This seems to be my weekend for a variety of religious experience.
On Friday, I led the evening service for the first time ever at my synagogue. It's the shortest & most beautiful service of the week, with psalms that lead us to the peace of the Sabbath. It was a lot of work to prepare, maybe 2 dozen melodies to (try to) master, but very rewarding: Prayer, not performance.
On Saturday I read my longest-read ever & one of my favorites, the Journeys at the end of Numbers, part of which is in a special melody.
This morning, the hottest day of the year so far & by far, I went to Xavier Catholic Church with my friend Alison. I thought it was going to be the last time I'd see her before she & her husband move to Colorado, but now it looks like I might drive out with her since he has to go earlier than expected. Yay! a summer road trip! Xavier is Johnny's high-school church, very beautiful, with smart priests. I had many questions, like why is the 23rd psalm called "the grail" & why did they read from Jeremiah, which we read next Sunday on Tisha B'Av, the saddest day on the Jewish calendar. Coincidence?
And this afternoon I'm going to a Baptist church in Englewood, NJ, for the funeral of my dear friend Pauline's mother. Her whole family has always embraced me, and I have to be there, although there seems to be no bus back so I hope I can either find a ride or taxi back to the George Washington Bridge afterwards, even if it means I have to walk over it in this awful heat. I've been to Pauline's church before and been welcomed as if they had been waiting all their lives for me.
On Friday, I led the evening service for the first time ever at my synagogue. It's the shortest & most beautiful service of the week, with psalms that lead us to the peace of the Sabbath. It was a lot of work to prepare, maybe 2 dozen melodies to (try to) master, but very rewarding: Prayer, not performance.
On Saturday I read my longest-read ever & one of my favorites, the Journeys at the end of Numbers, part of which is in a special melody.
This morning, the hottest day of the year so far & by far, I went to Xavier Catholic Church with my friend Alison. I thought it was going to be the last time I'd see her before she & her husband move to Colorado, but now it looks like I might drive out with her since he has to go earlier than expected. Yay! a summer road trip! Xavier is Johnny's high-school church, very beautiful, with smart priests. I had many questions, like why is the 23rd psalm called "the grail" & why did they read from Jeremiah, which we read next Sunday on Tisha B'Av, the saddest day on the Jewish calendar. Coincidence?
And this afternoon I'm going to a Baptist church in Englewood, NJ, for the funeral of my dear friend Pauline's mother. Her whole family has always embraced me, and I have to be there, although there seems to be no bus back so I hope I can either find a ride or taxi back to the George Washington Bridge afterwards, even if it means I have to walk over it in this awful heat. I've been to Pauline's church before and been welcomed as if they had been waiting all their lives for me.