tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-52016352009-09-04T01:16:25.693-07:00An Episcopalian laywoman's dispatches from the radical middleCharlottehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06124847109117072966noreply@blogger.comBlogger182125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5201635.post-3072919081774914502008-01-01T15:19:00.000-08:002008-01-01T15:22:02.402-08:00

Part of my goals for 2008 include things like blogging more often, so I hope to have more regular updating.

Charlottehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06124847109117072966noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5201635.post-90135185543670440542007-04-06T16:39:00.001-07:002007-04-06T16:39:21.470-07:00

It was a beautiful and moving service: footwashing, procession to the Chapel of Repose, stripping of the altar. I was exceedingly cranky when it started. Maundy Thursday is the busiest day of the year for the Altar Guild, my back hurt like crazy, I had a headache, and I seemed to be about the only person backstage who had a clue what was going on. But as it progressed, I felt the burden of the

Charlottehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06124847109117072966noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5201635.post-80869032850790031672007-03-31T17:46:00.000-07:002007-04-01T08:12:42.856-07:00

Today we had the pre-Easter brass polishing session at the church. Normally during Lent most of the stuff would go back into the sacristry awaiting Maundy Thursday and Easter, but today there was a memorial service, so we put them out. The chancel had all the Easter trappings - flowers, white vestments, shiny brass (the altar cross looked especially fine). The sun was shining wonderfully, so

Charlottehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06124847109117072966noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5201635.post-1173047146539408892007-03-15T10:25:00.000-07:002007-03-15T11:26:43.523-07:00

We are having a baby boomlet at St. Spike's. This takes a bit of getting used to, because for better and for worse, we haven't been much of a "family" church, and now there's stroller traffic jams in the back of the nave, and the rocking chairs are occupied by actual infants being held by mom or dad. They are all just as cute as cute can be. I am looking forward to being an auntie surrogate (

Charlottehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06124847109117072966noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5201635.post-1172722021020777032007-02-28T19:46:00.000-08:002007-02-28T20:07:19.186-08:00

It's been rough around here lately. I've been in and out of the Pit, had health weirdness (I had resolved at New Year's to blog more, you see how long that has taken), and within the last week have suffered from volunteer fatigue, compassion fatigue, worry about my Maggie-cat (who had an emergency vet visit on Saturday, as I was working on catering a funeral, and came back home looking like

Charlottehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06124847109117072966noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5201635.post-1159747333915009552006-10-01T16:55:00.000-07:002006-10-01T17:02:13.933-07:00

Yesterday I was having an afternoon that wasn't going right. I went to the church to set up, and found the chapel chairs in disarray, so I rearranged them. I plugged in the iron but it wouldn't start, and none of the alternative linens were less wrinkled than the one I was trying to iron (per clergy request). But when I went to the back of the church for something, I walked back up the center

Charlottehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06124847109117072966noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5201635.post-1153703951727504902006-07-23T18:04:00.000-07:002006-07-23T18:19:11.776-07:00

Yesterday I schlepped up to Grace Cathedral for the Investiture of the Eighth Bishop of California.I had been considering not-going but was assured that Bishop Marc and our PB-elect, Katharine Jefferts Schori, would be serving communion in the overflow seats in the basement. It was a grand, if extremely chaotic, day. The liturgy started out with my feeling I was watching a performance on TV,

Charlottehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06124847109117072966noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5201635.post-1150756051076181152006-06-19T15:21:00.000-07:002006-06-19T17:07:42.720-07:00

I was traveling yesterday, and got home at about 10 pm, so am probably the last plugged-in Episcopalian to hear of the election of Katharine Jefferts Schori as Presiding Bishop.My reaction (after "It's a girl!") was that there were some very qualified people in the running, so she must have made a big impression to be a clear favorite. Then I thought "boy, are some people going to be whining

Charlottehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06124847109117072966noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5201635.post-1149379229951383472006-06-03T16:57:00.000-07:002006-06-03T17:00:29.960-07:00

Blessings and congratulations to those who were ordained today, the day between the Feast of the Giving of the Book (Shavuot) and the Feast of the Giving of the Spirit (Pentecost): Karen, Micah, and others (Chris?).

Charlottehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06124847109117072966noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5201635.post-1148930835335726472006-05-29T12:13:00.000-07:002006-05-29T14:13:52.890-07:00

Two of the people I met at the dim sum brunch for my friend Elissa go to the fab Sara's church, "St. Ned's". So of course when "How many Episcopalians are there?" came up in the context of discussing the day's Gospel at the 8 pm alt worship service last night, I of course had to repeat an old joke, "Seventeen. The rest is done with mirrors." In other news, my trip with Elissa to Sagrada with

Charlottehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06124847109117072966noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5201635.post-1148241351296196542006-05-21T12:49:00.000-07:002006-05-21T12:55:51.296-07:00

I walked to midweek service on Wednesday and got to sit in the chapel by myself for a little while: Actually, I walked to church yesterday as well, because it's graduation season and I wanted to keep the reserved spots free for other volunteers. It's been lovely weather, so it's been very nice. I'm back to work tomorrow after some medical leave - not quite sure I have my brain completely

Charlottehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06124847109117072966noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5201635.post-1146952306666611262006-05-06T14:49:00.000-07:002006-05-06T14:51:46.676-07:00

Habemus episcopam!Based on what I heard from the walkabout participants, we got a good'un.Congrats to the people of Eastern Michigan and my native Northern California on their new bishop-elects.

Charlottehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06124847109117072966noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5201635.post-1146749839744971852006-05-04T06:29:00.000-07:002006-05-04T06:37:19.756-07:00

I would really like to thank everyone for their support. It's incredibly moving, and does help give me the strength to keep on plugging. I hope to blog further about this over the weekend when I have more time; work is pretty much occupying most of my waking hours as I am getting to sleep early.New meds are started. I am praying that these work without the bad side effects of the last one.

Charlottehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06124847109117072966noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5201635.post-1146352821052796832006-04-29T16:14:00.000-07:002006-04-29T16:20:21.063-07:00

Well, for the three or so of you reading, I would very much appreciate prayers for my health and work situation. It is officially Very Bad, and I'm not really sure what to do at this point. I've been suffering very bad side effects from a medication, which I stopped, and was starting to feel back to my regular self before the latest shock. I cooked dinner on Wednesday. I went to the CDSP

Charlottehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06124847109117072966noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5201635.post-1145318973011848582006-04-17T17:05:00.000-07:002006-04-17T17:09:39.590-07:00

I feel like I've been in "St. Spike's - Survivor". More later, I hope.

Charlottehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06124847109117072966noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5201635.post-1143337220430874962006-03-25T17:38:00.000-08:002006-03-25T17:51:56.866-08:00

My soul magnifies the Lord,And my spirit rejoices in God my Savior.For He has regarded the low estate of His handmaiden,For behold, henceforth all generations shall call me blessed.For He who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is His name. And His mercy is on those who fear Him from generation to generation.He has shown strength with His arm: He has scattered the proud in the

Charlottehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06124847109117072966noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5201635.post-1143337727876055382006-03-24T18:40:00.000-08:002006-03-25T17:48:47.886-08:00

Popping back into blog world with a little fluff courtesy of the RevGals: Name five things that would be in a store that is All About You.Okay, it would be a light, sunny space with comfy couches and lots of:1. Books 2. Food, or food preperation items (I remember my visit to a Penzey's store quite well)3. Textiles (clothes, coverlets, decorative objects, yardage)4. Cats (curled up with me

Charlottehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06124847109117072966noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5201635.post-1142345397378482712006-03-14T05:59:00.000-08:002006-03-14T19:00:08.053-08:00

The weather has been unaccountably fierce for early March in this part of the world. On Friday there was snow just above sealevel, by UC (and not the hilly bits either). There was also a fierce hailstorm. I missed getting snowed or hailed on but was exhausted from all the adrenaline at work (continued prayers for the situation appreciated ... want to start looking for a job that is not quite

Charlottehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06124847109117072966noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5201635.post-1141873538899845182006-03-08T18:37:00.000-08:002006-03-08T19:05:38.913-08:00

I have a couple of tags to respond to, and my dear but extremely naughty Maggie has been tagged by those handsome doodle boys Whistle and Fish over at St. Casserole, but those will have to wait.I wanted to get some of the Ash Wednesday round-up off my mind. There's been a lot on my mind with the IRS and work, work, work (I got overwhelmed today at lunchtime and cried for about five minutes

Charlottehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06124847109117072966noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5201635.post-1141485991729429312006-03-03T18:27:00.000-08:002006-03-04T07:26:55.400-08:00

Ash Wednesday was a challenging day for me. The weirdness at work continues still, with an underlying layer of High Anxiety, and my minimal food consumption didn't make me spiritual, just hungry and cranky (especially on a very energetic day at the office). So I was feeling miserable, all right, but not sure that it was for the "right reasons". Late in the afternoon I did a brief peek into the

Charlottehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06124847109117072966noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5201635.post-1140900634360128412006-02-25T12:37:00.000-08:002006-02-25T12:50:34.373-08:00

It's been an intense fortnight or so. Lots of ups and downs. The major downer was finding a fat letter from the IRS in my mailbox just as I was rushing in the door last Saturday to take a quick shower and breather before our Feed the Homeless enterprise. I had hoped to spend some time this weekend cleaning and organizing the house - I didn't do squat last weekend - but this is ridiculous.(

Charlottehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06124847109117072966noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5201635.post-1139977775039930832006-02-14T20:26:00.000-08:002006-02-14T20:34:04.946-08:00

Oh, you want something for that other guy?LC's throwing flowers; I'll provide the chocolate.Yes, I did make that! I just posted the recipe. Thanks to the fab Biggles for the pic.

Charlottehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06124847109117072966noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5201635.post-1139680737250421732006-02-11T09:48:00.000-08:002006-02-11T09:58:57.263-08:00

Someone around the RGBP blogring has a "Friday Poetry Blogging" thing going on. I will probably get back to Friday Cat Blogging in the not too distant future but as I will be posting a cat pic as part of my response to bls' m*m* tag, I'll pass for now.In working out my responses for the tag ("What were you doing ten years ago?") I realized that my friend Susan Hattie had been dead ten years just

Charlottehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06124847109117072966noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5201635.post-1139083477850757262006-02-04T12:00:00.000-08:002006-02-04T12:04:37.863-08:00

There was a m*m* spreading to post some poetry on Candlemas/Groundhog Day. I've been off the computer (at home) much of that time, so just caught up.Emily posted the "Midwinter spring" bit from Little Gidding, so I'll post another one for this change of seasons - which we feel acutely in Northern California, because it really is when our spring starts. It also connects with my returning to the

Charlottehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06124847109117072966noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5201635.post-1138595942721155972006-01-29T20:38:00.000-08:002006-01-29T20:39:02.740-08:00

I'm starting to fade this evening - have had a big attack of the "tireds" all day. I woke up at 7, which is rather late for me, and was uncharacteristically yawning during church (although some coffee and sugared goods perked me up for the annual meeting). I am going to try to do my promised update, although I have the feeling that I am leaving things out. Those of you who read the other

Charlottehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06124847109117072966noreply@blogger.com2