St. James Anglican Church, Feb 12, 2012

We were late again for church, arriving in the Ural Sidecar Motorcycle. Ambivalent with the drizzlec onsidering catching a nearer service at 11, we opted last minute to go late to the church where we all, including Gilbert, feel increasingly at home. St. James is a warm and friendly church. I feel welcome. I'm sorry I missed the sermon.  Coming from a Baptist background though I feel I've had far more sermonizing than any Anglican or Catholic can imagine. The Prayers were particularly poignant today.  Gilbert was delighted to see his friend Elizabeth and later to jump on her partner Phil.  Alice always makes him feel at home. The choir at times like today helped me feel as sense of the awe that the church must have brought into the lives all before the advent of modern electronic communication. Somewhere in the Mass I actually slowed down from rushing and business and felt the peace of being at church. Then it was time to join the ritual in person going forward to connect with clergy at the altar.  Notifications included Leah's Spiritual Autobiography writing group beginnings Feb. 25.  Then a call for palm Sunday crosses for the burning before Ash Wednesday, Feb. 22, 2012.  When I asked Laura, with her devout catholic roots, what it means, she said, "It kicks off Lent".  I suspect there's more to it than that but that's why I go to Church.  This week Father Mark Greenaway-Robbins explained why we don't applaud or for that matter 'boo' in the church service. "Everything we do from serving to singing is done for the greater good of God."