looking forward to:

1. a week of vacation, beginning 5/11
2. the installation of new iconography at our church in June
3. fresh eggs from our own girls (that'll be awhile yet)
4. this week's visit of a good friend from CA
5. getting our garden in and the flower boxes planted
6. finishing the icon I am currently working on (that'll be awhile, too)
7. harvesting some rhubarb
8. the smell of clothes and linens fresh from the clothesline

8 Things I did yesterday:
(Umm, I started this post on Monday, so these are 8 things I did on Sunday)
1. had a delightful visit to my former Lutheran digs
2. enjoyed burgers on the grill with family and friends
3. also made s'mores for the first time this spring
4. deleted a whole bunch of links to things I used to read online (an ongoing project)
5. dragged out and filled the bird bath
6. read the paper
7. went to the grocery store
8. pulled a few weeds in the perennial bed (very few)

8 Things I wish I could do:

1. find/make time to read - books (not online)
2. calligraphy
3. play the organ - or any instrument, really
4. de-clutter (more)
5. build stuff
6. save money
7. stop procrastinating
8. sleep in

8 Shows I Watch
Ha! I don't watch 8 shows. But these are the ones I look for or love to catch

1. Law and Order - any variety
2. CSI, any location
3. the local news (almost religiously)
4. occasionally I watch the food network.

8 Tags.
As Mimi said, "You're it!"

Loved This!

2009-05-02T09:10:00.005-05:00

I have always loved watching herding excersises - always! So when I saw this, I just had to cross-post, with a HT to Fr. Gregory Jensen.

Taking what I have always considered to be a great and noble occupation to it's extreme level!

A Feast For the Eyes

2009-05-02T06:33:00.006-05:00

Iconographer Matthew Garret has recently completed a wonderful set of icons! I tried to download the intruiging little video which marks the process and progress of the painting of one of these icons, but alas, the downloading of this little video is a project for which I likely need the help of my kids, But it's fascinating!

Since the kids are still sleeping, I'll keep it simple. Go to his (beautiful) blog. While you're there be sure to follow the link to all of his iconography.

What inspiring work!

Eastern Christian New Media Blog Awards

2009-05-01T21:08:00.003-05:00

I've just been informed that someone has nominated my blog for one of these this year - whodathunkkit?

Check your RSS and Reader feeds and nominate all of your favorite Orthodox bloggers in several categories by going here.

Twelve

2009-05-01T06:04:00.003-05:00

Wishing YoungerSon (the family clown and our May Day boy) a happy, happy twelfth birthday.

(could he not have found a fake mustache in something a little blonder?)

Cheese Straws Are Nasty*

2009-04-30T10:09:00.010-05:00

* - Ian, in "My Big Fat Greek Wedding"

"Christos Anesti!" "Alithos Anesti!"

"Christos Voskrese!" "Voistinue Voskrese!"

"Al Masseh Qam!" "Haqqan Qam!"

Christ is risen and here in the heart of midwest USA, Orthodox Christians exclaim the news in lots of different languages from the other side of the world. If they are anything like me, at their first Pascha the newly enlightened hear the beginning of the greeting in these various languages and heartily reply, "blah, blah, blah!" or "grimfischku vukonki! or (my favorite, the response to the Arabic), "honk, honk, honk!"

Deep down inside this newbie was a little jealous at my first Pascha as an Orthodox Christian of those worshipping around me who "just knew" how to respond with gusto to the Paschal greeting regardless of the language in which it is proclaimed. It felt a little at the time like a series of spy passwords - and you are only "in" if you know the secret password and response. "The eagle lands at midnight ..." You know what I mean.

How does everyone else seem to "just know" this stuff, I wondered. Someone had to tell them once upon a time - why wasn't I told, too?

And while there was the part of me that wanted to be "in" and know that stuff, too, another part of me was sort of frustrated about it. Why, I wondered, here in the middle of Minnesota USA, are Christians exchanging the paschal greeting in Slavonic? Or in Arabic or Greek? Is there anyone here who does not understand English? And are there not many of us here who don't speak or understand any of these other languages? What is the value of this practice here and now?

But as I have considered this a bit, and my initial reactions to this custom, I think maybe there's something to be learned from Ian (from the movie). "Cheese straws are nasty!" (well it sounds like Christos Anesti!) he said - not to make fun of the ethnic religious traditions of the one he loved - but as an act of love for her, as a way to try to enter into her life and her world, to participate in her history and traditions, and to become a part of her family.

Perhaps Ian has helped to answer my questions.

Sister, Sister

2009-04-29T20:18:00.012-05:00

The little girls in our chick brooder have been getting along famously, and life has been happy and playful and peaceful down there for the past several days. They are growing fast and getting more and more feathers every day (Check out Wilma's new wing feathers!).

