Easter Sunday at St. James Anglican Church

Gilbert loves St. James Anglican Church and all the people there who love him. Like Christmas, Easter Sunday, is always an uplifting ‘fun’ time of the church year.  Jesus is Risen!  Hallelujah!.  Death is conquered.
It’s always good to go early to church on Easter Sunday because the seats fill up.
Gilbert and I had to check out the flowers outside the church as well. I just bought the new Nikon Coolpix S9700 so I don’t have to take my big nikon camera on my upcoming travels.  So while Gilbert was sniffing the dog walk beside the church, meeting with the pastors dogs, I was taking pictures of the church and flowers in the outside garden.
Easter Sunday is always white lilies.  I remember going to church as a child with my mom and her sisters, Hannah and Sadie.  Easter Sunday was  the time for the church Ladies to don their favourite spring easter hats.  My mother and her sisters loved their flowered 'bonnets'.  There was some fashion in the church today but mostly people were Vancouver drab. Only some of the folk got into the festivities. The clergy were very well attired in the golden robes. I actually wore a tie myself but know if Mom and her sisters were about, poor Gilbert would have been bathed,  likely sporting a colourful easter ribbon.  
I love the horns.  Lots of trumpets and trombones and horns are brought out to accompany Easter music.  Our choir was particularly inspiring.
All round the service was moving beginning as it did with the Rite of Sprinkling of Holy Water.   Father Mark Greenaway Robbins preached on the cross and taught me that the big life sized cross hanging from the ceiling is called the Rood Cross.  Rood is an old English word meaning cross.  Father Mark has been preaching all week on meditations of the 17th century Anglican priest, Thomas Traherne who saw the Cross as the centre of desire.  Today Father Mark, preached on Traherne’s description of the cross as the “place of sorrow; it is the root of happiness, and the gate of Heaven". What a joyous gate it is too.   It was particularly inspiring for this remarkable day.
After the Lord’s Prayer,the Nicene Creed, Confession and the actual mass of shared body and blood of Jesus, we sang together that great hymn, Jesus Christ is Risen Today.
Then it was over.  In a way another new year had begun.
I had coffee with Karen until someone took her chair while she was up.  I didn’t think to confront them with sword or pistols in the Bishops room.  She took that as a cue to gather up her awesome son and depart leaving me talk cats with one of the clergy. Gilbert was mostly interested in he pastor's dogs and the cake nearby on the table. Talk of cats doesn't much interest him.
When Gilbert and I left there was  down pouring rain.  As usual Father Mathew, without any thought of the rain, was listening on the street..  Father Matthew is distinguished by his total absorption in the person he is listening to.  Today that was so evident as the rain was the size of cats but he was not to be distracted.   Meanwhile,  I was rushing to my car and trying to get Gilbert inside out of the rain as quick as possible.