This morning my mother apologized. It’s a rare occurrence, but what was even more remarkable was the topic about which she felt guilty. “I was reading somewhere a woman remembering her mother waking her up to watch Princess Diana get married 30 years ago, and now the writer is going to wake up her own…
festivals
The Sacred and the Profane–Holy Weeks I Have Known
This Palm Sunday, Holy week started off with a bang. Actually it was a kick, more of a kickline, from the party-girl-in-utero. We had gone to church to observe the holiday and the choir was singing a hymn for the Blessing of the Palms service. This apparently inspired a frenetic, religious dance from the little…
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I Come in Peace–or How I Learned to Stop Fearing Palm Sunday
Many parts of Lent are solemn, and some are downright sad; I once saw a woman crying so much during a Good Friday service on the island of Corfu that I whispered to my mother, “You should tell her it has a happy ending.” Because that’s the whole point of Easter, right? The Resurrection, the…
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Saint Joseph and the Heavenly Hash
So, this weekend we were way down yonder in New Orleans. And I apologize in advance if I feel the need to quote any more cheesy old standard songs. Because if I do feel so inspired, I will go right ahead and quote them. Why? Cause I did it my way. OK, enough of that….
Quiet Time, Getting Crazy, and Psychic Reboots
There is a lot going on in the world this week, and it’s all very “turn, turn, turn,” to quote the Book of Ecclesiastes (and, later, Pete Seeger, and even later, the Byrds). The verse reminds us that to everything there is a season. And because Orthodox Easter and Western Easter are the same this…
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Betwixt and Between
Last Saturday was one of five Saturdays of Souls in the Orthodox Church–days that are set aside to pray for and remember the deceased. I love the idea of having days dedicated to thinking about and communing with loved ones who have passed on to a world beyond this one. It reminds me of a…