Our priest, from whom we borrowed the "loaner chick" dropped a note to us today. He's been contemplating his new coop, which he thinks is perhaps just a wee bit tight for 5 hens, and trying to decide what modifications to make to allow for a bit more room. He decided that the best and easiest way to make more room in his coop would be to house one less hen in it.

So in his note today he asked whether we might consider adopting Flora the Loaner Chick, so that she could stay with Wilma, and so there would be a bit more breathing room in his coop once everyone is grown up and in there.

Of course we were only too happy to keep her. Deep down inside I wonder if this wasn't his plan from the moment he agreed to let us take her "for awhile."

But whether his kind offer was a matter of geniune practicality or of pastoral care or a bit of both, it's a win-win situation - and Wilma has a sister.

Well ...

2009-04-27T16:35:00.005-05:00

... here's how it went down:

Three tiny chicks were delivered to us this past cold and rainy Sunday morning at church. Adorable, all of them. Our busy morning meant bringing the babies along with us, in a box which dear husband had rigged up with a warmer light in the back of the van (plugged into an adapter which plugged into a receptacle) to keep them as warm as possible until we could get them home and into our makeshift brooder.

Once we got them home, it quickly became apparent that 2 of them weren't doing well at all, and sadly, we lost those two within only a couple of hours of being home. Not sure what happened to them, but we assume it was the stress of traveling and being cold, then warm, then cold, then warm. We were heartbroken - and so was our remaining girl, who cheeped and cheeped loudly for hours once she was alone. YoungerSon put a little teddy bear in the box with her to keep her company (we'd seen this online as a help for lonely chicks), and we hung out with her as much as we could until bedtime. DearHusband got up to check on her a couple of times at night, and to talk to her, which seeemed to soothe her a little. He found her cuddled up next to the little teddy bear.

As it happened, when our friends from church brought our 3 chicks, they also delivered 5 additional chicks (and a cute coop!) to our priest's house just before liturgy - they were his wife's surprise birthday gift to him. We learned only on Saturday that he would be getting chicks the next day, too. So this morning, DearHusband called Fr. and asked if we might borrow a "loaner chick" for a little while, as our girl was so sad and lonely, to which he graciously agreed. Life in the brooder is much happier now - at least for the time being.

So we are currently parenting one chick (Wilma) and one foster chick (Flora).

We called DearHusband's brother that first night to ask about next steps, and he told us that he has to give away 2 of his 4 one-year-old laying hens, because they are drowning in eggs. His chickens are illegal aliens which he is keeping at his house despite city regulations prohibiting them within the city limits. So he can't really give his eggs away in their small town without alot of questions (if you know what I mean). Since he's going to have to re-home two of them anyway, he suggested that they be re-homed with us. And since our coop is ready, DeaHusband is fashioning a pick-up plan for his brother's two girls.

Once we get them and the weather warms up and our Wilma has some feathers on, we'll return Father's loaner chick to his flock, make the appropriate introductions and hope they all get along and get busy!

As promised, a photo of the finished house and the babies in our brooder:

Getting Ready for the Girls

2009-04-22T20:38:00.003-05:00

We got the inside of the henhouse painted this evening, plus two coats of paint on the the outside. Tomorrow I'll put on the last coat on the outside and then paint the trim. After that, I think we will be about ready.

A family from church (who come a LONG way to church!), have a small flock at their house and they graciously agreed to pick up our chickens for us at their local farm supply and bring them to us this weekend, making the exchange at church on Sunday. I called them today to see if they were really OK with getting them and bringing them along to church this weekend, and was told that they'd already gotten them! No pullets were available, so they got chicks for us (chicks which will, soon enough, be pullets). So it looks like we're getting chicks, which is what DearHusband wanted all along, anyway.

We're putting together a makeshift brooder for them and will keep the babies in the garage until they get their feathers on in a few short weeks. Then they will move into their new accomodations in the yard.

They're Coming ...

2009-04-20T19:10:00.010-05:00

Al the chicken guy came this morning to assemble our henhouse. He said he has about another half-day of work to finish it. Hopefully, by the time I come home from work tomorrow, the weather will be a little more cooperative and I can get some paint on the inside of house (the portions made with green treated wood will have to wait awhile until the wood dries out).

Here's hoping that soon ...

Let Us Not Seek to Make it Less Monstrous

2009-04-19T06:34:00.000-05:00

Seven Stanzas at Easter
by John Updike

Make no mistake: if He rose at all
it was as His body;
if the cells’ dissolution did not reverse, the molecules
reknit, the amino acids rekindle,
the Church will fall.

It was not as the flowers,
each soft Spring recurrent;
it was not as His Spirit in the mouths and fuddled
eyes of the eleven apostles;
it was as His flesh: ours.

The same hinged thumbs and toes,
the same valved heart
that–pierced–died, withered, paused, and then
regathered out of enduring Might
new strength to enclose.

Let us not mock God with metaphor,
analogy, sidestepping, transcendence;
making of the event a parable, a sign painted in the
faded credulity of earlier ages:
let us walk through the door.

