Palm Saturday

Spring with its sparkling days has finally arrived in Seattle.  And with all that sparkle and dash, comes the soft patina of Holy Week.  Usually, I have a lot to say about this wonderful week of prayer and song, but this year, I seem to have been too busy experiencing it to tell you about it.  On Palm Saturday, Rebecca and I splurged and got ourselves nice little Kindles.  My friend Peggy recently showed me hers, and I was suffused with envy.  I have lately been desperate to reread Daniel Deronda, but both of the copies I own are huge, very old, and falling apart.  No fun to read in bed. In addition to that, they have teensy print.  Even less fun! Peggy’s Kindle was so cute, and I knew that if I used one to read Daniel Deronda, he would weigh three ounces instead of three pounds.  And would have big print!  I had to get one!  Rebecca and I downloaded my favorite authors, starting with George Eliot and Daniel Deronda.

On Palm Sunday, the choir rehearsal was wonderfully inspiring.  I sat there thinking how blest we are to have our magical choir director. He goes so far beyond just directing the music.  Years ago, I used to play the piano, accompanying a friend who played the violin.  His mother, who didn’t like me very well, told us that a monkey could learn to play the piano, but it took a true artist to play the violin.  Well, a monkey probably could not really direct a choir, but our rehearsals are so far beyond mere notes and rhythms (the monkey business,) and into the realm of poetry, spirituality, the history and deeper meaning of the liturgy and music (the real artistry,)  that they often leave me thrilled and a little stunned.  What a wonderful gift it is to be able to experience this every week. 

During the rehearsal, Jim told us about Egeria, a fourth century pilgrim to the Holy Land.  She was probably a nun from Spain, and one of the first travel writers, sending home, in letters to her sisters, reports of her observations as she traveled throughout the sacred places and attended liturgies in Jerusalem, giving us some of the earliest reports on the celebrations of the liturgical year.  I was curious and wanted to read more, so guess what!!!  I was able to download her letters onto my sweet new gadget!

And Peggy, wonderful Peggy, the inspiration for my Kindle purchase, made lovely cases – one for both Rebecca and me, and in our favorite colors!  Thank you, Peggy!  We love them.