The stone is rolled back, not papier-mâché,
not a stone in a story,
but the vast rock of materiality that in the slow
grinding of time will eclipse for each of us
the wide light of day.

And if we will have an angel at the tomb,
make it a real angel,
weighty with Max Planck’s quanta, vivid with hair,
opaque in the dawn light, robed in real linen
spun on a definite loom.

Let us not seek to make it less monstrous,
for our own convenience, our own sense of beauty,
lest, awakened in one unthinkable hour, we are
embarrassed by the miracle,
and crushed by remonstrance.

Last Minute Preparations

2009-04-18T16:50:00.008-05:00

It has been a wild few days for the Transposzing family - church, church, and more church (besides our regular work and school obligations). Some of our Pascha preparations have been put off until the last minute. But in these few hours we have been able to accomplish a bunch!

This morning: Vesperal Divine liturgy at church. A beautiful celebration, immediately after which we ran to the closest coffee shop and grabbed a cup of strong coffee to go, and then returned to church to see that appropriate preparations were being made for liturgy tonight.

Then, home to change clothes, drop ElderSon off at his best friend's birthday gathering, hit the grocery store to buy fixins for our Pascha basket, to the liquor store to buy additional fixins (and supplemental refreshments for supper tomorrow night), to the local department store to buy a replacement shirt for DearHusband, whose white shirt I accidentally pitched into the trash about a month ago in a tale too long to tell here. Then home to get some fast-drying varnish on a couple of eggs I made for folks at church to give to them tonight, and to dye our eggs - which should have been done on Thursday or Friday, to bake this year's kulich imposter (blueberry bread which will be all dressed up to look exactly like kulich and which will be part of our Sunday morning breakfast before Agape Vespers), and to do a load or two of laundry.

Now the bread is in the oven, the laundry and varnish on the last pysanky are drying, the beer is chilling, the eggs are dyed and cooling, and DearHusband has found a few minutes to take a nice spring ride on his scooter.

Hoping to get a nap in before we leave for church at about 11 tonight!

Here are a few photos I'll share of the last day or so ...

Here's a photo of the flower-enshrined tomb of Christ, upon which today's liturgy was served, as we met it when we came into church this morning.

For years now I have tried to get a decent photo of the moment at the Saturday liturgy (a liturgy much like western Easter Vigil in some ways) when the priests come through with handfuls of rose petals and bay leaves, throwing them about in a celebratory representation of Christ's victorious triumph over death and the grave. I have yet to get a good shot of this, but you can see here what it looked like afterward... (I am hoping others taking photos at church today got a decent shot, which I'll eventually upload to my church's website photo gallery).

My last pysanky of the year, varnish drying and ready to be blown before tonight.

Our cheese selections for this year's Transposzing Pascha basket. We limited it to 5 varieties this year. We also included a nice hunk of summer sausage, chocolate, some beef jerky for the boys, red eggs, a couple of beers, and some nice crackers.

This year we tried dying our eggs with onion skins that we'd saved up all during Lent, as I mentioned here. And it worked wonderfully! As Deb mentioned, they aren't fire-engine red, but rather a deep, natural red. I love the color! On brown eggs, it's quite like the red used in iconography for the garments of the Theotokos.

I still have a few things to take care of before church tonight, which I hope will include about 20 winks.

I'll try to post soon about our Pascha weekend.

How?

2009-04-15T20:26:00.006-05:00

How could any Christian chastise another Christian for venerating the cross?

That's all. Just this question.

I'm not providing a link to the conversation which provoked the question (though I know some of my regular visitors have seen it), I just want to ask.

How?

So if anyone has a GOOD answer to this, I'd love to hear it.

In My Head at the Moment

2009-04-15T09:29:00.003-05:00

Except that, in my head, it's in English.

Behold, the Bridegroom comes at midnight,

And blessed is that servant whom He shall find watching,

And again, unworthy is the servant whom He shall find heedless.

Beware, therefore, O my soul, do not be weighed down with sleep,

Lest you be given up to death, and lest you be shut out of the Kingdom.

But rouse yourself crying: Holy, Holy, Holy, art Thou, O our God,

Through the Theotokos have mercy on us.

Troparion of Bridegroom Matins
HT: David Bryan of Oh Taste and See

Palm Weaving

2009-04-12T16:55:00.007-05:00

Blogpal Deb asked about the Palm fans used in the Palm Sunday procession at our church today, and I promised to post a couple of photos of that. As I explained to her on FB, we are blessed to have some members who know their way around palm branches! And I am fascinated to watch them weave these fans every year.

Next year I have vowed to put the camera down and try to make one of these myself! My friend Phyl made one this year and it looks like she got the hang of it!

Scenes from a Palm Sunday

2009-04-12T15:24:00.009-05:00

Here are some shots of the Palm Sunday procession at my church this year: